Spring 2016
Course Title: Introduction to Media and Digital Culture
Course #: MCS 214 – 3 credits No pre-requisites required.
Class location: Carman Hall Room 223
Class Dates: January 29 to May 13th, 2016
Class Day and Time: Fridays 9:00AM – 11:40AM
Course Description: The history of media, technology theory, Internet, critical digital environments, print, images, photography, Film, TV, radio, advertising, Internet and Web media.
Professor Information: Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Office hours: Tuesdays / Thursdays 1PM to 2PM and by appointment
Office location: Carman 269
Email: jonah.bruckercohen at lehman.cuny.edu
Course Website: http://www.mcs2142016.jbcclasses.org
Course Description:
3 Hours; 3 Credits
This course will help students understand how various forms of media came to be and look at how these media have evolved. Media have an enormous impact on society by influencing pop culture and promoting the free exchange of ideas and leading to change. The class explores the economics of broadcasting and some of the ways in which the federal government has regulated and deregulated its functions. This course offers a global view of broadcasting, online media, newspapers and other text-based media, programming strategies, marketing techniques and the ways in which media affect our daily lives and may change our perspective. Students should expect to be writing regularly and proofreading their work thoroughly before submission. Class participation is also essential during discussion portions of the class in which current media content is analyzed.
Course Objectives:
Through its multi-disciplinary approach, the course will help to enrich students and student projects with strong forms of discourse and engagement. This stems from the data they will be using in their projects and how they match this data to theoretical input. We will also use data sources as case studies and examine the massive proliferation of online social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, NING, and the aggregation, importance, and social relevance of Reputation Systems employed on sites like Digg.com and Ebay.com. Is this form of social media beneficial for people or does it add to concerns or over privacy, mass rule, and participatory democracy? Although this technology has lead to an improvement in the quality of life, it also brings with it tensions of broadcasting, regulation of ownership, social dilemmas of acceptable use policy within the public sphere, and other concerns. Students will research specific topics having to do with the proliferation of marketing strategies that digital media has engendered in public spaces online and off and introduce scenarios for coping with the rules, regulations, and conflicts that these technologies produce and perpetuate.
Course Format:
Students will present weekly on the readings and involve the class in an activity that gets them to think critically about the reading topics for each week. Every student will be able to lead the class in both discussions and creative actions that will help to inform them further about the subject.
[Classes consist of both assessment of student research and discussion of the weekly readings. Assignments are given weekly and deadlines are set for both class time and through the week (to be submitted on the blog).
Digital Marketing Blog Posts
NOTE: ALL POSTS ARE DUE BY CLASS TIME!
A central focus of this course will be weekly explorations into marketing strategies and the creation of blog posts. The posts are reactions to the readings from the week and will be published on the class blog. The blog will serve both as a research tool and as a way to document the process and results of the explorations. Discussion of research of the last week, engaging criticism and feedback posted on the blog by the students and the instructor. Over the course of the semester a collection of posts will accumulate based on the student work. These will remain online as public documents, accessible both to other students as well as the general public if students permit.
IMPORTANT: LATE BLOG POSTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED
BE PREPARED TO TALK ABOUT YOUR POST EACH WEEK
Lehman Plagarism Policy:
This class does not tolerate plagarism in class or for blog posts. Plagiarism is the use of another person’s words or ideas in any academic work using books, journals, Internet postings, or other student papers without proper acknowledgment.
You plagiarize when, without proper attribution, you do any of the following:
Copy verbatim from a book, an article or other media;
Download documents from the Internet;
Purchase documents;
Report from other’s oral work;
Paraphrase or restate someone else’s facts, analysis and/or conclusions;
Copy directly from a classmate or allow a classmate to copy from you.
Statement may be found in student handbook. For more information refer to http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/student-affairs/documents/student-handbook-02.pdf.
If you plagarise in your blogs or your final paper, you will automatically fail the course.
Class Blog Address: http://www.mcs223.jbcclasses.org
Weekly themes: Each week, students will be assigned material revolving around the weekly theme. The weekly reading list consists of required and recommended items. These items will be various articles, book segments, blog posts and might also be audio and video presentations or other audiovisual content.
Course Requirements
All students are required to attend class and complete all assigned readings. Students are required to both post to the blog and comment on other students work. Deadlines are rigid and posting late is not accepted. Coming to class late is considered an absence in the course. Late attendance to class counts as an absence.
Class Format:
Each week, the readings from the week will be covered by the instructor after which one or two students will team up and present an interactive scenario by matching, criticizing, and contrasting topics mentioned in the weekly readings from that week in order to elicit a response. They must design an activity that the entire class can participate in during class in order to better illustrate their concept. Each group of students is required to post their activity and data sets to the class blog before their specified activity will take place.
Learning Outcomes:
By the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Critically identify and challenge existing relationships of network culture and experience
Critically examine the underlying concepts of networked life and provoke reactions to this contrived culture and existence
Distinguish this understanding through creative production and written text.
Work in teams to collectively create an engaging experience for their classmates to learn about a defined aspect of networked culture
Comparatively analyze projects and movements related to network practice or research.
Think and speak critically about one’s creative practice or research.
Assessable Tasks and Grade Calculation:
Digital Marketing Blog Posts: 30% (Late posts are not accepted)
In Class Participation and Presentations: 30%
Final Projects / Presentations: 40%
Total: 100%
Grading Standards
F
Failing grades are given for required work that is not submitted, for incomplete final projects or for examinations that are not taken (without prior notification and approval). Make-up work or completion of missed examinations may be permitted only with the approval of the instructor and the program director.
D
The final deliverable adheres to all of the general guidelines of formatting, page-length, and the minimum terms of the assignment. Written work receiving a “D” grade may be a simple restatement of fact or commonly-held opinion. These kinds of papers also will tend to put forward obviously contradictory or conflicting points of view. “D” papers may also have serious organizational and grammatical errors in evidence, which may or may not impede the reader’s ability to understand the author’s point.
C/C+
These are average projects and participation by students. They will demonstrate some success in engaging with the assigned readings or material. The paper will show that the student can identify and work with key terms and passages in a text/project and apply them to ideas and examples found in other texts/projects or other outside material. Additionally, the paper will demonstrate effort in the areas of analysis and critical thinking by posing an interesting problem or question. Typical of a “C/C+” project, however, is that the original problem or question, once asked, does not move the project forward. Often, there is no real solution given, or there is a variety of possible solutions put forward without a clear sense of where the author’s commitment lies. “C/C+” papers may also have significant organizational, grammatical and/or editorial errors in evidence. These errors may periodically impede the reader’s ability to understand the author’s point, or may lead to a paper that seems repetitive or circular.
B/B+
These are very good projects and papers. The “B/B+” paper does everything a “C/C+” project does, but offers a sustained and meaningful structure to a critical endeavor that is more complex than a project at the “C/C+” level. What also distinguishes a “B/B+” project is the author’s ability to offer a unique insight, to ask questions of primary or secondary source material, and/or to set up a debate between texts or points of view. The author’s point of view is clear and an argument is sustained fairly consistently throughout the paper. “B/B+” projects are logically organized, and also respond to the assignment in thoughtful and distinctive ways. Although minor grammatical and editorial errors may be present, they are under control and do not impede meaning or clarity in the paper.
A
These are exceptionally good projects that go above and beyond the expectations and requirements set forth in the assignment. They demonstrate substantial effort and achievement in the areas of critical thinking and scholarship. They also demonstrate considerable interpretive connections between concrete ideas or textual moments, a high level of analysis, and flexibility of argument. The argument or point of view that is offered is consistent throughout the project, and governs the use and interpretation of all examples, and primary and/or secondary source material. “A” papers are very well organized, and are free of grammatical and editorial errors.
I
A grade of I (Incomplete), signifying a temporary deferment of a regular grade, may be assigned when coursework has been delayed at the end of the semester for unavoidable and legitimate reasons. Incomplete grades are given only with the written approval of the instructor and the program director. The Request for an Incomplete Grade form must be filled out by the student and instructor prior to the end of the semester.
Divisional, Program and Class Policies
Responsibility
Students are responsible for all assignments, even if they are absent. Late papers, failure to complete the readings assigned for class Discussion, and lack of preparedness for in-class Discussions and presentations will jeopardize your successful completion of this course.
Participation
Class participation is an essential part of class and includes: keeping up with reading, contributing meaningfully to class Discussions, active participation in group work, and coming to class regularly and on time.
Attendance
Faculty members may fail any student who is absent for a significant portion of class time. A significant portion of class time is defined as three absences for classes that meet once per week and four absences for classes that meet two or more times per week. During intensive summer sessions a significant portion of class time is defined as two absences.
***** Lateness or early departure from class translates into one full absence. *****
Delays
In rare instances, I may be delayed arriving to class. If I have not arrived by the time class is scheduled to start, you must wait a minimum of thirty minutes for my arrival. In the event that I will miss class entirely, a sign will be posted at the classroom indicating your assignment for the next class meeting.
Academic Integrity
This is the university’s Statement on Academic Integrity: “Plagiarism and cheating of any kind in the course of academic work will not be tolerated. Academic honesty includes accurate use of quotations, as well as appropriate and explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas, or reporting on research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of instructors and other students). These standards of academic honesty and citation of sources apply to all forms of academic work (examinations, essays, projects, computer work, art and design work, oral presentations, and other projects).”
It is the responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their discipline for correctly and appropriately differentiating their own work from that of others. Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious consequences, including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure of the assignment, failure of the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation, suspension from the university, or dismissal from the university.
Guidelines for Written Assignments
Plagiarism is the use of another person’s words or ideas in any academic work using books, journals, internet postings, or other student papers without proper acknowledgment. For further information on proper acknowledgment and plagiarism, including expectations for paraphrasing source material and proper forms of citation in research and writing, students should consult the Chicago Manual of Style (cf. Turabian, 6th edition). The University Writing Center also provides useful on-line resources to help students understand and avoid plagiarism.
Students must receive prior permission from instructors to submit the same or substantially overlapping material for two different assignments. Submission of the same work for two assignments without the prior permission of instructors is plagiarism.
Guidelines for Class Assignments
Work from other visual sources may be imitated or incorporated into studio work if the fact of imitation or incorporation and the identity of the original source are properly acknowledged. There must be no intent to deceive; the work must make clear that it emulates or comments on the source as a source. Referencing a style or concept in otherwise original work does not constitute plagiarism. The originality of studio work that presents itself as “in the manner of” or as playing with “variations on” a particular source should be evaluated by the individual faculty member in the context of a critique. Incorporating ready-made materials into studio work as in a collage, synthesized photograph or paste-up is not plagiarism in the educational context. In the commercial world, however, such appropriation is prohibited by copyright laws and may result in legal consequences.
Accommodating Disabilities
Lehman College is committed to providing access to all programs and curricula to all students. Students with disabilities who may need classroom accommodations are encouraged to register with the Office of Student Disability Services. For more information, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services, Shuster Hall, Room 238, phone number, 718-960-8441.
The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) and the Science Learning Center (SLC)
The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) and the Science Learning Center (SLC) are two of the tutoring centers on campus. The ACE provides appointment-based and drop-in tutoring in the humanities, social sciences, and writing, as well as general writing and academic skills workshops. The SLC provides drop-in tutoring for natural science courses. To obtain more information about the ACE and the SLC, please visit their website at http://www.lehman.edu/issp, or please call the ACE at 718-960-8175, and the SLC at 718-960-7707.
NO REQUIRED BOOKS – ALL READING MATERIAL WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE
A required and recommended reading list will be provided for every class.
Schedule
Our schedule will be flexible and is bound to change based on the class’s activity. The following is a framework we will refer to but by no means is this the exact class schedule.
Grading Criteria For The Class
A – Excellent. Student exhibits exemplary creativity through research and critical analysis. Research and writing is lucid and engaging with zero mistakes.
B – Good. References to the course material are well-selected and topical. Critical analysis is present, but largely rehearsed from class lecture and discussion. Student’s style is clear and has very few mistakes.
C – Satisfactory. References to the course material are well-selected and topical, but student performs little or no historical or critical analysis. Problems exist in student’s work. Work consists mostly of underdeveloped ideas, off-topic sources or examples, inappropriate research, or anecdotes.
D – Unsatisfactory. Student does not engage with the material and no historical or critical analysis is present. Substantial problems exist in student’s work.
F – Fail. Student does not submit work, missed too many blog posts, or work is below unsatisfactory level