Overview of Course

JTC 100 is designed to give students an overview of contemporary mass media – examining print, electronic, and web-based media from a historical and critical perspective. This includes an examination of terms, concepts and theories of mass communication, as well as discussion of the key figures and events that have shaped the discipline. Media systems in countries visited will be compared in terms of economic, political and press freedom differences.

We will investigate historical forms of media that have been used by young people to advocate for social and political change (i.e. protest music, Arab Spring, Kony 2012, #metoo, Tiananmen Square, China’s Umbrella movement, citizen journalism). The course will allow students to investigate and understand how they, as engaged citizens, can use mass communication and technology to work toward an improved global world.

This course also explores effects of mass media on individuals. Students will analyze their own media consumption, particularly new media such as social media, fake news, online gaming, etc., and compare it with that of the people in the countries we will visit. We will cover topics related to this such as portrayals of ethnicity and gender, advertising and consumption, violence and pornography, thin-ideal body image, etc.