Department of Communication Communication 380 - Media Criticism Instructor: Gavin Mueller Fall 2012 Office: Enterprise 416 Fairfax Campus Office hours: M 2-7, W 2-7, R 11-1 (by appointment): 703-993-1436 Email: gmueller@gmu.edu This course provides an in-depth introduction to the practice of critical media studies, with a particular focus on the analysis of visual and web culture. Drawing on the concepts of critical media studies, this course offers: (1) a review of concepts related to the practice of media criticism and textual analysis, including semiotic and narrative analysis, (2) an introduction to debates over the trajectory of web culture, including debates over intellectual property and commercial surveillance, and (3) a critical examination of the production and microsociology of celebrity. Along the way, we will discuss competing theories which attempt to explain the role of media and popular culture in contemporary life. Although many of course materials will focus on visual and web culture (in particular television, film, and the internet), the analytical tools students will learn can be applied to the study of texts and audiences within any medium of communication. Course Objectives • Provide students with the tools of textual analysis, including an intermediate discussion of media semiotics (including the codes and conventions of realism), narrative analysis, and ideological critique. • Provide students with an opportunity to apply these tools of analysis to a particular object/text of popular culture. • Provide students with tools for analyzing the impact of digitization and digital networks on media production and consumption, including issues of media convergence, intellectual property, digital surveillance, and the microsociology of celebrity. • To develop analytical and presentation skills that are fundamental to a liberal education, to effective citizenship, and to professional success. Required Readings – Available at the GMU Bookstore Marc Andrejevic, iSpy: Surveillance and power in the interactive era (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2009). Kerry Ferris and Scott Harris, Stargazing: Celebrity, Fame, and Social Interaction. New York: Routledge, 2011. Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press, 2008.