Digital Reading Room 2.0 -- ANTH 423: The Television Age

ANTH 423: The Television Age Report a Broken Link

Communication Studies 423: The Television Age examines television as a technology, an industry, an educator, a medium for propaganda, and an art form. You will study the major trends in television broadcasting and performance as well as major trends in critical responses to television. Through assignments, readings, commentaries, and television viewing, you will examine and analyze the impact and implications of television in the past, present, and future. Is television a cultural tool or a detriment to civilized life? If it plays to the lowest common cultural denominator, does it succeed in creating large, like-minded audiences? Is it in its infancy, ascendancy, or decline?

Required Readings

Unit 1

Williams, R. (1992). "The Social History of the uses of television technology." In R. Williams, Television: Technology and cultural form (pp. 12-25). New York: Taylor & Francis. [E-book]

McLuhan, M. (1964). “Television: The timid giant.” In M. McLuhan, Understanding media: The extensions of man (pp. 308-337). New York: McGraw-Hill. [Online]

Unit 2

Williams, R. (1992). "The technology and the society.” In R. Williams, Television: Technology and cultural form (pp. 1-12). New York: Taylor & Francis. [E-book]

Lapan, L. (2009). Network television and the digital threat. UCLA Entertainment Law Review, 16(2), 343-393. [E-Journal]

Butler, J. G. (2007). “Television's Ebb and Flow in the Postnetwork Era.” In J. Butler, Television: Critical methods and applications (3rd ed.) (pp. 3-19). New York: Routledge. [Online]

Unit 3

Unit 4

Feuer, J. (1992). "Genre Study and Television.” In R. C. Allen (Ed.), Channels of discourse reassembled: Television and contemporary criticism (2nd ed.) (pp. 138-160). Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. [E-book].

Fiske, J. (1987). "Intertextuality." In J. Fiske, Television culture (pp. 86-102). London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. [E-book]

Unit 5

Mittell, J. (2004). "Television genres as cultural categories." In J. Mittell, Genre and television: From cop shows to cartoons in American culture (pp. 1-11). New York: Routledge. [E-book].

Jenkins, H. (1995). “‘Infinite diversity in infinite combinations’: Genre and authorship in Star Trek.” In J. Tulloch & H. Jenkins (Eds.), Science fiction audiences: Watching Dr. Who and Star Trek (pp. 173-193). New York: Routledge. [E-book].

Unit 6

Albiniak, P. (2012). Time to talk the talk—finally: A glutted field of syndicated chat shows competes to rule the post-Oprah market. Broadcasting & Cable, 142(4), 10-11. [E-Database]

Collins, S. (2006). Making the most out of 15 minutes: Reality TV’s dispensable celebrity. Television & New Media, 9(2), doi:10.1177/1527476407313814. [E-Journal]

Unit 7

Zavrel, E. A. (2011). How the Discovery Channel television show Mythbusters accurately depicts science and engineering culture. Journal of Science Education & Technology, 20(2), 201-207. doi:10.1007/s10956-010-9246-3. [E-Journal].

Unit 8

PBS. (2014, 29 April). Pioneers of television: Breaking barriers. PBS Video.

Miller, T. C. (2011). Performing Glee: Gay resistance to gay representations and a new slumpy class. FLOW, 14(3). Retrieved from http://flowtv.org/2011/07/performing-glee/ [Online article]

McCabe, J., & Akass, K. (2006). Feminist television criticism: Notes and queries. Critical Studies in Television, 1(1), 108-120. [E-Journal]

Press, A. (2009). Gender and family in television’s golden age and beyond. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 625(1), 139-150. doi:10.1177/0002716209337886. [E-Journal].

Unit 9

Sienkiewicz, M., & Marx, N. (2014). Click culture: The perils and possibilities of Family guy and convergence era television. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 11(2), 103-119. doi:10.1080/14791420.2013.873943. [E-Journal].

Earp, J. (Dir.). (2010). The mean world syndrome: Media violence & the cultivation of fear. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation. [Video]

Unit 10

Moran, A. (2009). Global franchising, local customizing: The cultural economy of TV program formats. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 23(2), 115-125. doi:10.1080/10304310802706932. [E-Journal].