Description

The various media of mass communication and their effects on society. An introduction to the history and development of mass communication systems and their role in society.

The course is organized around the intersection of three core concepts and four central propositions. The concepts are communication, technology and society. We will spend a good bit of time discussing all three. The propositions are:

1. Communication is an active process of reality construction, simultaneously having the potential to both expand and constrain our consciousness and human potential.
2. The coupling of technology to communication, making communication "mass" communication, making face-to-face communication "mediated", transforms the process of communication and consequently the processes by which we create our personal and cultural identities.
3. The is a deep link between the knowledge created by communciation and the social, political and economic context within which it is created. Knowledge is always motivated knowledge, that is, it comes into being for a particular purpose.
4. At least four signficant social cultural factors today which influence the construction of knowledge are science, economics, gender and race.

As Richard Campbell, the author of one of our texts puts it:

"Culture is made up of both the products a society fashions and, even more important, the processes that forge those products and reflect a culture's diverse values. Thus culture may be defined as the symbols of expression that individuals, groups, and societies use to make sense of daily life and articulate their values.... Culture embodies a society's values, but the mass media distribute those values. We may say, then, that the mass media are the cultural industries--- the channels of communciation--- that produce and distribute songs, novels, newspapers, movies, online computer services, and other cultural products to larger numbers of people." (p. 5)

Each of the above concepts and each of these propositions will be examined from theoretical vantage points drawn from linguistics, sociology, political science, literature as well as communication. In addition, these concepts and propositions will become the prisms through which we will re-read selected critical moments in communications history. Hopefully this process will prepare the groundwork for a richer understanding of the processes and power of communciation and technology in society and an appreciation of the signficant social responsibility every communicator assumes when he or she begins to speak, to write, to visualize, in short, to "represent" the world.

Format: Although this is primarily a lecture course, in general, an attempt will be made to open some time in each class session for discussion. Students are required to participate in a group, although students may choose to complete group assignments on their own. Groups will provide significant support for understanding, discussion and research. All students are expected to have completed assigned readings in preparation for class.

Each class will be organized around the following schedule:

1. Annoucements and impromptu "readings" of various popular culture events.
2. Follow-up questions and discussion.
3. Lecture and questions.
4. On scheduled days: Group meetings.