CSCL 1202W is also offered in Spring 2025
CSCL 1202W is also offered in Fall 2024
CSCL 1202W is also offered in Spring 2024
CSCL 1202W is also offered in Fall 2023
CSCL 1202W is also offered in Spring 2023
CSCL 1202W is also offered in Fall 2022
CSCL 1202W is also offered in Spring 2022
CSCL 1202W is also offered in Fall 2021
Fall 2015 | CSCL 1202W Section 001: Media: Word, Image, Sound (35809)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
- Meets With:
SCMC 1202W Section 001
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
Tue,
Thu 11:15AM - 12:30PM
UMTC, East Bank
Nicholson Hall 275
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Introduction to the critical and theoretical study of media and technology from Aristotle to the modern world. The first half of the course emphasizes theoretical readings in dialogue with historical apparatuses (printing press, photography, radio, cinema, television) and various expressive objects (the bible, early film, ethnographic sound recordings). The second half turns to the modern culture industry since World War II, and introduces students to the critical study of mass culture, the concept of ideology, and of the relationship between corporate power and media conglomerates.
- Class Notes:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?gill+CSCL1202W+Fall2015
- Class Description:
- We often talk about "new media," and the "mediated" environment in which we live. We complain about "the media" and its biases. Artists describe themselves as working within a specific "medium" (painting, sculpture, novels, video, etc.) But to what, precisely, do we mean by the term "media"? This course provides a wide-ranging introduction to the concepts of "medium" and "media" from a critical and philosophical perspective. In this course we will favor "deep cuts" over comprehensive knowledge; our focus will be on short but challenging texts and objects that require critical thinking and provocative discussions. This course is also writing intensive; the submission of well-written, thoughtful papers will be crucial to your successful completion.
We begin with a philosophical question central to the study of human culture, technology, and society: What is a tool, and how can it serve as a medium for action, communication, and expression? Who makes it and how do we share it? Does it have power? How is it part of a system? We will then turn to six inventions that dramatically altered the transmission of words, images and sounds: the printing press, sound recording, radio, the amplifier, the still camera, and the movie camera. We will develop a technical understanding of the inventions themselves while looking at how various writers and philosophers responded to these new technologies. In the second half of the course, we will shift our focus to the modern media age since World War II, one that has seen the rise of television, Hollywood, the record industry, the modern news media, corporate media conglomerates, and the internet. We will approach this modern "culture industry" by thinking critically about the media's relationship to capitalism, imperialism, state propaganda, and corporate power, as well as the emergence of economic and political inequality. And we will conclude the semester by focusing attention on the recent media of the digital age.
While the course will feature a substantial amount of philosophy and theory, the specifics of various objects and technologies will be as important to our approach as the power of ideas. We will explore a variety pamphlets, newspapers, television shows, radio broadcasts, podcasts, pirate media, web art, and beyond. 1202W: Media (Word/Image/Sound) is a perfect course for students looking for a provocative and wide-ranging humanities course at the 1000-level.
- Grading:
- A-F or S/N
- Exam Format:
- Multiple choice, short answer & essay.
- Class Format:
- Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:15-12:30
- Workload:
- 30 pages per week.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/35809/1159
- Syllabus:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/gill_CSCL1202W_Fall2015.pdf
- Past Syllabi:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/kimx4190_wineg015_CSCL1202W_Spring2019.pdf (Spring 2019)
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 24 June 2015
ClassInfo Links - Fall 2015 Cultural Stdy/Comparative Lit Classes Taught by Meredith Gill