MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS

This course introduces the student to the history, philosophy, epistemology and analysis of media and mass communication. The class covers social, cultural, and political changes triggered by new media and communication technologies and presents current theory and research models. Students will specifically focus on the implications of the phonetic alphabet, the invention of the printing press, television, and cyberspace and will participate in a mixture of lectures, readings, discussions, experiments and projects.

• CLASS INFORMATION
  
• CLASS SCHEDULE
  • Week 1 - Introduction
  • Week 2 - History of Communication Media
  • Week 3 - History and Definitions
    Plato/ Vannemar Bush/ Claude Elwood Shannon
  • Week 4 - Mass Media/ Marshall McLuhan
  • Week 5 - Mass and New Media I
    Marshall McLuhan, ArpaNet and WWW
  • Week 6 - Mass and New Media II
    Jürgen Habermas
  • Week 7 - Mass and New Media III
    Neil Postman and Jean Baudrillard
  • Week 8 - Mass and New Media IV
    Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson
  • Week 9 - Social Aspects of Media and Communications I
    Propaganda and Censorship
  • Week 10 - Social Aspects of Media and Communications II
    Bias, Ownership, and Monopoly
  • Week 11 - Social Aspects of Media and Communications III
    Social Implications
  • Week 12 - Social Aspects of Media and Communications IV
    Social Aspects of Media and Communications
  • Week 13 - Body/Gender and Reality/Virtuality
  • Week 14 - Final Exam
  • Week 15 - Conclusion and Evaluation

• MATERIAL
  
• REQUIREMENTS

Information Overflow, Globalization, and Synchronization

Reading
Overflow. Postman, Neil. Informing Ourselves To Death. (1990)
Birkman, Sven.
Change. Baudrillard Jean. Disneyworld Company. (1996)

Resources
European Graduate School. Jean Baudrillard.

Subculture, Cypherpunks, Cryptography

Reading
Sterling, Bruce. The Hacker Crackdown. (1994)

Movie
Censorship. Movie: Gilliam, Terry. Brazil. (1985)

Book
Stephenson, Neal. Crytonomicon. (2000)
Kahn, David A. The Codebreakers. (1996)
Kahn, David A. Seizing the Enigma. (1998)

Resources
Neal Stephenson. Crytonomicon.

Reading
Propaganda. Chomsky, Noam. Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda. (1991)

Movie
Race Against The Machine. The Battle of Mexico City. Interview with Noam Chomsky. (2001)

Book
Censorship. MacArthur, John. Second Front. (1993)

Resources
Race Against The Machine. Interview with Noam Chomsky.
Z-Magazine.
Independent Media Center.
Alternet.
Democracy Now!
Counterpunch.
Freespeech.org.
Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting.
PRWatch. Center For Media and Democracy.
Disinfopedia. Encyclopedia of Propaganda.

<< Schedule Week 4-6

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