Section/Date

Class Materials

Session

Tuesday/
Thursday

Tuesday/
Friday

Topic/Lecture Notes

Assignment

01

Jan 27

Jan 28

Introduction

No Reading

02

Feb 1

Feb 1

The Landscape of Media Criticism

Read http://davis.foulger.info/research/unifiedModelOfCommunication.htm and http://evolutionarymedia.com/papers/hammerAsMedium.htm

03

Feb 3

Feb 4

Exploring and Explaining Media

Read Levinson, Chapters 1, 2, 3

04

Feb 8

Feb 8

Doing Media Criticism

Read Allen, Introduction

05

Feb 10

Feb 15

Semiotics

Read Allen, Chapter One; Bring body of content to class

06

Feb 15

Feb 18

Semiotics (continued)

Read http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html and the pages it points to directly

07

Feb 17

Feb 22

Narrative Theory

Read Allen, Chapter 2, First Annotated Bibliography Due

08

Feb 22

Feb 25

Narrative Theory (continuted)

Read http://lamar.colostate.edu/~pwryan/mediaentry.htm and http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/kcdc/journal/vol4/saakes/index.html

09

Feb 24

Mar 1

Writing Media Criticism

Read Levinson, Chapters 4, 5, 6

10

Mar 1

Mar 4

Genre Theory

Read Allen, Chapter 4; Short Paper 1 Due

11

Mar 3

Mar 8

Genre Theory (continued)

No assigned reading.

12

Mar 8

Mar 11

Auteur Theory and Production-Oriented Approaches

Read Levinson, Chapters 7 and 8; Revised Short Paper 1 Due

13

Mar 10

Mar 15

Medium as Message

Read Levinson, Chapters 9 and 10

14

Mar 15

Mar 18

Audience-Oriented Criticism

Read Allen, Chapter 3; Short Paper 2 Assignment Distributed

15

Mar 17

Mar 22

Ideological Analysis

Read Allen Chapter 5; Optionally, Allen Chapter 7

16

Mar 22

Mar 24

Ideological Analysis (continued)

Web Readings. See Online Syllabus for links. Tuesday/Friday students should note that this class is on a Thursday ("Thursday is a Friday"); Short Paper 2 Due

Easter Break - Mar 25-29

17

Mar 31

Apr 1

Cultural Studies

Read Allen, Chapter 8

18

Apr 4

Apr 4

Theories of Mind

Read Allen, Chapter 6; Term Paper Introduction Due

19

Apr 7

Apr 8

The Postmodern Turn

Read Allen, Chapter 9; Second Annotated Bibliography

20

Apr 11

Apr 11

Deconstruction of Media Content

Web Readings. See Online Syllabus for links.

21

Apr 14

Apr 15

Uses of Media.

Read Levinson, Chaptes 11, 12, 13

23

Apr 19

Apr 19

The Rearview Mirror

Read Levinson, Chapters 14 and 15; First Complete Draft of Term Paper Due

22

Apr 21

Apr 22

Exam

Good Luck

Apr 23 - May 1 Spring Break

24

May 3

May 3

Term Paper Presentations

No Reading

25

May 5

May 6

Term Paper Presentations

No Reading

26

May 10

May 10

Term Paper Presentations

No Reading

27

May 12

May 13

Term Paper Presentations

No Reading. Final Submission of Term Paper for Grading

28

May 17

May 17

Thinking Systematically About Media

Read Allen, Afterword

29

May 20-27

Final Exam Period

Optional Exam (only given if there is a need), but we will meet anyway to return and discuss your papers. Course grades will be distributed as well.