A survey of contemporary media industries including their technical, economic, social, political and cultural implications. We will also examine the economic underpinnings of media, the role of advertising and public relations, and the policies that govern contemporary media industries.
This is a three (3) unit class: you’re expected to spend an average of nine (9) hours working on each module.
This class uses open educational resources or zero-textbook-cost materials. There are no required textbooks for purchase. All materials are freely available or will be provided by the instructor.
Funded in part by the CUNY OER Initiative
In this course, we will aim to accomplish the following:
This course will meet remotely each week with course materials available remotely over the Internet.
All course material, including links to graded assignments, is available on the course website at https://juanmonroy.com/contemporarymedia.
In a flipped course, most learning activities will be asynchronous. You will complete these learning activities on your own time by the deadlines noted on this course website.
We will meet for a weekly remotely for a discussion session, each week, about the materials you studied for this module
The learning activities are divided into twelve modules on contemporary media. For each module, there will be:
After six modules, there will be an exam on the material you covered.
You must complete each module, each quiz, and each exam by the deadline specified on Brightspace.
We will be using Brightspace for all graded assignments, including quizzes and exams.
Sign in using your CUNY Login, not your college-specific address (the one you use for email).
Queens College offers loaner devices to students who need them for remote instruction. Contact Queens College ITS for how to request a device.
Juan Monroy
Office hours are held remotely on Microsoft Teams. Sign up for an appointment at https://juanmonroy.com/officehours.
The Media Studies department has a newsletter. The newsletter aims to offer students an accessible platform to be informed about campus and departmental events, and hiring opportunities within the field. With all that happens throughout the semester, The G Building News overs the projects of students and faculty to inspire creativity and potential collaborations.
“The G Building News. Stay Informed. Stay Creative.”
Subscribe today at https://qcmediastudies.substack.com.
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To make an appointment, students should call 718–997–5420 and leave a message with their phone number and CUNY ID. You can also e-mail counselingservices@qc.cuny.edu to set up an appointment.
https://www.qc.cuny.edu/studentlife/services/counseling/counseling/Pages/default.aspx
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This course is broken up into twelve modules.
Each module requires you to read a chapter or two from the following textbook:
Downloadable editions are available from the LibreTexts.
Note: this book is woefully out of date, but we’re using it because it’s available as an Open Educational Resource, meaning it’s free. The video lectures, in tandem with the textbook readings, are vital for learning about contemporary media.
Each module requires you to watch a recorded lecture. The recorded lecture is split into a series of videos, between three and five videos, and each video is between five and twelve minutes in length.
The videos are inside the “Lecture Videos and Lecture Quiz” section of each module.
Each video contains captions and a transcript generated by Brightspace.
In some cases, I will have updated the videos with new information and a slide will show different information than what I say in the audio track and what is documented in transcript and captions. In those cases, you should defer to what is written on the slide as it contains the most current information.
The videos move through the course material quicker than an in-person lecture. As you watch each video, pause and rewind the video as necessary to take notes on the material. This will help ensure you’re ingesting the course material.
Each video is listed on the course schedule below.
For each module, you will take two quizzes: one on the assigned readings and another on the recorded lectures.
You have two attempts to take each quiz: your score for each quiz is based on the average of your attempts.
Each module requires you to take a quiz on the readings from the textbook. Each reading quiz consists of a mix of true-false and multiple-choice questions. The quiz will be available on Brightspace.
Note the quiz deadlines on Brightspace. Quizzes will will not be accepted after they close on Brightspace.
There will be a total of twelve quizzes. I will drop your two lowest reading quiz scores. The remaining ten quizzes are collectively worth 20% of your final grade.
Each module requires you to take a quiz on the lectures from the textbook. Each lecture quiz consists of a mix of true-false and multiple-choice questions. The quiz will be available on Brightspace.
Note the quiz deadlines on Brightspace. Quizzes will will not be accepted after they close on Brightspace.
There will be a total of twelve quizzes. I will drop your two lowest lecture quiz scores. The remaining ten quizzes are collectively worth 20% of your final grade.
All students must attend each week’s remote discussion session.
We will meet each week remotely to discuss the course material you covered in that week’s module. Attendance to the weekly discussion session is mandatory and is worth 10% of your final grade.
Each week during class, I will post a set of discussion questions on Brightspace for you to complete during our Weekly Discussion Session. The questions are open-ended and due by the end of our meeting.
There will be a total of twelve discussion questions assignments. I will drop your two lowest scores. The remaining ten discussion question assignments are collectively worth 20% of your final grade.
You are required to complete two exams. Each exam will consist of objective questions, a mix of true and false, and subjective questions, requiring answers in the form of explanations. Your answers to the exam questions should synthesize what you learned in the recorded lectures and the textbook readings.
Exams are available on CUNY Brightspace, covering the following material
Both exams are required and constitute 30% of your final grade:
All exams must be submitted by the final deadline, otherwise they will receive no credit.
Please submit your work on time. Quizzes and exams will not be accepted after they close on Brightspace.
As the learning material is available asynchronously, you may complete each module as your schedule permits. However, the due dates for each assignment—including quizzes, lectures, and exams—are firm and must be completed on-time in order to receive credit. Please plan accordingly.