Mass Media and Mass Culture

elective courses

The class is for students familiar with the U.S. history and civilization.

This course is designed to provide students with an outline of the mechanisms and trends of the media market in the United States today, and to provide an introduction to the theory of culture; the concepts of popular culture and mass culture shall be central for this part of the course. However, the course is essentially designed to discuss mutual and direct dependence of media and mass culture. The course will discuss media as vehicles of mass culture.

This course is designed to provide students with an outline of the mechanisms and trends of the media market in the United States today, and to provide an introduction to the theory of culture; the concepts of popular culture and mass culture shall be central for this part of the course. However, the course is essentially designed to discuss mutual and direct dependence of media and mass culture. These two are mutually dependent on each other, which can be proved by, for example, comparing forms, values, genres typical for mass culture with the most popular television and radio genres. The course will discuss media as vehicles of mass culture.

Topics for discussion:

1. Introduction to theory of culture.

2. Types and sub-types of culture.

3. Mass culture.

4. Functions of mass culture.

5. Mass media in the U.S.

6. Radio and television genres.

7. Press as a vehicle of mass culture.

This class shall include optional topics, always in response to the specific interests of the students. Examples:

- series,

- soap operas,

- advertising in media,

- news as a product,

- talk shows,

- reality shows,

- Hollywood,

- women's press,

- violence,

- creating celebrities.

Terms and conditions:

- participation in class discussions,

- attendance, as required by the Institute of English Studies Rules and Regulations,

- presenting a selected topic in the class,

- semestral test.

Fellow, Anthony. American Media History. Wadsworth Publishing, 2012

Gołębiowski, Marek. An Encyclopedia of American Culture. Peter Lang, Bern, 2016

McQuail, Denis. McQuail's Mass Communication Theory. SAGE, London, 2010

Samovar,Larry, Porter, Richard, McDaniel, Edwin R. Intercultural Communication: A Reader. Cengage Learning, 2014

Pew Research Center online sources

primary source documents (official sites, codes, cases) available online

periodic handouts

Knowledge: the student will be able to

Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of literary and culture studies, including mass culture, mass media, mass communication, within the humanities

Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary and cultural studies, including mass culture, mass media and mass communication, research within English studies

Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems within the scope of this course

Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright

Abilities: the student is able to

Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline (literary studies, culture and religion studies, particularly mass culture, mass media and mass communication)

Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law

Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture and religion studies, including mass culture, mass media, mass communication

Analyze cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level, particularly in the context of mass culture, mass media and mass communication

Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the course

Use modern technology in the process of learning and communicating with academic teachers, colleagues, representatives of various institutions and fellow participants in classes and projects, applying various channels and techniques of communication

Present knowledge in a coherent, precise and linguistically correct manner in English on level C2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, ensuring an appropriate register and form

Social competences: the student is ready to

Apply knowledge and skills obtained in the class to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development

Take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the syllabus

Assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the course

Value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions, as expressed in mass culture and mass media

In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.

Language training level: minimum B2+.

1. Presentation, participation in classroom discussions, test in the end of semester; retake: test; three absences allowed

2. On-line edition using Moodle IA, GoogleMeet, @uw.edu.pl

Assessment: as above

No