MDST401-1 (Schedule # 70132)
University of Virginia
Spring 2007
M 1:00-3:30pm :: Clemons 322A
Mr. David Golumbia
Office: 304B Bryan
Spring 2007 Office Hours: TR 11am-12:30pm & by appt

Media Studies Fourth-Year Seminar

Our reading this year will be largely derived from core texts in cultural studies of media, with special attention to role of cultural and personal imagination, gender and racial representations, and the relationship between political structures and media forms. We will look in particular at formations of subjectivity and their relation to culture more generally, reading texts by Althusser, Attali, Butler, Foucault, Gramsci, Hall, Trinh, and Virilio, and also a short volume on Critical Race Theory. Students will respond to each reading with media-related questions. Each day we will view a 20-30 minute media selection and discuss its possible relationships to the issues raised in the reading; some of the media objects have been chosen in advance, and others will be decided by the group working together (these slots are indicated as TBD in the week-by-week syllabus). Written requirements for the class include two 3-5pp. media-related papers and a final 8-10pp. paper.

Required texts (available at UVa Bookstore)

• Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (NYU Press, 2001)
• Paul Virilio, The Information Bomb (Verso, 2006; originally published in France, 1998)

Texts on toolkit

• Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses: Notes toward an Investigation"
• Jacques Attali, "Repeating" (Chapter 4 of Noise: the Political Economy of Music)
• Tony Bennett, "Popular Culture and the 'Turn to Gramsci'"
• Judith Butler, "Imitation and Gender Insubordination"
• Michel Foucault, "Governmentality," "The Subject and Power," "The Political Technology of Individuals"
• Antonio Gramsci, "Hegemony, Intellectuals, and the State" (from The Prison Notebooks)
• Stuart Hall, "Encoding/Decoding"
• Trinh T. Minh-ha, "Difference: 'A Special Third World Women Issue'"

Media

Some of the media we'll watch during class include the following:

• South Park
• My Super Sweet 16
• Family Guy
• Engaged & Underage
• Juvies

Assignments and Evaluation

Evaluation will be based on written exercises and course participation as follows:

• 3-5pp. media response papers (2): 15% each (total 30%)
• Final 8-10pp. paper 40%
• Participation, including all in-class work, your attendance and participation in discussion and in solo and group projects: 30%.
  Click here for lists of group presentation and discussion leaders for reading.

Policies

• Because this class meets once each week, your attendance and participation are vital to its success. This also means that a significant portion of your grade (30%) depends on your class participation. You are allowed one unexplained course absence without penalty to your grade. In very dire circumstances you may appeal to the instructor for excused absences beyond one. If you do not, absences will count against your final course grade.
• No late work is accepted in this class.
• You are expected to have done the primary reading and any other primary course assignments before the beginning of course each week.
• All work in this course is subject to the University's Honor Code. You may work in teams for some assignments, but all written work must be solely your own, and any reliance on published work must be properly cited.
• Final grades for the course will not be released until the entire class has submitted online course evaluations via toolkit.

Week-by-Week Syllabus

Mon Jan 22.

• Reading: Hall, "Encoding/Decoding"

Mon Jan 29.

• Reading: Gramsci, "Hegemony"; Bennett, "Popular Culture"
• Media: My Super Sweet 16 episode 28: "Cher" (MTV Networks, first airdate 1/13/2007)

Mon Feb 5.

• Reading: Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses"
• Media: Family Guy episode 313, "Stuck Together, Torn Apart" (Fox TV network, first airdate 1/31/2002)

Mon Feb 12.

• Reading: Butler: "Imitation and Gender Insubordination"
• Media: South Park episode 909: "Marjorine" (Comedy Central, first airdate 10/26/2005)

Mon Feb 19.

• Reading: Trinh, "Difference: 'A Special Third World Women Issue'"
• Media: Trinh, dir., Reassemblage (1983)

Mon Feb 26.

• Reading: Attali, "Repeating"
• Media: Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 105/6ABB05: "Life Serial" (WB Network, first airdate 10/23/2001)
• Assignment 1 due

Mon Mar 5.

• No class: Spring break

Mon Mar 12.

• Reading: Delgado, Critical Race Theory, Parts I-IV
• Media: Engaged & Underage episode 4: "Ashley and Byron" (MTV Networks, first airdate 1/29/2007)

Mon Mar 19.

• Reading: Delgado, Critical Race Theory, Parts V-VIII
• Media: Juvies episode 4: "Kashmiere and Frankie" (MTV Networks, first airdate 2/22/2007)

Mon Mar 26.

• Reading: Foucault, "Governmentality"
• Media: Andrew Niccol, dir., Gattaca (1997)
• Assignment 2 due

Mon Apr 2.

• Reading: Foucault, "The Subject and Power," "The Political Technology of Individuals"
• Media: The Agency episode 4: "New Model" (VH1, first airdate 3/2007)

Mon Apr 9.

• Reading: Virilio, Information Bomb, Chapters 1-4, 7, 8, 12-14
• Media: South Park episode 1008: "Make Love, Not Warcraft" (Comedy Central, first airdate 10/04/2006)

Mon Apr 16.

• No class: final paper conferences during class period

Mon Apr 23.

• No class: final paper conferences during class period

Mon Apr 30.

• In-class discussion of final student papers.
• Final paper due. No exceptions!