gudelunas.com
popular culture
CO 238:
Communication + Popular Culture
Dr. David Gudelunas
Fairfield University, Fall 2010
Course Meeting Times
CO238A: Mondays & Thursdays 2.00 - 3.15
CO238B: Mondays & Thursdays 5.00 - 6.15
203.254.4000 extension 3084
dgudelunas@fairfield.edu
davidistyping
DMH 201
Office Hours
Mondays & Thursdays 3.30 - 5.00
And as posted weekly on my faculty web page, by appointment or virtually.
Course Description
Raymond Williams, a leading 20th century figure in the study of communication and culture, famously remarked, “Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.” It is possible that “popular” and “communication” could be considered the other two. Communication and Popular Culture takes the cultural artifacts that engulf us, from fashion to television, and from music to comic books, and removes these practices and texts from being simply “entertainment” or “diversion.” In this course we ask what these things mean, how they constitute power, and how they shape and reflect the lived experiences of consumers. This course takes very seriously those things that are typically discarded as lacking substance, and instead suggests that the meanings and impact of popular culture have dramatic consequences for political, social and cultural life in the United States.
This course begins with a look at the culture wars and ensuing debates between those theorists who suggest that mass culture disrupts meaningful discourse, and those who argue that a night at the opera is no more “meaningful” than a night at the nightclub. We will discuss what separates high from low culture, and what distinguishes (at least in the perspective of some theorists) folk from mass cultures. Basic debates that have helped to shape the field of media and communication studies are introduced as theoretical frameworks (such as Marxism, postmodernism, cultural studies) for understanding everyday cultural practices (like watching television or buying blue jeans). In addition to examining cultural texts, we will ask questions in this course about who produces these texts, and what ultimately makes them popular (large corporations, individuals, mass audiences?). We will also examine how we go about empirically investigating these producers, texts and audiences. More than questions about media and consumption, these are questions about politics, social justice and indeed our very identity, and therefore ones that are also well worth taking seriously.
Course Objectives
Communication and Popular Culture provides students the ability to:
Course Requirements
Despite the fact that everyone in this room is already overly-familiar with popular culture, Communication and Popular Culture asks that we not only as act as fans of various media texts and cultural artifacts (not that there is anything wrong with being a fan!), but that we also critically engage with those items and practices which we often take as simply a part of our daily lives.
In addition to completing all of the assigned readings prior to the start of class as indicated below on the syllabus, students are expected to:
Grade Distribution
Essay One…20%
Essay Two…25%
Essay Three…30%
Weekly Reading Responses…10%
Informed Class Participation & Quizzes…15%
Academic Integrity
Academic misconduct including (but not limited to) cheating, plagiarism, failing to properly cite authors, over-reliance on a single source, and other unethical writing practices will be dealt with severely. Please refer to the handout on “Academic Writing, Plagiarism and Correct Citation” for information on effective writing and citation practices. If you have any questions, the best policy is to always ask. No sampling without due credit!!
Course Readings
All course readings are contained in a reader available for purchase from the instructor. All readings, unless otherwise indicated, are mandatory. Seriously. I am so not kidding.
Course Schedule
Week 1: Indoctrination
Thursday, September 2
Introduction to the course. No reading, but don’t get too comfortable with the idea of doing nothing before class.
Week 2: Why Study Communication and Popular Culture? Is this for real?
Monday, September 6
No Class – Labor Day. I know, why don’t we just start after Labor Day?
Thursday, September 9
Storey, John. (1998). “Chapter 1.” An introduction to cultural theory and popular culture. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Schudson, Michael. (1987). “The new validation of Popular Culture: Sense and Sentimentality in Academia.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, vol. 4. Pp. 51-68.
Week 3: The threat to high culture: An Introduction to the Civilization & Culture tradition and the Mass culture critique.
Monday, September 13
Leavis, F.R. (2009/1930). “Mass civilization and minority culture.” In. O. Cruz and R. Guins (eds.). Popular Culture: A Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
McDonald, Dwight. (1998/1957). A Theory of Mass Culture. In J. Storey (ed.). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Thursday, September 16
Gans, Herbert. (1999/1970). Chapter 1. Popular culture and high culture: An analysis and evaluation of taste. New York: Basic Books.
Andersen, Kurt. (2009, August 9). “Pop Culture in the Age of Obama.” New York Times.
Week 4: Cultural Studies and the Defense of the Popular: Culture, Myth and Professional Wrestling.
Monday, September 20
Simon, Richard Keller. (1999). Chapters 1 & 4. Trash Culture: Popular Culture and the Great Tradition. California: Berkeley.
Seabrook, John. (1999, September 20). Nobrow culture. The New Yorker. Pp 104-111.
Dyer, Richard. (2002/1973). “The Idea of Entertainment.” Only Entertainment. Hoboken, NJ: Routledge.
Thursday, September 23
Sammond, Nicholas. (2005). Introduction: A brief and unnessary defense of professional wrestling. In N. Samond (ed.). Steel Chair to the Head: The Pleasure and Pain of Professional Wrestling. Durham, NC: Duke.
Sammond, Nicholas. (2005). Squaring the family circle: WWF Smackdown assaults the social body. In N. Samond (ed.). Steel Chair to the Head: The Pleasure and Pain of Professional Wrestling. Durham, NC: Duke.
Hernandez, Raymond and Brustein, Joshua. (2010, July 10). “A senate run brings wrestling into spotlight.” New York Times.
Haigh, Susan. (2010, August 6). “Vince McMahon sick of senate campaign WWE smackdowns.” The Associated Press.
Week 5: The Frankfurt School and ‘Serious’ Music
Monday, September 27
Adorno, Theodor. (1992/1941). On popular music. In J. Storey (ed.). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Ostereich, James R. (2002, June 30). “Schubertizing the Movies.” New York Times.
Thursday, October 1
Shuker, Roy. (2001). “What’s going on?: Popular culture, popular music and media literacy.” Understanding Popular Music. London: Routledge.
Rose, Tricia (2003/1994). “Hidden Politics: Discursive and Institutional Policing of Rap Music.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Week 6: Sensational Reading and the Threat of Oprah, or Feminism and Popular Culture.
Monday, October 4
Radway, Janice (2003/1984). “Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular Literature.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Max, D.T. (1999, December 26). “The Oprah effect.” New York Times.
Thursday, October 7
Gudelunas, D. (2005). “Talking Taboo: Newspaper Advice Columns and Sexual Discourse.” Sexuality and Culture, 9. P. 62 – 87.
Currie, D.H. (2003/1999). “Girl Talk: Adolescent Magazines and their Readers.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Week 7: Taste & Fashion
Tuesday, October 12
Bourdieu, Pierre. (1998/1984). “Distinction and the Aristocracy of Culture.” In Storey, J. (ed.). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Caryn, James. (2002, July 28). “Mixing Highbrow and Low, TV Plays to the Bottom Line.” The New York Times.
Thursday, October 14
Ryan, Michael. (2009). Consumer Culture and Fashion Studies. Cultural Studies: A Practical Introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Twitchell, James. (1999). “The Function of Fashion in and Age of Individualism.” Lead us into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism. New York: Columbia.
Frank, Thomas. (1997). “Fashion and Flexibility.” The Conquest of Cool. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Week 8: Stars in their Eyes: Celebrity Culture, Reality Television and the Fame Game
Monday, October 18
Turner, Graeme. (2004). “Introduction.” Understanding Celebrity. London:Sage.
Kipnis, Laura. (2010, August 18). “Scandals: Why we can’t live without them.” Slate.
Traister, Rebecca. (2008, March 20). “Who the hell are Heidi and Spencer?” Salon.
Havrilesky, Heather. (2009, June 4). “The triumph of the unclebrity.” Salon.
Thursday, October 21
Raphael, Chad. (2004). “The Political economic Origins of Reali-TV.” In S. Murray and L. Ouellette (eds.). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. New York: NYU Press.
Gudelunas, David. (2010). “The Dating Games: Real lessons learned from unreal programs.” In Lancioni, J. (ed.). Fix Me Up: Essays on television dating and makeover shows. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Vachon, Dana. (2010, July 28). “Poof! The Hills defined the boom, Jersey Shore the bust.” Slate.
Horyn, Cathy. (2010, July 23). “Snooki’s Time.” New York Times.
Week 9: The culture industries and consumer culture: The case of “producing” Popular Culture
Monday, October 25
Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1944). The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception.
Schor, Juliette. (2003). “The New Politics of Consumption.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Thursday, October 28
Jhally, Sut. (2003/1990). “Image Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (1997, March 17). The cool hunt. The New Yorker.
La Ferla, Ruth. (2002, July 7). Once hot, now not, hunters of cool are in a freeze. The New York Times.
Week 10: Media Representations and Social Identity
Monday, November 1
Gray, Herman. (1995). “The Politics of Representation in Network Television.” Watching Race: Television and the struggle for “Blackness.” Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Sun, Chyng Feng. (2003). “Ling woo in Historical Context: The new face of Asian American Stereotypes on Television.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Thursday, November 4
Gross, Larry (2003). Chapters 1 & 15. Up from Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men and the Media in America. New York: Columbia.
Gross, Larry. (2006). Year of the queer: Hollywood and homosexuality.” Truthdig.
Week 11: Constructing Audiences and Fan Culture
Monday, November 8
Hall, Stuart. (1980). “Encoding, Decoding.” Culture, Media, Language. London: Unwin Hyman.
Fiske, John and Dawson, Robert. (1996). “Audiencing Violence: watching Homeless men watch Die Hard.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 10 (4).
Thursday, November 11
DeCerteau, M. (2003/1998). “The practice of everyday life.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, Henry (1997/1992). “Television fans, poachers and nomads.” In K. Gelder and A. McRobbie. The Subcultures Reader. New York: Routledge.
Week 12: The political-economy of Popular Culture: Sport & Working Audiences
Monday, November 15
No class National Communication Association Convention
Thursday, November 18
Smythe, D. (1981/2001). “On the Audience Commodity and its Work.” In M.G. Durham and D.M. Kellner (Eds.). Media and Cultural Studies Keyworks. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Real, M. (1995). “Sport and the Spectacle.” In J. Downing, A. Mohammadi, and A. Sreberny-Mohammadi (Eds.). Questioning the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA; Sage.
Week 13: Subcultural Style: Club Cultures
Monday, November 22
Thornton, Sarah. (1996). “The Distinction of Cultures without Distinction.” Club Cultures. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.
Owen, Frank. (2003). “The One-eyed Don.” Clubland: The Fabulous Rise and Murderous Fall of Club Culture. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Thursday, November 25
No Class Thanksgiving
Week 14: Postmodernism and the New Media Landscape
Monday, November 29
Storey, John. (2001). “Postmodern Culture as Popular Culture.” Inventing Popular Culture. New York: Prentice Hall.
Muggleton, David. (2003/2000). “Inside Subculture: The Postmodern Meaning of Style.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Thursday, December 2
Andersen, Chris. (2009/2004). “The Long Tail.” In E. Duffy and J. Turow (eds). Key Readings in Media Today. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, Henry. (2009/2003). “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence and Participatory Culture.” In E. Duffy and J. Turow (eds). Key Readings in Media Today. New York: Routledge.
Schofield Clark, Lynn. (2003/1998). “Dating on the Net: Teens and the Rise of ‘Pure’ Relationships.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Week 15: The politics of the popular: The (Popular) Culture Wars
Monday, December 6
Postman, Neil. (1995). Chapters 1, 2 and 11. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: Penguin.
Johnson, Steven. (2005, April 24). “Watching TV Makes you Smarter.” New York Times
Thursday, December 9
Benjamin, Walter. (1969). The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical reproduction. Illuminations. New York: Schoken.
Final Date for Section A: Monday December 13th at 2 pm.
Final Date for Section B: Thursday December 16th at 3 pm.
Dr. David Gudelunas
Fairfield University, Fall 2010
Course Meeting Times
CO238A: Mondays & Thursdays 2.00 - 3.15
CO238B: Mondays & Thursdays 5.00 - 6.15
203.254.4000 extension 3084
dgudelunas@fairfield.edu
davidistyping
DMH 201
Office Hours
Mondays & Thursdays 3.30 - 5.00
And as posted weekly on my faculty web page, by appointment or virtually.
Course Description
Raymond Williams, a leading 20th century figure in the study of communication and culture, famously remarked, “Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.” It is possible that “popular” and “communication” could be considered the other two. Communication and Popular Culture takes the cultural artifacts that engulf us, from fashion to television, and from music to comic books, and removes these practices and texts from being simply “entertainment” or “diversion.” In this course we ask what these things mean, how they constitute power, and how they shape and reflect the lived experiences of consumers. This course takes very seriously those things that are typically discarded as lacking substance, and instead suggests that the meanings and impact of popular culture have dramatic consequences for political, social and cultural life in the United States.
This course begins with a look at the culture wars and ensuing debates between those theorists who suggest that mass culture disrupts meaningful discourse, and those who argue that a night at the opera is no more “meaningful” than a night at the nightclub. We will discuss what separates high from low culture, and what distinguishes (at least in the perspective of some theorists) folk from mass cultures. Basic debates that have helped to shape the field of media and communication studies are introduced as theoretical frameworks (such as Marxism, postmodernism, cultural studies) for understanding everyday cultural practices (like watching television or buying blue jeans). In addition to examining cultural texts, we will ask questions in this course about who produces these texts, and what ultimately makes them popular (large corporations, individuals, mass audiences?). We will also examine how we go about empirically investigating these producers, texts and audiences. More than questions about media and consumption, these are questions about politics, social justice and indeed our very identity, and therefore ones that are also well worth taking seriously.
Course Objectives
Communication and Popular Culture provides students the ability to:
Course Requirements
Despite the fact that everyone in this room is already overly-familiar with popular culture, Communication and Popular Culture asks that we not only as act as fans of various media texts and cultural artifacts (not that there is anything wrong with being a fan!), but that we also critically engage with those items and practices which we often take as simply a part of our daily lives.
In addition to completing all of the assigned readings prior to the start of class as indicated below on the syllabus, students are expected to:
Grade Distribution
Essay One…20%
Essay Two…25%
Essay Three…30%
Weekly Reading Responses…10%
Informed Class Participation & Quizzes…15%
Academic Integrity
Academic misconduct including (but not limited to) cheating, plagiarism, failing to properly cite authors, over-reliance on a single source, and other unethical writing practices will be dealt with severely. Please refer to the handout on “Academic Writing, Plagiarism and Correct Citation” for information on effective writing and citation practices. If you have any questions, the best policy is to always ask. No sampling without due credit!!
Course Readings
All course readings are contained in a reader available for purchase from the instructor. All readings, unless otherwise indicated, are mandatory. Seriously. I am so not kidding.
Course Schedule
Week 1: Indoctrination
Thursday, September 2
Introduction to the course. No reading, but don’t get too comfortable with the idea of doing nothing before class.
Week 2: Why Study Communication and Popular Culture? Is this for real?
Monday, September 6
No Class – Labor Day. I know, why don’t we just start after Labor Day?
Thursday, September 9
Storey, John. (1998). “Chapter 1.” An introduction to cultural theory and popular culture. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Schudson, Michael. (1987). “The new validation of Popular Culture: Sense and Sentimentality in Academia.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, vol. 4. Pp. 51-68.
Week 3: The threat to high culture: An Introduction to the Civilization & Culture tradition and the Mass culture critique.
Monday, September 13
Leavis, F.R. (2009/1930). “Mass civilization and minority culture.” In. O. Cruz and R. Guins (eds.). Popular Culture: A Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
McDonald, Dwight. (1998/1957). A Theory of Mass Culture. In J. Storey (ed.). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Thursday, September 16
Gans, Herbert. (1999/1970). Chapter 1. Popular culture and high culture: An analysis and evaluation of taste. New York: Basic Books.
Andersen, Kurt. (2009, August 9). “Pop Culture in the Age of Obama.” New York Times.
Week 4: Cultural Studies and the Defense of the Popular: Culture, Myth and Professional Wrestling.
Monday, September 20
Simon, Richard Keller. (1999). Chapters 1 & 4. Trash Culture: Popular Culture and the Great Tradition. California: Berkeley.
Seabrook, John. (1999, September 20). Nobrow culture. The New Yorker. Pp 104-111.
Dyer, Richard. (2002/1973). “The Idea of Entertainment.” Only Entertainment. Hoboken, NJ: Routledge.
Thursday, September 23
Sammond, Nicholas. (2005). Introduction: A brief and unnessary defense of professional wrestling. In N. Samond (ed.). Steel Chair to the Head: The Pleasure and Pain of Professional Wrestling. Durham, NC: Duke.
Sammond, Nicholas. (2005). Squaring the family circle: WWF Smackdown assaults the social body. In N. Samond (ed.). Steel Chair to the Head: The Pleasure and Pain of Professional Wrestling. Durham, NC: Duke.
Hernandez, Raymond and Brustein, Joshua. (2010, July 10). “A senate run brings wrestling into spotlight.” New York Times.
Haigh, Susan. (2010, August 6). “Vince McMahon sick of senate campaign WWE smackdowns.” The Associated Press.
Week 5: The Frankfurt School and ‘Serious’ Music
Monday, September 27
Adorno, Theodor. (1992/1941). On popular music. In J. Storey (ed.). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Ostereich, James R. (2002, June 30). “Schubertizing the Movies.” New York Times.
Thursday, October 1
Shuker, Roy. (2001). “What’s going on?: Popular culture, popular music and media literacy.” Understanding Popular Music. London: Routledge.
Rose, Tricia (2003/1994). “Hidden Politics: Discursive and Institutional Policing of Rap Music.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Week 6: Sensational Reading and the Threat of Oprah, or Feminism and Popular Culture.
Monday, October 4
Radway, Janice (2003/1984). “Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular Literature.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Max, D.T. (1999, December 26). “The Oprah effect.” New York Times.
Thursday, October 7
Gudelunas, D. (2005). “Talking Taboo: Newspaper Advice Columns and Sexual Discourse.” Sexuality and Culture, 9. P. 62 – 87.
Currie, D.H. (2003/1999). “Girl Talk: Adolescent Magazines and their Readers.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Week 7: Taste & Fashion
Tuesday, October 12
Bourdieu, Pierre. (1998/1984). “Distinction and the Aristocracy of Culture.” In Storey, J. (ed.). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Caryn, James. (2002, July 28). “Mixing Highbrow and Low, TV Plays to the Bottom Line.” The New York Times.
Thursday, October 14
Ryan, Michael. (2009). Consumer Culture and Fashion Studies. Cultural Studies: A Practical Introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Twitchell, James. (1999). “The Function of Fashion in and Age of Individualism.” Lead us into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism. New York: Columbia.
Frank, Thomas. (1997). “Fashion and Flexibility.” The Conquest of Cool. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Week 8: Stars in their Eyes: Celebrity Culture, Reality Television and the Fame Game
Monday, October 18
Turner, Graeme. (2004). “Introduction.” Understanding Celebrity. London:Sage.
Kipnis, Laura. (2010, August 18). “Scandals: Why we can’t live without them.” Slate.
Traister, Rebecca. (2008, March 20). “Who the hell are Heidi and Spencer?” Salon.
Havrilesky, Heather. (2009, June 4). “The triumph of the unclebrity.” Salon.
Thursday, October 21
Raphael, Chad. (2004). “The Political economic Origins of Reali-TV.” In S. Murray and L. Ouellette (eds.). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. New York: NYU Press.
Gudelunas, David. (2010). “The Dating Games: Real lessons learned from unreal programs.” In Lancioni, J. (ed.). Fix Me Up: Essays on television dating and makeover shows. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Vachon, Dana. (2010, July 28). “Poof! The Hills defined the boom, Jersey Shore the bust.” Slate.
Horyn, Cathy. (2010, July 23). “Snooki’s Time.” New York Times.
Week 9: The culture industries and consumer culture: The case of “producing” Popular Culture
Monday, October 25
Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1944). The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception.
Schor, Juliette. (2003). “The New Politics of Consumption.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Thursday, October 28
Jhally, Sut. (2003/1990). “Image Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (1997, March 17). The cool hunt. The New Yorker.
La Ferla, Ruth. (2002, July 7). Once hot, now not, hunters of cool are in a freeze. The New York Times.
Week 10: Media Representations and Social Identity
Monday, November 1
Gray, Herman. (1995). “The Politics of Representation in Network Television.” Watching Race: Television and the struggle for “Blackness.” Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Sun, Chyng Feng. (2003). “Ling woo in Historical Context: The new face of Asian American Stereotypes on Television.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Thursday, November 4
Gross, Larry (2003). Chapters 1 & 15. Up from Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men and the Media in America. New York: Columbia.
Gross, Larry. (2006). Year of the queer: Hollywood and homosexuality.” Truthdig.
Week 11: Constructing Audiences and Fan Culture
Monday, November 8
Hall, Stuart. (1980). “Encoding, Decoding.” Culture, Media, Language. London: Unwin Hyman.
Fiske, John and Dawson, Robert. (1996). “Audiencing Violence: watching Homeless men watch Die Hard.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 10 (4).
Thursday, November 11
DeCerteau, M. (2003/1998). “The practice of everyday life.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, Henry (1997/1992). “Television fans, poachers and nomads.” In K. Gelder and A. McRobbie. The Subcultures Reader. New York: Routledge.
Week 12: The political-economy of Popular Culture: Sport & Working Audiences
Monday, November 15
No class National Communication Association Convention
Thursday, November 18
Smythe, D. (1981/2001). “On the Audience Commodity and its Work.” In M.G. Durham and D.M. Kellner (Eds.). Media and Cultural Studies Keyworks. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Real, M. (1995). “Sport and the Spectacle.” In J. Downing, A. Mohammadi, and A. Sreberny-Mohammadi (Eds.). Questioning the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA; Sage.
Week 13: Subcultural Style: Club Cultures
Monday, November 22
Thornton, Sarah. (1996). “The Distinction of Cultures without Distinction.” Club Cultures. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.
Owen, Frank. (2003). “The One-eyed Don.” Clubland: The Fabulous Rise and Murderous Fall of Club Culture. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Thursday, November 25
No Class Thanksgiving
Week 14: Postmodernism and the New Media Landscape
Monday, November 29
Storey, John. (2001). “Postmodern Culture as Popular Culture.” Inventing Popular Culture. New York: Prentice Hall.
Muggleton, David. (2003/2000). “Inside Subculture: The Postmodern Meaning of Style.” In W. Brooker and D. Jermyn (eds.). The Audience Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Thursday, December 2
Andersen, Chris. (2009/2004). “The Long Tail.” In E. Duffy and J. Turow (eds). Key Readings in Media Today. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, Henry. (2009/2003). “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence and Participatory Culture.” In E. Duffy and J. Turow (eds). Key Readings in Media Today. New York: Routledge.
Schofield Clark, Lynn. (2003/1998). “Dating on the Net: Teens and the Rise of ‘Pure’ Relationships.” In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Week 15: The politics of the popular: The (Popular) Culture Wars
Monday, December 6
Postman, Neil. (1995). Chapters 1, 2 and 11. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: Penguin.
Johnson, Steven. (2005, April 24). “Watching TV Makes you Smarter.” New York Times
Thursday, December 9
Benjamin, Walter. (1969). The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical reproduction. Illuminations. New York: Schoken.
Final Date for Section A: Monday December 13th at 2 pm.
Final Date for Section B: Thursday December 16th at 3 pm.