courses@JLR

For your final assignment, you're expected to synthesize what we've learned about the study of television in a ~1500 word (6 page) paper that draws on course texts to analyze a TV-related artifact of your choice (e.g. an episode, a program, a video, a promotion, a website, a device, or a phenomenon). You're encouraged to revise and expand your work in one of your blog posts to produce a formal essay. Your TA will schedule individual meetings with you after our last class on May 8 to help you develop your argument.

You should prepare for your meeting by considering and developing some initial materials:

• A plan for which blog post you’ll expand (or advance thought on another topic).
• A specific artifact or related artifacts to analyze (if different from your blog post).
• Preliminary ideas for your overall argument.
• A list of three or so course texts that you could cite to support your argument.
• A rough outline of how you'll organize your paper and what you'll need to add to your blog.

Your work is due via email to your TA by 11:59pm on May 16. Late papers are subject to grade penalties if not excused in advance. If you'd like to include links, illustrations, or other web-based elements (although this isn't required), you may post the essay to our course blog (you should still email to let us know when you turn it in).

CONTENTS

• An evaluation form detailing the criteria for assessment of this assignment.
• A sample student paper (from television studies), with annotations. This is an example of A-level work.
• Two single-page handouts by Genie Brinkema that goes over general writing pitfalls.
• "Organization," a handout from the UNC-CH Writing Center that details approaches to constructing and revising a strong essay.

WHAT

Working together in your assigned groups of 4-5 people, you will create a video around 10 minutes long on the theme of "TV Tomorrow." Determine an imaginary date between 10 and 100 years in the future and create a project reporting on, analyzing, or embodying some aspect of "television" (whatever it may be then). It might take the form of a how-to, a news story, a documentary, a promotion, a review, a fan commentary, or simply a sample of contemporary programming. As with the last project, you will be evaluated based on the incorporation of course material in inventive ways, the originality of your critical perspective, and the effectiveness of your communication in the video medium. However, in this case you aren't required to use the video essay format or include explicit narration of your claims. You can mobilize the artistic style of your choice to make a speculative argument about the evolution of television drawing on the ideas and methodologies we've covered.

WHY

In this course, we're learning about the history, technology, form, ideologies, and industry of television through various scholarly approaches that illuminate its present-day constitution as a medium. To extend our work, you are asked to imagine how TV will change over the next decade/century (or even what TV will be in the future – will mass media as we know it still exist?) based on concrete aspects of its structure and development that we've studied. By creating online videos about TV for this class, you're already part of television's evolution, and by collaborating on video production, you can gain further insight into the construction of TV rhetoric and experiences.

WHERE

The procedure and resources for this project are similar to the last video, and I'll include them again in the attached handout. Because you'll be working on this over spring break, when many of you are traveling, it's particularly important for you to strategize about how to accommodate people's schedules, divide up the labor and plan the workflow, and collaborate long-distance using email, IM, shared documents, etc. Also, there may be high demand for MCM's camcorders during this period, so you should let David Udris know in advance if you'd like to check one out for any filming.

WHEN

This is the class schedule for the week after spring break:

• Tuesday April 3, 12pm: NO CLASS + VIDEOS DUE (either post them online or send me the file using http://free.mailbigfile.com or similar)
• Tuesday April 3, 7pm: screening and discussion of videos
• Thursday April 5, 12pm: additional discussion and project post-mortem
• Thursday/Friday: NO SECTIONS

WHAT

You will work with members of your section (grouped by letter) to create a 3-5 minute video that engages with the theoretical perspectives we have studied. You’ll post your videos online, and we’ll go over the available resources for producing and editing them. Keep in mind that this is not a production course, and your project doesn't have to be technically ambitious to succeed. You will be evaluated based on your incorporation of course material, the originality of your critical approach, and the effectiveness of its presentation.

Your project should take the form of a "video essay" – that is, you will conduct an analysis and make an overall claim. This assignment offers a great explanation of this methodology, and you can see more examples of video essays (mostly about digital media) here.

Building on course intros that surveyed you about your TV viewing habits and offered theoretical perspectives on the definition and evolution of television and TV studies, the theme of your first video project will be "TV Today." You can approach this by responding to one of these prompts:

.TV programming

Choose a single series, a comparison of two, or a genre or other coherent unit (e.g. NBC comedies, reality competition shows, cable news pundits) that is relevant to everyone in your group. Create a video that explains why it engages you. You might consider the program or programs' narrative structure, its representation of characters, its "mode of address" (how and to whom it seems to appeal), and/or its promotional materials. (This step-by-step tutorial on video essays may be especially helpful if you do a project on TV programming.)

.viewing practices

Consider how the members of your group watch TV and/or its position in your daily lives. You can choose to focus on a technological device, a website or platform for viewing TV, a website or platform for discussing TV, or a "real world" social space or activity around television. Create a video that explains the significance of this particular viewing practice. You might explore the structural elements of this platform or activity, how they affect your relationship to TV programming, commonalities or divergences in engagement among your group or between you and a different demographic (e.g. your parents), and/or how you believe it is shaping or changing cultures of TV. (The resources associated with this video assignment [see "helpful how-tos" in the sidebar] may be especially helpful.)

.current events

Respond to a recent development in or around the television industry (an excellent source is the blog News for TV Majors at http://newsfortvmajors.com). Create a video that situates it within broader trends and explains its implications. You might consider how one or more news articles frame the story, what larger technological or cultural shifts it demonstrates, what forces or conflicts have contributed to bringing it about, and/or how the change will affect your TV consumption. (This is another video essays assignment that may be helpful to look at.) 

WHY

The goals of this assignment are to:

• learn and mobilize some technical and formal aspects of online video
• communicate ideas in a visual medium
• experientially engage with course concepts through participation
• engage in a collaborative process of media production

HOW

You should correspond (and, ideally, meet in person) with your group as soon as possible to begin brainstorming and outlining your project. Discuss your respective skills and talents and your goals for working together.

Once you've settled on a concept, break it down into its component tasks and establish how you can execute it with a realistic production plan. It's a good idea to divide up the duties and steps (whether different sections of the video or different stages like writing, shooting, editing) amongst yourselves according to your interest and experience. This planning process is an important first step that may include scripting or storyboarding the video (Google Docs can be a useful tool for collaborating on texts).

When you have organized your ideas, you'll have a sense of what component video and audio source you need to find or produce. Make sure to decide how you'll assemble the video, since the editing process will be most likely be confined to one computer (either in a multimedia lab or one of your own). The technical aspects of recording, editing, exporting and uploading your project are covered in this post.

Please be respectful and responsible in collaborating with your fellow group members. Before grades are allotted, you will each fill out a private self-evaluation of your group work (questions below). In most cases, one grade applies to all of you, but we will take any glaring discrepancies into account.

WHEN

We will be viewing your projects in class on Thursday, February 23. Plan to finish them by the night before to allow time to export and upload the video (along with any last-minute troubleshooting in that regard). For optimal watching, try to bring the file to class on a DVD or USB stick so we don't have to deal with streaming. You will also meet in sections as usual Thursday/Friday to discuss your projects as a group (there is no other homework).

LECTURE/SCREENING

10% of your final grade is based on participation in our large group lecture and screening meetings. This is primarily determined by regular attendance, with penalties imposed for excessive absences. In general, four or fewer absences from lectures and likewise from screenings will be overlooked. But it's recommended that you contact your TA in advance if you're going to be absent due to illness or a conflict. We will note excused absences and make allowances if they add up.

SECTION

10% of your final grade is determined by your participation in section. Attendance is very important, and you should always contact your TA to explain any absences. Your willingness to contribute thoughtful questions and responses to the discussion is also highly valued.

.response posts

Every third week (different from your assigned blog weeks), you'll be asked to contribute a substantive question prior to section. This comment need only be a couple of sentences long. Look in the "discussion" area of our group for a weekly thread from your TA and add a comment. You must post your response at least an hour before your section meets for full credit.

You're strongly encouraged to draw on one or more of your classmates' blog posts for ideas. You can also respond to the readings and screening. A productive question identifies a key concept or makes an observation and then suggests further directions of inquiry. How did the essays or assigned articles make their argument? Was there something you didn't understand? Did certain views seem to compliment or contradict each other? Did a blog post inspire questions or connections?

assigned weeks

• X: 2/15 + 3/14 + 4/18
• Y: 2/29 + 3/21 + 4/25
• Z: 2/08 + 3/07 + 4/11

WEBSITE

10% of your final grade is based on your participation in the class website. Your response posts for section actually comprise half of this. I'm leaving the rest open-ended, rather than prescribing particular activities. I will track your contributions, which should add up to something like three substantive comments or nine brief shares (or some combination) for full credit. I will also not give more than 1/3 credit for contributions within one week, so you can't just spam us at the end of the semester. You'll have three regular weeks off from either blog essays or section responses, so trying to post then is a good way to spread it out. The ways you can participate include:

.commenting on a blog

Think over the ideas you believe your classmate is trying to convey and how effectively s/he did so, and offer some constructive criticism and responses. You can consider: Did you find the analysis convincing and thought- provoking? Did it indicate further connections, or even perspectives your classmate may have overlooked? Can you think of ways to develop and strengthen this argument?

.responding to a screening

A "page" will appear each Tuesday with details on the week's screening materials. You can add a comment explaining your thoughts, observations, questions about one or more of the objects. This is also a great place to bring our attention to other TV programs or videos that you think are relevant to the current theme.

.sharing a link

If you come across an interesting online article about a TV program, the TV industry, or TV fandom, you can share it with the class. You can also link to blogs, videos, artworks, or other websites. The easiest way to add a bookmark is via the "bookmarklet" – go here and drag the button to your browser's toolbar. You can also use this link and fill in the title/URL yourself.

.status update

There's a built-in microblog called "The Wire" that allows you to post status updates. It doesn't appear on our group page, but you can access it from the "Dashboard" link in the top bar. You can share your thoughts about our class and/or your television viewing here. If you have your own Twitter account, you can publish your updates there at the same time – set it up in settings (you can also push to a group Identi.ca account using jlredu, password [given on request]).

In this informal writing assignment (similar to a 3-page paper), you will present an argument about the week's material that references at least one reading and one television artifact. This response essay takes the form of a blog post on our course website, where the rest of the class can read and respond.

WHY

The goals of this assignment are to:

• develop critical writing skills that enable you to communicate your ideas clearly
• deepen your understanding and synthesis of course material
• learn to formulate an argument using theoretical concepts
• approach academic composition as a continuing process o engage with the blog as a medium different from the printed page

HOW

Taking the opportunity to write notes, brainstorm ideas, and/or outline before class will help you determine what questions you'd like us to address. You can take advantage of Tuesday's meetings to ask questions that will contribute to developing your argument.

To begin formulating an analysis, you could try sketching out the main ideas of the readings, and listing any consequences, contradictions or critiques they bring to mind. You could also list elements of the screening materials or other familiar television programs/artifacts that intersect with these thoughts. Your goal is to make a connection between concepts from at least one of the texts and a relevant show or phenomenon (whether that's something we look at in screening or something else of interest is up to you).

This essay is short response to the week's content. As such, you will most likely focus on one article or one particular idea from the readings, and on one episode/component of a television program or object. You should: explain the concepts from the text(s) that support your interpretation; describe the significant aspects of your artifact; and articulate, as a cogent argument, your synthesis of these.

Unlike a typical essay, your blog post does not need to have a formal tone and structure (e.g. an introduction and conclusion). However, it should consist of well-constructed paragraphs and readable prose and contain a clear statement of your main idea. To take advantage of the blog format, assume that your classmates are your audience, and aim to stimulate further discussion (for example, you could pose questions explicitly). You are encouraged to include links, images, etc. in your post.

This assignment will be evaluated on the basis of your understanding of course material, the strength of your analysis, and how well you communicate your ideas. The accompanying grading rubric [included in the PDF] offers further guidelines about the characteristics of exemplary (and not so satisfactory) responses. Your professor or TA can also provide individual consultations and/or handouts on writing skills if you'd like additional direction.

WHERE

To create your blog entry, first click "Group blog" in the sidebar of our group page. Then click "Write a blog post" in the sidebar of the blog page. You can set the access level ("Public" is the whole internet and "Group: Intro to Television" is our class only) and save or preview your draft. Click the "Publish" button when you're done. See the HOW TO post on the website for further instructions.

You may wish to compose your blog post in a text editor (or word processor that supports plain text). Cutting- and-pasting to the web from Microsoft Word may result in unwanted formatting. To avoid this, you can click "Add/Remove editor" below the text entry field to paste as plain text. You'll then have to click again to toggle back to styled text and restore paragraph breaks and other basic formatting manually.

WHEN

Blog responses are due by 10pm on Wednesday. The weekly assignment schedule by group is as follows:

X: 2/08 + 3/07 + 4/11

Y: 2/15 + 3/14 + 4/18

Z: 2/29 + 3/21 + 4/25

This class meets a total of four times a week: lectures on Monday and Wednesday, an evening screening, and a small-group discussion section (assigned individually at the beginning of the course). You can expect the professor primarily to cover the readings and their disciplinary background on Monday and the screening materials and topics on Wednesday, but all sessions will be interactive and invite your participation.

You are expected to complete the reading (three chapters or articles averaging around 75 pages) before Monday's meeting each week. The professor will distribute a "virtual reader" containing PDF copies of all course texts at the beginning of the term. You are responsible for bringing printed or electronic copies of the week's materials to class so you can refer to them. If you choose to go digital, you may wish to investigate software that will allow you to highlight, annotate, and organize your PDFs.

Screenings are sourced from accessible DVDs and websites whenever possible (although attendance is still required). If you must miss a screening, you should consult the list of materials on the course website and contact your TA about viewing any DVDs (ideally on Wednesday). After Thursday, DVDs from the week will be returned to the MCM archive at 155 George, where you can view them during regular business hours.

To foster experiential learning about media, we will be using a dedicated website [here] for all course work. This is a social network platform that supports blogs, wiki-like pages, bookmarks, threaded discussion, file uploads, status updates ("the wire"), live chat, and streaming videos. You are encouraged, but not required, to use the site to collect and discuss relevant material outside of class (above and beyond the stipulated homework).

POLICIES

laptops and/or mobile devices are encouraged in class for taking notes, referring to readings, and other connected engagement. Productive uses of the web during lectures or screenings include: looking up terms and references, finding relevant examples to share, and checking the course website. You are expected to be aware of your own attention and stay focused on class activities (if the internet is a distraction, you can disable your wireless access).

attendance at all lectures, sections, and screenings is required. If you have a conflict or illness that causes you to miss class, contact your TA in advance. Grade penalties will be imposed for excessive unexcused absences. late work is discouraged. Most assignments are integrated with class activities and thus do not accommodate lateness. If you are facing extenuating circumstances and need an extension, contact your TA in advance. Grade penalties will be imposed for unexcused late work.

plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you don't understand what plagiarism is, why it's a serious offense, or how to avoid it, there's an excellent explanatory handout at http://unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html. For more information the consequences of plagiarism and the rest of Brown's academic code, see: http://brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/curriculum/academic_code.php

accessibility for all students is a priority. Students who, by nature of a documented disability, require academic accommodations should notify the professor at the beginning of the semester. Students may also speak with Student and Employee Accessibility Services to discuss the process for requesting accommodations.

ASSIGNMENTS

You will complete three blog essays, two group video projects, a final paper, and weekly contributions for your section at the discretion of your TA. Handouts with more detailed guidelines for the major assignments will be provided. At the beginning of the term, each section will be divided into three groups (X-Y-Z) for staggered due dates and group projects.

blog essays (due before section, every third week)

In this informal writing assignment (similar to a 3-page paper), you will present an argument about the week's material that references at least one reading and one television artifact. The goal is to develop skills in academic composition and basic HTML competence.

video projects (due 2/21 + 3/22)

You will work with members of your section (grouped by letter) to create a 3-10 minute video that engages with the theoretical perspectives we have studied. It may use original and/or appropriated footage and take any form, including but not limited to: a video blog, a documentary, a public service announcement, a fictional narrative, an artwork, a parody, or a remix. You’ll post your videos on the course website, and we’ll go over the available resources for producing and editing them. Keep in mind that this is not a production course, and your project doesn't have to be technically ambitious to succeed. You will be evaluated based on your incorporation of course material, the originality of your critical approach, and the effectiveness of its presentation.

final paper (due 5/16 by 11:59pm)

For your final assignment, you will expand one of your blog posts into a 6-7 page paper that draws on course texts to analyze a television artifact of your choice. Your TA will meet with you individually to help you develop your argument.

For the major assignments, a handout with the criteria for evaluation will be provided in advance. Essays and the videos will be graded via this structured rubric. For other weekly and overall contributions, you will receive comments more informally by email, on the website, or in person.

SCHEDULE

{Thursday, January 26} is our orientation meeting. There is no screening or section and no reading or homework for the first week. The professor will go over the syllabus, assignments, and course website.

1. WHY TV? {January 31-February 3}

reading

• Allen, Robert C. "Frequently Asked Questions: A General Introduction to the Reader." The Television Studies Reader. Ed. Robert C. Allen and Annette Hill. Routledge, 2004. (1-18)
• Boddy, William. "In Focus: The Place of Television Studies." Cinema Journal Vol. 45, No. 1 (2005): 79-116 (selections)

screening

• excerpts from Signal to Noise
• Prelinger Archive videos
• student videos about TV

2. TECHNOLOGY {February 7-10}

reading

• Dienst, Richard. "The Outbreak of Television." Still Life in Real Time: Theory After Television. Duke UP, 1994. (12-35, pp. 3-12 optional)
• Williams, Raymond. "The Technology and the Society." Television: Technology and Cultural Form. Fontana, 1972. [reprinted in The New Media Reader] (291-300)
• Spielmann, Yvonne. "Video: From Technology to Medium." Art Journal 65:3 (Fall 2006): (55-70)

screening

• "Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman" (Dara Birnbaum) [05]
• "Global Groove" (Nam June Paik) [30]
• "The Eternal Frame" (Ant Farm and T.R. Uthco) [22]
• "Wetwired" from The X-Files [42]
• "Blipverts" from Max Headroom [42]

3. FLOW {February 14-17}

reading

• Butler, Jeremy G. "Television's Ebb and Flow in the Postnetwork Era." Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Routledge, 2006. (3-17)
• White, Mimi. "Crossing Wavelengths: The Diegetic and Referential Imaginary of American Commercial Television." Cinema Journal Vol. 25, No. 2 (1986): (51-64)
• Uricchio, William. "Television's Next Generation: Technology/Interface Culture/Flow." Television After TV. Ed. Lynn Spigel and Jan Olsson. Duke University Press, 2005. (163-182)

screening

• Sesame Street [excerpts]
• PBS "Pioneers of Television: Late Night" [excerpts]
• The Tonight Show [clips]
• The Tonight Show 1/22/2010 (Conan's last show) [42]

 

video #1 {February 21 - screening} (due by noon)

no class Monday / workshop Wednesday

 

4. LIVENESS {February 28-March 2}

reading

• Feuer, Jane. "The Concept of Live Television: Ontology as Ideology." Regarding Television. Ed. E. Ann Kaplan. Greenwood Publishing, 1983. (12-22)
• Morse, Margaret. "The News as Performance: The Image As Event." Virtualities: Television, Media Art, and Cyberculture. Indiana University Press, 1998. (36-51 + 58-67)
• McPherson, Tara. "Reload: Liveness, Mobility and the Web." The Visual Culture Reader. Ed. Nicholas Mirzoeff. Routledge, 2002. (458-470)

screening

• MSNBC.com "flow" video [07] + Good Morning America [clips]
• TV coverage of the John F. Kennedy assassination [excerpts]
• "Four More Years" (TVTV) [60 - excerpt]
• "The Business of Local News" (University Community Video) [17]
• "Spin" (Brian Springer) [10 min. excerpt]

5. FORM/GENRE {March 6-9}

reading

• Feuer, Jane. "Genre Study and Television." Channels of Discourse, Reassembled (2nd edition). Ed. Robert C. Allen. UNC Press, 1992. (138-160)
• Mittell, Jason. "The Form of Television Narrative" + "Formal Analysis in Action: The Case of Lost" in "Telling Television Stories." Television and American Culture. Oxford University Press, 2009. (213-234, 258-267)
• Haralovich, Mary Beth and Michael W. Trosset. "'Expect the Unexpected': Narrative Pleasure and Uncertainty due to Chance in Survivor." Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. Ed. Susan Murray and Laurie Ouellette. NYU Press, 2004. (75-96)

screening

• "WrongWay Feldman" from Gilligan's Island [25]
• "...In Translation" (S1, episode 17) from Lost [42]
• "Thy Name Is Duplicity" (S1, episode 8) from Survivor [42]
• mashups of Lost and Gilligan's Island

6. AUDIENCE {March 13-16}

reading

• Morley, David. "Changing Paradigms in Audience Studies." Remote Control: Television, Audiences, and Cultural Power. Ed. Ellen Seiter et al. Routledge, 1989. (16-43)
• Ang, Ien. "In the Realm of Uncertainty: The Global Village and Capitalist Postmodernity." Living Room Wars. Routledge, 1996. (162-180)
• Meehan, Eileen R. "Watching Television: A Political Economic Approach." A Companion to Television. Ed. Janet Wasco. Blackwell, 2010. (238- 255)

screening

• "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" from I Love Lucy [22]
• "Jack-Tor" from 30 Rock [22]
• "A Night to Remember" from Mad Men (season 2) [42] + Clorox and other commercials aired during Mad Men
• The Price Is Right [clips]
• "Production Notes: Fast Food for Thought" (Jason Simon) [excerpt] 

7. CONVERGENCE {March 20-23}

reading

• Caldwell, John. "Convergence Television: Aggregating Form and Repurposing Content in the Culture of Conglomeration." Television After TV. Ed. Lynn Spigel and Jan Olsson. Duke University Press, 2005. (41-74)
• Deuze, Mark. "Convergence Culture and Media Work." Media Industries. Ed. Jennifer Holt and Alisa Perren. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. (144-155)
• Uricchio, William. "The Future of a Medium Once Known as Television." The YouTube Reader. Ed. Pelle Snickars and Patrick Vonderau. National Library of Sweden, 2009. (24-39)

screening

• "Occupation" from Battlestar Galactica [42] + The Resistance [35] + selected Video Maker videos
• "Electronic Behavior Control System" (Emergency Broadcast Network)
• selected TV mashups and political remix videos

 

BREAK {March 24-April 1}

video #2 {April 3 - screening} (due by noon)

no class Monday / workshop Wednesday

 

8. GENDER {April 10-13}

reading

• Spigel, Lynn. "Television in the Family Circle." Make Room for TV. University of Chicago Press, 1992. (36-72)
• Modleski, Tania. "The Rhythms of Reception: Daytime Television and Women's Work." Regarding Television. Ed. E. Ann Kaplan. Greenwood Publishing, 1983. (67-84)
• Streeter, Thomas and Wendy Wahl. "Audience Theory and Feminism: Property, Gender, and the Television Audience." Camera Obscura 33- 34 (1994): (243-261)

screening

• soap opera clips/episode
• Desperate Housewives (pilot) [42]
• Wife Swap (episode TBD) [42]
• Semiotics of the Kitchen (Martha Rosler) [06]

9. RACE {April 17-20}

• Lentz, Kirsten Marthe. "Quality versus Relevance: Feminism, Race, and the Politics of the Sign in 1970s Television." Camera Obscura 43 (2000): (45-93)
• Harper, Phillip Brian. "Extra-Special Effects: Televisual Representation and the Claims of the 'Black Experience.'" Living Color: Race and Television in the United States. Duke University Press, 1988. (62-81)
• Sasha Torres, "Television and Race." A Companion to Television. Ed. Janet Wasco. Blackwell, 2010. (395-408)

screening

• "Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood" from All in the Family [22]
• "The March" from The Cosby Show [22]
• "Mammy Dearest" from A Different World [22]
• "Jolly Vindaloo Day" from Outsourced [22]
• "How Betty Got Her Grieve Back" from Ugly Betty [42]
• I'm the One that I Want [excerpt]

10. SEXUALITY {April 24-27}

reading

• Joyrich, Lynne. "Epistemology of the Console." Critical Inquiry 27, no. 3 (2001): (439-467)
• Needham, Gary. "Scheduling Normativity: Television, the Family, and Queer Temporality." Queer TV. Ed. Glynn Davis and Gary Needham. Routledge, 2009. (143-158)
• Walters, Suzanna. "The Love that Dares to Speak Its Name: The Explosion of Gay Visibility." All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America. University of Chicago Press, 2001. (3-29)

screening

• Ellen, "The Puppy Episode" (ABC, 1994-1998) [46]
• Will and Grace, "Acting Out" (NBC, 1998-2006) [22]
• Glee, "Hairography" (S1, episode 11) [42]
• Infomania: That's Gay episodes (online)
• "Sex and the Remix" (Elisa Kreisinger, 2010) http://elisakreisinger.wordpress.com/projects/queercarrieproject/

11. FANDOM {May 1-4}

reading

• Busse, Coppa, Hellekson, De Kosnik, Russo, and Lothian. "In Focus: Fandom and Feminism." Cinema Journal Vol. 48, No. 4 (Summer 2009): (104-136)
• Jenkins, Henry and Joshua Green. "The Moral Economy of Web 2.0: Audience Research and Convergence Culture." Media Industries. Ed. Jennifer Holt and Alisa Perren. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. (213-225)
• Hastie, Amelie. "The Epistemological Stakes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Television Criticism and Marketing Demands." Undead TV. Ed. Elana Levine and Lisa Parks. Duke University Press, 2007. (74-95)

screening

• "Hollow Pursuits" from Star Trek: The Next Generation [42]
• "Storyteller" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer [42]
• "Remixing Popular Culture: Section 1 - Vidding" (Julie Levin Russo and Alexis Lothian, produced by Anita Sarkeesian) [40] http://vimeo.com/13021751
• "Fan Vids and Life On Mars" (student video) + student-selected fan videos

 

{Tuesday, May 8} is our concluding meeting. We discuss the course overall, go over final paper assignments, and fill out evaluations.

FINAL PAPERS {May 16, midnight}