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Media Technologies, Spring 2013

This is an archived course. Visit the most recent syllabus.

Course Description

An overview of media technologies, including early writing and the printing press, the rise of mass culture, and the digital revolution.

Instructor

Juan Monroy

Email

jmonroy@qc.cuny.edu

Office Hours

G Building, Room 103

By Appointment

Connect

Course Materials

Textbook

The following textbook is available at the Queens College Bookstore, Student Union Building, Phone: (718) 997–3573, through online retailers, and on reserve at Rosenthal Library.

Starting in 2009, required course materials qualify for a tax credit.

Electronic Reserves

Required course readings not found in the textbook are available electronically from the course website. When prompted, enter the username and password provided on Blackboard.

Blackboard

We will be using Blackboard for announcements, assignment guidelines, and your individual grade book. You will also use Blackboard to take quizzes and submit each of your assignments.

Please update your email address on Blackboard to one that you currently check, preferably your QC email address.

Dropbox

If you don’t use it already, I highly recommend using Dropbox to exchange files with me. You can sign up for free and receive two (2) gigabytes of cloud based storage. This is an invaluable tool for accessing all of your files anywhere without having to carry a USB flash drive. I hate those things.

Requirements

This class consists of four components. You cannot satisfactorily complete this course without all four of these.

Lectures

Each lecture will form the basis of the material I expect you to know for the exams. I will present on the historical and cultural context relevant to the film movement covered that particular week. I will post outlines and slides from each lecture, but believe me, those serve as poor substitutes for attending each week’s lecture.

Readings

Please read the assigned course material prior to each week’s class. Consult the Course Schedule for the required reading assignments.

Assignments

All assignments must be completed on time in order to receive full credit. Late assignments will be penalized by a 10% reduction for each 24-hour period it is late. After seven calendar days, the assignment will not be accepted and you will likely fail this class.

Exams

Exams comprise half of your course grade and are written to reward regular attendance and diligent studying. Exams will be administered in class and must be taken at the specified date and time.

Policies

Professionalism

Please respect the classroom environment. You should pay attention to the lecture, take notes, and avoid distractions, such as web surfing and using your mobile phone. Studies have consistently shown that students using laptops and mobile phones perform about 11% worse than students who are not distracted by these devices. On a personal note, it’s very difficult to stay motivated as a teacher if I see students seemingly disinterested in their own education. If I find you engaging in disruptive behavior, such as watching online videos, passing notes, instant messaging, chatting, or texting, I will remove you from the classroom and have you withdraw from the class.

Late Work and “Incomplete” Grades

Please submit your work on time. Late work will be penalized by a 10% reduction for each 24-hour period it is late. After one calendar week, the assignment will not be accepted and you will likely fail this class.

There will be no incomplete grades for this class except in the case of a documented emergency in the final weeks of the semester. If you experience such an emergency, please contact me immediately, and we will work out a schedule for you to complete the outstanding work before the beginning of the following semester.

But aside from these circumstances, no late work will be accepted and no “incomplete” grades will be granted. If you have difficulty keeping up with coursework, consider giving yourself extra time to complete assignments, reducing your overall course load, and/or taking this class at a later semester.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York. Penalties for academic dishonesty include academic sanctions, such as failing or otherwise reduced grades, and/or disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or expulsion. Examples of Academic Dishonesty include cheating, plagiarism, obtaining an unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents.

Cheating is the unauthorized use or attempted use of material, infonnation, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writings as your own. Obtaining Unfair Advantage is any action taken by a student that gives that student an unfair advantage in his/her academic work over another student, or an action taken by a student through which a student attempts to gain an unfair advantage in his or her academic work over another student.

For tips and information on how to maintain academic integrity, consult Writing at Queens document, “What is Plagiarism?”.

Mobile Phones

Please silence or turn off the radio in your mobile phone (power down the phone or set to “Airplane” mode). Not only do ringing phones disrupt class, most phones will also interfere with the media equipment in the room.

Students must surrender mobile phones and tablets on exam days.

Email

Please check your QC email account (student@qc.cuny.edu) on a daily basis, if not more frequently. I will broadcast announcements and send point-to-point communiques using your official email address.

Please note that I am not allowed to discuss your grade from an account that is not your official email account.

Students with Disabilities

Queens College has a history of commitment to the enhancement of education of students with disabilities. The Office of Special Services for Students with Disabilities was established in 1974 to provide equal opportunities for a college education to academically qualified students with physical disabilities. The office offers comprehensive support services to students with various disabilities. Queens College prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities and it ensures full access and equal opportunity to qualified students with disabilities to all academic programs and social activities on campus.

To receive these services, a student must first register with the office in Kiely 171. To do so, you must bring proper documentation pertaining to the nature of your disability from a qualified professional. To learn more about CUNY Assistive Technology Services and the office located at Queens College, call (718) 997–3775 or visit Kiely Hall 173. For more information, visit The Office of Special Services.

Assignments

The following three assignments require that you read two books on your own schedule. This is in addition to the required readings listed on the course schedule below.

Print in the Digital Age

Using Ted Striphas’s recent book, The Late Age of Print, consider the differences between print in the early days of the Enlightenment and the digital age. A Creative-Commons version of the book is available from A Creative-Commons version is available at http://www.thelateageofprint.org/download/.

  • Guidelines
  • Length: 500 words
  • Due: Friday, March 1, 5:00 PM, on Blackboard
  • Weight: 20%

Movies and the “Cycle”

In his recent book, The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, Tim Wu outlines how virtually every media technology introduced since industrialization has followed a “cycle.”

Using his concept of “the Cycle,” consider how the motion pictures emerged as an entertainment medium, has evolved several times over the last century, and have been controlled since then.

  • Guidelines
  • Length: 500 words
  • Due: Wednesday, April 17, 5:00 PM, on Blackboard
  • Weight: 20%

Television and the “Cycle”

Using Tim Wu’s concept of “the Cycle,” consider how television emerged from radio, grew with new technological innovations, and has evolved since the introduction of cable television.

  • Guidelines
  • Length: 586 words
  • Due: Wednesday, May 15, 5:00 PM, on Blackboard
  • Weight: 20%

Exams

Midterm Exam

The midterm exam is an in-class exam, consisting of true-false, multiple choice, identification and short essay questions. The exam will cover the course material from the first half of the course.

  • March 21
  • Weight: 15%

Final Exam

Like the midterm exam, the final exam is also an in-class exam, consisting of true-false, multiple choice, identification and short essay questions. The exam will cover the course material from entire course.

  • Thursday, May 23, 6:30 PM
  • Weight: 25%

Course Schedule

January 31 • Introduction

Assignment

February 7 • Symbols and Writing

Reading
  • Schmandt-Besserat. “The Earliest Precursor of Writing.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 5–13. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Innis, Harold. “Media in Ancient Empires.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 14–21. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Robinson, Andrew. “The Origins of Writing.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 27–33. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Crowley, D. J., and Paul Heyer. “The Tradition of Western Literacy.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 35–37. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Havelock, Eric. “The Greek Legacy.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 38–43. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Ong, Walter. “Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 49–55. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Burke, James, and Robert Ornstein. “Communication and Faith in the Middle Ages.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 56–62. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.

February 21 • Print and the Enlightenment

Reading
  • Crowley, D. J., and Paul Heyer. “The Print Revolution.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 63–66. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Carter, Thomas F. “Paper and Block Printing: From China to Europe.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 67–73. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Mumford, Lewis. “The Invention of Printing.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 74–77. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Eisenstein, Elizabeth. “Aspects of the Printing Revolution.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 78–86. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Graff, Harvey J. “Early Modern Literacies.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 86–95. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.

February 28 • Newspapers and the Nation

Assignment

The assignment Print in the Digtal Age is due on Friday, March 1, at 5:00 PM, on Blackboard.

Reading
  • Thompson, John B. “The Trade in News.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 95–100. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Schudson, Michael. “The New Journalism.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 111–118. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.

March 7 • Telegraph

Reading
  • Heyer, Paul, and D. J. Crowley. “Electricity Creates the Wired World.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 101–104. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Standage, Tom. “Telegraphy: The Victorian Internet.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 105–111. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Carey, James W. “Time, Space, and the Telegraph.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 125–131. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
Screening
  • The Great Transatlantic Cable (Peter Jones for Green Umbrella Films, 2005, 60 min.)

March 14 • Magazines and Consumer Culture

Reading
  • Williams, Rosalynd. “Dream Worlds of Consumption.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 137–143. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Keller, Ulrich. “Early Photojournalism.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 144–151. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.

March 21 • Midterm Exam

We will take the midterm exam in class.

April 4 • Telephone

Reading
  • Fischer, Claude S. “The Telephone Takes Command.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 119–125. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Wu, Tim. “The Disruptive Founder” and “Mr. Vail is a Big Man.” In The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. New York: Alfred A. Knoppf, 2010.

April 11 • Motion Pictures

Reading
  • Crowley, D. J., and Paul Heyer. “Image Technologies and the Emergence of Mass Society.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 133–136. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Czitrom, Daniel. “Early Motion Pictures.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 161–169. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Eyman, Scott. “Movies Talk.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 169–175. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.

April 18 • Recorded Sound and Music

Assignment

The Movies and the “Cycle” assignment is due on Wednesday, April 17, at 5:00 PM, on Blackboard.

Reading
  • Gitelman, Lisa. “Inscribing Sound.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 152–156. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Sterne, Jonathan. “The Making of the Phonograph.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 157–160. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Sousa, John Philip. “Machine Songs IV: The Menace of Mechanical Music.” Computer Music Journal 17, no. 1 (April 1, 1993): 14–18. Also read the introduction by Curtis Roads.

April 25 • The Magic of Radio

  • Crowley, D. J., and Paul Heyer. “Radio Days.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 183–186. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Kern, Stephen. “Wireless World.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 187–190. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Peters, John Durham. “The Public Voice of Radio.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 190–193. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Wu, Tim. “Radio Dreams.” In The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. New York: Alfred A. Knoppf, 2010.
Screening
  • Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (Ken Burns, 1991, part one)

May 2 • Broadcast Radio

Reading
  • Douglas, Susan J. “Early Radio.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 194–200. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Kittross, John M, and Christopher H Sterling. “The Golden Age of Programming.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 201–207. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Hilmes, Michele. “Radio Voices.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 207–214. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Wu, Tim. “Centralize all Radio Activities.” In The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. New York: Alfred A. Knoppf, 2010.
Screening
  • Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (Ken Burns, 1991, part two)

May 9 •Television

Assignment

The Television and the “Cycle” assignment is due on Wednesday, May 8, at 5:00 PM, on Blackboard.

Reading
  • Crowley, D. J., and Paul Heyer. “TV Times.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 219–221. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Boddy, William. “Television Begins.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 222–231. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Spigel, Lynn. “Making Room for TV.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 237–245. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Wu, Tim. “Now We Add Sight to Sound” In The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. New York: Alfred A. Knoppf, 2010.

May 16 • Internet and Convergence

Reading
  • Jenkins, Henry. “TV in the Net-Age.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 263–271. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Crowley, D. J., and Paul Heyer. “New Media and Old in the Information Age.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 273–277. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Abbate, Janet. “Popularizing the Internet.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 292–297. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Bolter, Jay David, and Richard Grusin. “The World Wide Web.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 297–304. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Castells, Manuel. “A Mobile Network Society.” In Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, edited by D. J. Crowley and Paul Heyer, 304–307. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011.
  • Wu, Tim. “The Radicalism of the Internet Revolution.” In The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. New York: Alfred A. Knoppf, 2010.

May 23 • Final Exam

We will take the final exam in class, between 6:30 – 8:30 PM.