Media and Society

This 100-level course is designed to explore the complex and often contradictory relationship between media, culture and society. Like the professor and textbook authors, we will cultivate sociological perspectives to analyze and explain how various forms of media-from traditional to digital-can spread their influence across society. On what terms is media content produced and consumed, and what “effects” are likely to follow? What is the “new media environment,” and what significance does it hold for media professionals and citizens? How do culture, technology, and political economy factor in? Throughout the semester, we will address each of these questions (and many more!) as we embark on an engaging, eye-opening journey through the realities of life in the increasingly mediated world. Also offered through Peace Studies.