Course Description
This course will survey some fundamental theories about mass media and culture. We will methodically summarize, evaluate, and compare these writings and critical approaches. The writings we will cover criticize media as popular culture, a commercial industry, and a territory for cultural citizenship.
Remote Online Course
This course will be conducted remotely.
Most learning activities will be asynchronous, meaning that you will complete these on your own time during the assigned week.
In addition, there will be a number of synchronous activities, including a weekly live discussion session on Google Meet. Office hours, including the mandatory consultations about the essays, will also be synchronously held on Google Meet.
Goals
This Media Criticism course is best regarded as a criticism of media criticism, or media criticism criticism, if you will. This in-person course will require you to read one or two essays per week before class that criticizes some aspect of mass media and culture. At each class session, we will cover the historical and scholarly context in which the essays were written and extract some key terms and concepts. In subsequent classes, we will revisit some of the essays compare them the other essays we have already read. By the end of the course, you will be familiar with the literature of media studies and will be able to understand any other essays you encounter in media studies and several other fields. Your success in this course depends less on memorizing class material and more on developing the ability to be a critical media scholar through intensive reading and argumentative writing.
Writing Intensive Course at Queens College
This course is a Writing Intensive (W) course and fulfills one Writing Intensive requirement. W classes include a significant portion of time devoted to writing instruction. This may include things such as revision workshops, discussions of rhetorical strategies, or reflective writing about writing assignments.
You should also review Goals for Student Writing published by Writing at Queens College.
Instructor
Juan Monroy
Office Hours:
Office Hours will be held remotely on Google Meet.
Log into a Google account, preferably not your QC Google Account, and sign up for an appointment at https://juanmonroy.com/qcofficehours
Appointments are available at the following times:
- Tuesdays and Thursdays: 1:30 - 2:30 PM
Use the Google Meet link in the email to join the meeting.
Writing Center
Would you like free in-person assistance with writing your papers?
The Writing Center at Queens College offers individual tutoring for your writing assignments. Make an appointment with a Writing Consultant to get help with any writing assignments.
Many students in the past have attested that visiting the Writing Center to get help with writing assignments was the most effective thing they did at Queens College.
Counseling Services at Queens College
Counseling Services are available to any Queens College student. They assist students with personal concerns that can affect their enjoyment of and success in college. Services are free and confidential. All sessions take place on Zoom or by telephone, depending on student preference.
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
Assignments
Readings
Assigned readings are listed in the course schedule below and available from the following sources:
- Ouellette, Laurie, ed. The Media Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 2013.
- Sasha Torres, “Television and Race,” in Janet Wasko, ed. A Companion to Television, Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2005.
- Authenticate using your QC Google account to access
- EPUB
- PDF
Readings are also available from their original sources at one of the following:
- Linked below in the course schedule. Use your QC Library card barcode number to authenticate.
- On Google Classroom.
Screenings
There are a few screenings I would like you to do before our live discussion session. These are linked in the course schedule below and available on Google Classroom.
Live Discussion Section
Update October 20, 2020: We switched from Google Meet to Zoom as our videoconferencing platform. The
student presentations will no longer take place during these sessions.
All students must participate in the live discussion session. The session will be held each Tuesday, at 7:00 PM. Join the session on Zoom by signing in using your CUNY Login credentials at https://cuny.zoom.us.
During this discussion session, we will break into groups and answer the Review Questions for the week. These questions will be posted ahead of time on Google Classroom.
- Each Tuesday at 7:00 PM on Zoom
- Authenticate using your CUNY Login credentials at https://cuny.zoom.us
- Participation is mandatory
- Weight: 20%
Presentation
Update, October 20, 2020: This assignment is now an extra credit assignment. Students who complete this will receive up to five extra credit points added to their final grade.
Each student may choose to create a presentation on the course reading assigned on this schedule.
Your presentation consists of two parts:
- a written report.
- a slideshow.
In order to receive credit, students must submit a written report and a slideshow presentation on Google Classroom by the due date on the schedule.
Essay 1: Mass Culture or Popular Culture?
Write a comparative essay that compares Adorno and Horkheimer’s “The Culture Industry” essay with an essay we’ve studied in class.
- Assignment Guidelines
- Draft and Outline due Friday, October 16, 11:59 PM, on Google Classroom
- Mandatory individual office hours: October 19–30
- Final Essay due Friday, November 6, 11:59 PM, on Google Classroom
- Weight: 20%
Essay 2: Media and Culture Industries
Write a comparative essay that compares Herbert Schiller’s “The Corporation and the Production of Culture” essay with an essay we’ve studied in class.
- Assignment Guidelines
- Draft and Outline due Friday, November 13, 11:59 PM, on Google Classroom
- Mandatory individual office hours: November 16–December 1
- Final Essay due Tuesday, December 8, 6:00 PM, on Google Classroom
- Weight: 25%
Midterm Exam
The take-home midterm exam consists of questions related to the assigned readings and the attendant discussions from the first half of the course.
This is an open-book exam: you may use your copy of The Media Studies Reader for the exam, but no other material is permitted, necessary or even very helpful.
- Available Wednesday, October 28, on Google Classroom.
- Due Tuesday, November 3, 11:59 PM, on Google Classroom.
- Weight: 15%
Final Exam
The take-home final exam consists of questions related to the assigned readings and the attendant discussions from the second half of the course.
This is an open-book exam: you may use your copy of The Media Studies Reader for the exam and the Sasha Torres essay, but no other material is permitted, necessary or even very helpful.
- Available Wednesday, December 9, on Google Classroom
- Due Tuesday, December 15, 11:59 PM, on Google Classroom
- Weight: 20%
Course Schedule
Complete all activities no later than the date listed on this course schedule.
Getting Started, September 1
- Get the textbook: The Media Studies Reader
- Read the policies governing this course.
- Activate your QC G Suite account.
- Students New to Queens College, Recently Transferred to QC, or Enrolled in another CUNY Campus: You must activate your email and Active Directory accounts before you can activate your G Suite for Education account. The process takes about three (3) business days so please start this process as soon as possible.
- Join the class on Google Classroom
- Review the Goals for Student Writing published by Writing at Queens College.
- Complete the Welcome Survey on Google Classroom.
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Google Meet.
Module 1: Mass Culture and the Culture Industry, September 8
- Read, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception, in Dialectic of Enlightenment.”
- Read the Wikipedia page on The Culture Industry
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Google Meet.
Module 2: Popular Culture: Mechanical Reproduction, September 15
- Read Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.”
- Read the Wikipedia page on The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
- Watch John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, Episode 1 (1972), available on Google Classroom.
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Google Meet.
Presentation
- No presentation scheduled.
Module 3: Popular Culture: Consumers and Producers, September 22
Presentations
- Damiann Leon on Lipsitz
- Kapil Singh on Lipsitz
- Marcela Abanto on Manovich
- Rory Lipsky on Manovich
Module 4: Media, Technology, and Power, October 6
Presentations
- Ah Young Kim on Gitelman
- Julio Rodriguez on Gitelman
- Usman Shah on Spigel
Module 5: Television and Authority, October 13
Presentation
Module 6: Media, Industry, and Political Economy, October 20
- Read Herbert Schiller, “The Corporation and the Production of Culture.”
- Study the Review Questions for this week’s readings by Schiller.
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Zoom.
Module 7: Media and Niche Marketing, October 27
- Read Michael Curtin, “On Edge: Culture Industries in the Neo-Network Era.”
- Read Hector Amaya, “Citizenship, Diversity, Law and Ugly Betty.”
- Read Elizabeth Méndez Berry and Mónica Ramírez, “How Latinos Can Win the Culture War,” New York Times, September 2, 2020.
- Study the Review Questions for this week’s readings by Curtin and by Amaya.
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Zoom.
Midterm Exam, November 3
- Complete the midterm exam, available on Google Classroom, by today, 11:59 PM.
- There is no live discussion session today.
- Today is Election Day. Please vote in your local election by today! There are three ways:
- Vote early in person
- Vote absentee, by mail or drop off your completed ballot
- Vote in person on Election Day
Module 8: Media, Technology and Control over the Consumer, November 10
Module 9: Media Audiences and Fan Culture, November 17
- Read Lawrence Grossberg, “The Affective Sensibility of Fandom,” 50–65.
- Read Mizuko Ito, “Japanese Media Mixes and Amateur Cultural Exchange.”
- Study the Review Questions for this week’s readings by Grossberg and by Ito.
- Watch Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Fans of My Little Pony (Laurent Malaquais, 2012), available on Google Classroom.
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Zoom.
Module 10: Media, Citizenship, and the Public Sphere, November 24
Module 11: Media and Cultural Citizenship, December 1
- Read Lauren Berlant, “The Theory of Infantile Citizenship.”
- Study the Review Questions for this week’s readings by Berlant.
- Watch The Simpsons, “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington,” September 26, 1991. Available on Google Classroom.
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Zoom.
Module 12: Media and Governmentality, December 8
- Read Laurie Ouellette and James Hay, “Makeover Television, Governmentality and the Good Citizen.”
- Read Sasha Torres, “Television and Race,” in Janet Wasko, ed. A Companion to Television, Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2005. Also available as a PDF.
- Study the Review Questions for this week’s readings by Ouellette and Hay and by Torres.
- Watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, “The Harris Family,” April 11, 2004.
- Join the Live Discussion Session, today from 7:00–8:00 PM ET, on Zoom.
Final Exam, December 15
- Complete the final exam, available on Google Classroom, by today, 11:59 PM.
- There is no live discussion session today.