This course explores the development and effects of popular and mass media forms from the introduction of electricity to the digital age, from the new to the cyber to the haunted, from physical infrastructures to imagined identities, from affect and technologized bodies, to virtual reality immersion and the metaverse. Why do scholars trace the history of our current digital media forms all the way back to the electric lightbulb? What do world’s fairs, arcades, radio, film, television, and social media all have in common as forms of entertainment and communication? This course surveys the field of media studies by studying the aesthetics, technologies, and politics of media arts, networks, and cultures. By analyzing familiar objects like web sites and video games, and encountering historical media forms from the telegraph to the first text-based virtual worlds, we’ll develop our own methodological tools for becoming more critical users and creators.
Learning Outcomes:
- Contextualize today's digital media forms within a larger history dating to the early 20th century
- Become conversant with key terms in media studies, particularly the study of attractions, radio, film, television, new media, and digital media
- Analyze contemporary and historical media objects in articles, podcasts, comics, and/or video essays
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Course Level: 2000-level
Credits: 4
W 4:10PM-6:30PM, Th 3:40PM-5:00PM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Course Frequency: Once a year
Categories: All courses , Fully In-Person , Media Studies
Tags: media studies