- 21L.015 INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA STUDIES
- Spring Semester 1997
- Professor Henry Jenkins / Professor
Martin Roberts
- Teaching Assistant: Chris Kelty
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- class schedule | course readings | lab sessions
| assignments & grading
- This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the humanistic
study of the social, political, and cultural dimensions of traditional
and emerging media technologies. The course is divided into four sections.
The first, Core Concepts, explores the interplay between historical and
contemporary media and introduces basic theoretical models for studing
the interaction between media and culture. The second, Media Functions,
focuses on the uses of media such as cultural transmission, community linkage,
entertainment and amusement, and propaganda. The third, Media in Transition,
examines key moments in the development and popularization of communication
technologies. The final section, Media Institutions, turns to the institutional
dimension of media, considering the economic and cultural power of the
film studio or contemporary media conglomerates, and the possibilities
for grassroots media use in the 1960s counterculture and contemporary media
fandom. The course is intended to develop both practical and analytical
skills and to explore ways of combining the two so that students become
more effective consumers and producers of media culture.
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mroberts@mit.edu