Communication 130: Mass Media and Society, Fall 2007
T-TH,
10:30-Noon, ASC Room 110
Professor
Phone: 898 5842 * Email: JTUROW@ASC.UPENN.EDU
Teaching Assistants: Brooke Duffy, Chul joo Lee, Joel Penney, Lokman Tsui
Communication 130: Mass Media and Society, Fall 2007
T-TH,
10:30-Noon, ASC Room 110
Professor
Phone: 898 5842 * Email: JTUROW@ASC.UPENN.EDU
Teaching Assistants: Brooke Duffy, Chul joo Lee, Joel Penney, Lokman Tsui
Welcome!
The aim of this course is to help you understand the roles and activities
of mass media in society. The hope is
that by the end of the semester you will have a much better sense than you now
do of the forces that guide the books we read, movies we enjoy, television
shows we watch and even the toys we buy.
The course will
be comprised of two lectures a week, readings from the required textbook, one
paper, and 3 exams. The text, the
readings from the text, and the dates for papers and the first two exams are
noted below. The third exam will be
given during the final exam period.
The class has a
home page. It can be accessed at http://www.asc.upenn.edu/courses/comm130/index.html
On the home
page you will find this syllabus plus many other class materials. Especially useful, we hope, will be the
outlines to the Powerpoint slide lectures.
They will typically be placed on the site the evening before class. Print them and bring them to class so that
you can take notes on lecture material beyond the bullets on the slides.
Some Ground Rules:
ü Attendance
in class is imperative. Please read
the assigned material in advance of the date it is listed. The professor reserves the right to give
unannounced quizzes that will be factored into your final grade.
üAssignments must be handed in when they
are due. Only medical and University
excuses will be accepted.
üAssignments are to be done individually,
unless the professor notes otherwise.
Required
& John Vivian, The
Media of Mass Communication 2008 Update (
The
Class Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction
to the Course
a:
Understanding mass media and mass communication (9/6)
Week 2: a: Understanding mass media and mass
communication (9/11)
$ Vivian, chapters 1, 14,
b: 9/13 – NO CLASS
Week 3: a: Making Sense of Research (9/18)
$ 15, 16, 17
b: Making Sense of Media Forms
$ Vivian, Chapters 10, 13
Week 4: a: Making Sense of Media Forms (9/25)
$ Vivian, chapters 22, 23
b: The Business of Media (9/27)
Week 5: a: Formal and Informal Controls on Media Content
(10/2)
$ Vivian, Chapters 19-21
b:
Conglomerates & Cross-Media Activities (10/4)
Week 6: Exploring the Print Media
a: Rise of print media industries (10/9)
$ Vivian, Chapter 2
b:
The contemporary book industry (10/11)
Week 7: a: NO
CLASS (10/16)
b:
M Examination
1 on Weeks 1 through 6a (10/18)
Week 8: a: The contemporary magazine industry
(10/23)
$
Vivian, Chapter 3
The contemporary newspaper industry
$ Vivian, Chapter 4
b:
The Electronic Media
The rise of electronic media: sound recordings
and radio (10/25)
Week 9: a: The contemporary recording industry
(10/29)
$Vivian, Chapter 5
b:
a: The contemporary motion picture industry (11/1)
$ Vivian, Chapter 6
Week 10: a: The contemporary radio industry
(11/6)
$ Vivian, Chapter 7
b:
M Examination
2 on Weeks 7a through 9a (11/8)
Week 11: The rise of electronic media:
movies and television
a: The contemporary television industry (11/13)
$ Chapter 8
b:
The contemporary television industry (11/15)
$ Vivian, Chapter 8
Week 12: a: The contemporary television industry
(11/20)
b:
11/22-NO CLASS
Week 13: a: The internet and software industries
(11/27)
$ Vivian, Chapter 9
4Paper Due
b:
The rise of advertising and PR ¨
The advertising industry (11/29)
$ Vivian, Chapter 11
Week 14: a: The PR industry (12/4)
$ Vivian, Chapter 11
b: Media and Integrated Marketing Communication (12/6)
$
Vivian, Chapter 12
M The third exam will be given during final exam
period. It will cover weeks 11-through
14.