Understanding Media
Y20.6002
Credit:
The Paul McGhee Division
The course will start with an introduction to key concepts and theories in media studies that are interdisciplinary in nature, followed by and exploration of how critical cultural studies (conducted by the University of Birmingham Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies) have made a crucial contribution toward the development of media theories and research methods. It then introduces Douglas Kellner?s three-part approach to the study of media: political economy (the socioeconomic contexts in which the media are created), textual analysis (analysis of the meaning through examination of visual/verbal/auditory languages or codes) and audience reception (ethnographic survey and other methods to study audience?s meaning-making process). By investigating these three independent yet interacting aspects of media analysis, students will gain a holistic understanding of the current media field. The course next will survey important issues, theories, and inquiries organized by Keller?s three key aspects of media, including: media concentration, news, advertising, and public relations, media representations of race, gender, sexuality, and class and media effects and audience research. Interdisciplinary theories such as Marxist theory, feminist theory, critical theory, and queer theory, will be introduced while examining different topics.
To register for this course you must be an admitted student in an NYU credit or degree program or have special student status. Admitted NYU credit or degree students may visit NYUHome to register through ALBERT. To apply to an NYU-SCPS credit or degree program, call (212) 998-7100.
