SOC 5130 - Media and Society

The proliferation of new media/technology and its impact upon social life; the dramatic impact of an intensely global visual culture upon social life; tensions in race, gender, and sexuality in representation; the resurgence and cultural functions of the “real” in box office documentary and reality television; ideological debates about media effects and violence; the limits of representation (images of death, torture, war, and genocide) and the end(s) of the social.

Requisites:
Credit Hours: 4
Repeat/Retake Information: May not be retaken.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,CR,PR,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:

Students will become familiar with the pervasiveness of media in our society, new media configurations, and their global ramifications.
Students will become more informed and critical media consumers and practitioners.
Students will explore issues of social representation in political, ideological, and cultural contexts.
Students will explore overlooked ways in which visual objects intersect daily with our lives, experiences, and memories.
Students will learn how media ownership, access, and globalization impact social configurations of structure and agency.
Students will understand identity politics and tensions in race, gender, and sexuality in representation.