262 is the first course in the Journalism and Mass Communication Media
Studies submajor. It is designed to offer you an overview of the most
important issues in the field of media studies.
This field seeks to understand the importance of media in our everyday
lives and the pleasures we derive from media. But it also takes a
critical perspective on media, questioning why and how media
industries, media products, and media audiences function as they do.
Central to this course is the idea that media matter both to societies and to individuals in their
everyday lives. Thus we will treat all kinds of media seriously, even
the stuff most people consider trash. And even when a media product
seems to be pure “entertainment,” we will consider its formal design, its social
significance, and the forms of pleasure it offers.
We will consider a range of different media, such as film and
television, print, and the internet. Although most of our examples
will be drawn from the mainstream major media industries, we will also
consider media produced by ordinary people like Star Wars fans and
amateur zine publishers. We will consider media in terms of three key aspects: media production, media texts, and media
audiences. We will explore the central issues in each of these key
areas.
This course's instructor is Michael Z. Newman. E-mail me at mznewman [at] uwm [dot] edu.