INTRO TO MEDIA STUDIES (THEORY) - FMS152 Spring 2025
Course

Lessons
Here is the course outline:
1. Introduction to the Course
Jan 30
Introduction to the course, expectations, syllabus review |
2. The Origins of Media Theory
Feb 6
Discussion and contextualization of the rise of cultural and media studies in interwar Germany |
3. The Frankfurt School of Social Research
Feb 13
The Frankfurt School: Adorno, Horkheimer, and the Culture Industry |
4. Media and Modernity: Walter Benjamin
Feb 20
Walter Benjamin and the politics of representation |
5. Media and Modernity II: Roland Barthes, Mythologies, and Photography
Feb 27
Roland Barthes from Mythologies to Camera Lucida: An inquiry into the politics of the image. |
6. Marshall McLuhan and the Technologist Approach
Mar 6
Introduction to the thought and work of Marshall McLuhan and the technologist approach to media theory. |
7. Midterm Exam
Mar 13
Students complete and submit the midterm examination |
8. Stuart Hall, Culture, Representation, and Audience
Mar 20
Introduction to the ideas of the theorist Stuart Hall in relation to the culture and politics of the 1970s and 1980s. |
9. The Rise of Communications Studies and Behaviorism
Apr 3
Survey of various theories in the “behaviorist” school of media studies |
10. Chomsky and Herman on Media Power; Habermas on the “Public Sphere”
Apr 10
Introduction to the thought of Noam Chomsky in relation to Jürgen Habermas’ notion of the “public sphere” |
11. Postmodernism and Media
Apr 17
A survey of some aspects of postmodern media theory, foremost through the thought of Fredric Jameson. |
12. Feminist Theory; Race and Media Studies
Apr 24
urvey and case studies of feminist media theory; Readings in Black cultural and media studies |
13. Final Exam
May 15
Final Exam submission |
14. READINGSFolder with PDFs |