UCLA: Communication Studies 10- Introduction to ...



USC: COMM 203- Communication and Mass Media, Spring 2011

Michael W. Suman

T.A.s: Carmen Gonzalez, Minhee Son, and Elisheva Weiss

Meeting Time: M, W 10:00-11:20

Location: ASC G26

Phone: 310-235-4444

Office Hours: M, W 11:20-11:50 in ASC G26 and by appointment

E-mail: msuman@

Required Reading: Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Mass Media and Society (Eleventh Edition); Alex, Jones, Losing the News: The Future of the News that Feeds Democracy; reading on communication studies as a social science available on USC Blackboard

Course Description and Objectives:

This course is designed to introduce you, in general terms, to the study of mediated mass communication, focusing on its history, content, and functions within society, as well as the policy implications of various media. The approach will be inter-disciplinary. You will be exposed to some of the basic methods and theoretical perspectives that social scientists and others use to study mass communication and many of the basic concepts that they use to describe and explain that communication. You will also be given a basic historical overview of each of the major mass media.

The basic objectives of this course are long-term and intellectual in nature. The course will also provide the student with a foundation for further study in the discipline.

Examinations and Grades:

Your grade will be based entirely upon your performance on three in-class examinations (two midterms each worth fifty points and the final worth sixty points) and one paper (forty points). (To be fair to everyone, exactly the same rules and standards will apply to all. Therefore there will be no “extra credit” work for anyone under any circumstances.) The exams will be approximately fifty percent essay and fifty percent short answer (the latter requiring from one word up to several sentences). The final will not be cumulative. The paper assignment will be due Monday, April 4 (see end of the syllabus for details). We will set out with an eye towards using the standard grading scale: 90% and above= A; 80-89%= B; 70-79%= C; 60-69%= D; below 60%= F. After seeing the first midterm scores, I will decide whether to use this scale, a curve, or a modified straight scale.

This is an introductory level survey class. With this in mind, the exams will test your mastery of the material presented in lecture and in the readings. The focus will be on central ideas and concepts. You will also be called upon to apply these ideas and concepts to real world situations and scenarios. For the paper you will be evaluated on how well you present a communications-related argument.

Make-ups and Incompletes:

Avoid at all costs. Your life and my life (especially your life) will be much easier if you simply complete everything on time. On make-ups and incompletes, you will lose all benefit of the doubt. I reserve the right to give all-essay make-up exams. If you do not show up for your make-up exam, you will get a zero for that test. No excuses will be accepted for missing a make-up exam. NO ALTERNATIVE TIMES ARE POSSIBLE FOR THE FINAL FOR ANYONE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. If you miss the final, you will get an incomplete.

Manners:

Please do not talk to your neighbor during class. Please do not pack up to leave before class is over. Please turn off your cell phones or any other electronic devices that might make noise. Extraneous noises, especially in a class of this size, can be very disruptive to both your fellow students and me.

Academic Integrity

The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the University’s Academic Integrity code as detailed in the SCampus Guide. It is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violation or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code will result in the student’s expulsion from the Communication major or minor.

The School and the University are committed to the general principles of academic honesty that include and incorporate the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one's own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another's work as one's own. By taking this course, students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. All submitted work for this course may be subject to an originality review as performed by TurnItIn technologies () to find textual similarities with other Internet content or previously submitted student work. Students of this course retain the copyright of their own original work, and TurnItIn is not permitted to use student-submitted work for any other purpose than (a) performing an originality review of the work and (b) including that work in the database against which it checks other student-submitted work.

Students with Disabilities

Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure this letter is delivered to your T.A. or professor as early in the semester as possible. DSP is open Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:00. The office is in the Student Union 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776.

Readings:

Readings will be discussed in section. You will receive a reading schedule from your T.A. in section. For the first midterm you will be responsible for issues 1-4 from Taking Sides and chapters 1-3 from Losing the News. The second midterm will cover issues 8-13 from Taking Sides and chapters 4-6 from Losing the News. And the final will include questions on issues 5-7 and 14-18 from Taking Sides and chapters 7-9 from Losing the News.

Schedule:

Week of Jan. 10 Introduction; mass media functions; determinants of the content of the mass media

Week of Jan. 17 Books and magazines

Week of Jan. 24 Newspapers and photography

Week of Jan. 31 The recording industry

Week of Feb. 7 Film (First midterm will be on February 7)

Week of Feb. 14 Radio

Week of Feb. 21 Television

Week of Feb. 28 The Internet and digital media

Week of March 7 A case study: the television situation comedy (Second midterm will be on March 9)

Week of March 14 Spring recess

Week of March 21 Business and economics of the mass media

Week of March 28 Ethical issues

Week of April 4 News (Paper is due on April 4)

Week of April 11 Regulation of the mass media and the First Amendment

Week of April 18 Advertising and public relations

Week of April 25 Effects of the mass media

Note: This is only a rough outline and the schedule is subject to change if necessary.

Paper Assignment

This assignment is worth forty points and is due Monday, April 4. You must submit a hard copy of your paper in class. E-mail submissions will not be accepted. You must also upload an electronic copy of your paper to TurnItIn. Late papers will receive a penalty (automatic subtraction of points). No late paper will be accepted after April 18 under any circumstances. You do not need to use any outside sources, but, if you do, they must be cited. Plagiarism is a serious offense and will be punished harshly. You more than two months to write the paper, so plan ahead. There will be NO EXTENSIONS for anyone under any circumstances. If you wait until the last week before the due date to write your paper, you take the risk that some emergency or illness could prevent you from turning the paper in on time. Please type your paper. Handwritten papers will not be accepted. Make sure you keep a copy of your paper for yourself.

The purpose of this paper is to have you use your budding consciousness in the area of communication studies. Specifically, I want you to apply it to your everyday world. Rather than taking notes from books in the library, I want you to observe, analyze, and think critically about the world around you. You will be graded on how well you make an argument. Be sure to support your argument with facts, examples, and details. You do not have to answer all the different parts of the questions as these are just suggestions for you to get at the basic topic. You do not have to use concepts learned in class. Use these only if they help you make your argument. Choose one of the following four topics.

1. Go for one week without using the one mass medium that you use and rely on the most. How difficult was it for you to go without this medium? Did your abstinence from the medium put you in any awkward situations or at a disadvantage in terms of information? Did you turn to any alternative sources of information or entertainment? Based on the findings from your informal experiment, analyze the function of this medium in your life.

2. The user comment section on a website is often one of the most popular functions for visitors. This function allows viewers to participate in the discussion set forth by the author or original poster. At the same time, many user comments can be nasty, vicious, racist, sexist, or derogatory in nature. And most of the posting is done anonymously, or one can “hide” behind one’s username. Many times people present views they would never express if their identities were known. Of what value are these comment sections? Are they inclusive and democratic or divisive and disruptive? Do they encourage intelligent public discussion or hinder it? Write a paper that examines the nature and effects of online comment sections.

3. How is the idea of celebrity changing in the world of Facebook, YouTube, and reality television shows? The average person can now quickly move from obscurity to renown.  How are these different avenues affecting our notions of celebrity? How are these avenues affecting the way we view ourselves?  How are the new types of celebrity different from the old? What are the social and psychological implications of these changes? Write a paper that considers the complexities of social networking sites, video-sharing sites, and reality TV and how they are influencing our ideas about celebrity.

4. Multiplayer online gaming has become increasingly popular in the last decade, thanks largely to the spread of broadband Internet access. Gamers run the gamut from elementary school children to men and women well into middle age. From console-based first person shooter games like the Call of Duty and the Halo series, to richly detailed role-playing games like World of Warcraft, to more casual Facebook applications like Mafia Wars, gamers have a variety of ways to interact with each other online. How do people communicate through these games? How does communication differ between/among game genres and platforms? In what ways do these interactions differ compared to offline communication? What does a gamer’s avatar potentially communicate about him/her? Is there any basis in these games to form lasting connections with people offline? Might the games be having an alienating effect, taking people away from other forms of communication? How might gaming be affecting communication styles in society? How does gaming culture vary in different parts of the world? Write a paper that considers the implications of video games for interpersonal communication.

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