CS100A introduction to . MEDIA HISTORY

Thibault CS100A Introduction to Media History Fall 2012 CS100A introduction to . MEDIA HISTORY Communication Studies Department. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo ON Fall 2012 Friday 12:00-­‐ 2:00 ART 1E1 Instructor: Dr. Ghislain Thibault Office: DAWB 2-­‐136 Phone : 519-­‐884-­‐1970 ex. 4086 Email: MyLearningSpace mail Office hours: Thursdays 2-­‐3PM Tutorials (begin week 2) Tutorial A1 Tutorial A2 Tutorial A3 Tutorial A4 Tutorial A5 Tutorial A6 Tutorial A7 Tutorial A8 Tutorial A9 Tutorial A10 Tutorial A11 Tutorial A12 Tuesday 4-­‐4:50PM Tuesday 5-­‐5:50PM Tuesday 6-­‐6:50PM Tuesday 7-­‐7:50PM Tuesday 8-­‐8:50PM Tuesday 9-­‐9:50PM Tuesday 4-­‐4:50PM Tuesday 5-­‐5:50PM Tuesday 6-­‐6:50PM Tuesday 7-­‐7:50PM Tuesday 8-­‐8:50PM Tuesday 9-­‐9:50PM Bell Telephone Ad – c. 1950 SEM S101 SEM S101 SEM S101 SEM S101 SEM S101 SEM S101 SEM S102 SEM S102 SEM S102 SEM S102 SEM S102 SEM S102 Bell Telephone Ad – c. 1950 Mackenzie Warner Lauren Rabindranath Emma van Weerden Adam Mawer Francesca Saraco Francesca Saraco Shelby Davies Nathalie Roth Michael Sammut Michael Sammut Thomas Wade-­‐West Thomas Wade-­‐West Teaching Assistants: (Office Hours and locations will be announced in tutorials, week two) Shelby Davies: [email protected] Adam Mawer: [email protected] Lauren Rabindranath: [email protected] Nathalie Roth: [email protected] Francesca Saraco: [email protected] Michael Sammut: [email protected] Thomas Wade-­‐West: [email protected] Mackenzie Warner: [email protected] Emma van Weerden: [email protected] Thibault CS100A Introduction to Media History Fall 2012 Course Description CS100 is an introduction to the study of human communication from prehistory to the digital age, emphasizing the social implications of technological change, past and present. Topics include the development of, and popular responses to, writing, the telegraph, the telephone, photography and film, radio, television, the Internet and digital technologies. A primary goal of this course is to situate the development of communication technologies within a historical context that explores the political, economic, scientific and socio-­‐cultural climate into which “new” technologies are seemingly born. In addition to exploring the history of human communication practices, the course also introduces students to the field of communication studies and to some of the discipline’s fundamental concepts and theories. The course consists of lectures and tutorials. Lectures cover the major periods, technologies and issues in media history. Tutorials allow students to investigate and discuss the materials of the course in more depth, developing critical and analytic skills fundamental to academic work. In tutorials, students will also learn some of the mechanics of academic writing, with an emphasis on finding peer-­‐reviewed documentation, summarizing and referencing. Objectives 1. Provide a general history of media and communication technologies, emphasizing their centrality to social, political, cultural and economic life; 2. Introduce the field of communication studies, with particular emphasis on basic concepts, key terms and theories, as well as its relationship to other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences; 3. Help to develop and test critical and analytic thinking and writing skills, including the ability to prepare an annotated bibliography with original sources; 4. Increase awareness of the importance of communications technology and media in daily life. Required course material Crowley, David and Paul Heyer, eds. Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, NY: Allyn & Bacon, 6th ed., 2010. Lester Faigley, Roger Graves, Heather Graves. The Little Penguin Handbook, with MyCanadianCompLab, 2ce, Toronto: Pearson. (Available for purchase at the Laurier Bookstore; packaged price is 125$) Thibault CS100A Introduction to Media History Fall 2012 Class Policies Email • Your TAs can be reached at their email addresses above. • The instructor can be reached via MyLearningSpace Mail. I will usually answer within 24-­‐48 hours. If your email requires a long and comprehensive answer, I will ask you to see me during my office hours. • The instructor and TAs will not answer emails on days exams are scheduled. MyLearningSpace Students should visit the CS100A MyLearningSpace webpage at least once a week. Course material, guidelines for assignments, announcements are regularly updated. Readings and attendance • You are expected to complete scheduled readings every week before class. Exams *will* include questions from readings. • You are expected to attend every lecture and every tutorial. Due Dates Due dates for assignments and scheduled dates for exams are not flexible. Each student must provide his/her assignment at the beginning of the class on the due date. Electronic copies by email will not be accepted and will not be accounted for. If you necessitate an extension because of a medical issue or family emergency, write to Dr. Thibault (not your TA) to discuss about this as soon as possible: formal documentation will be required in order to grant extensions. Late papers policy Late papers will be graded with a penalty of one letter grade for each period of 24 hours following the due date. For instance, if an assignment due Friday November 23 at the beginning of the class is received at 3:45PM that same day, it will be graded with one letter grade deduction (B+ down to B); with 3 letter grade deductions if received on Monday morning November 26 (from B+ to C+); etc . Late assignments need to be dropped in the instructor’s mailbox and not in your TA mailbox (doing so will cause more delays, and possibly more deductions). TAs cannot grant extensions and will not look at your medical documentation. Important Dates •
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Mid-­‐term Exam (25%) October 26 Marconi’s Ruins Project (15%): Tweeting Oct. 6-­‐ Oct. 16, written report on November 2 Annotated Bibliography (20%): November 23 Final Exam (25%) to be announced (during exam period) Tutorial Participation (15%) continuing Thibault CS100A Introduction to Media History Fall 2012 Assessments Midterm exam: 25% The midterm exam covers all material from the first half of the course, from week 1 to week 6 inclusively. This closed-­‐book exam consists of a mix of multiple-­‐choice questions, fill-­‐in-­‐the-­‐blanks, true or false, definitions and short answers questions based on lectures, readings and tutorials. Final exam: 25% The final exam covers all material from the second half of the course, from week 8 to week 12 inclusively. This closed-­‐book exam consists of a mix of multiple-­‐choice questions, fill-­‐in-­‐the-­‐blanks, true or false based on lectures, readings and tutorials. Case Study and Twitter Project on the Marconi’s Ruins: 15% **Detailed guidelines for this assignment will be posted on MyLearningSpace on Week 1** In conjunction with CS100A, Wilfrid Laurier’s Robert Langen Gallery welcomes this fall the Marconi’s Ruins exhibition by artists Michael Longford and Robert Prenovault. This is a unique opportunity for us in CS100A to reflect critically on Canadian media history. In addition to the guest lecture by both artists on October 12, this case study assignment will allow you to contribute to the outreach of the exhibition and to engage with media history in an applied setting. In groups of 3 or 4 students, you will be asked to create a Twitter account and to tweet on behalf of the gallery to promote the exhibition and to provide background information on Marconi. This team assignment must be done in groups of 3 or 4 students from the same tutorial. Teams will be created during your first tutorial meeting (week 2). Tweeting (10%) will take place between October 6 and October 16; a written report (5%) is due November 2 at the beginning of the class. Annotated Bibliography and Referencing Assignment: 20% **Detailed guidelines for this assignment will be posted on MyLearningSpace on Week 5** Locating, assessing, evaluating and preparing sources to support your argument are essential steps to write an undergraduate level term paper. This annotated bibliography assignment is meant to familiarize you some of these important skills, especially 1) selecting and preparing academic sources; 2) referencing and summarizing sources adequately. A detailed guideline for this assignment, as well as a list of four topics to choose from will be available on MyLearningSpace on October 12. The annotated bibliography assignment is due at the beginning of the class on November 28, 2012. An electronic copy must be uploaded on Turnitin on MyLearningSpace. Tutorials Participation: 15% The participation mark is based on assiduous attendance *and* active participation in discussions during tutorials. Come prepared to discuss readings and topics. Teaching Assistants may allocate participation points at their convenience (attendance, quizzes, reading tests, etc.); i.e. your physical presence at the tutorials does not in any way guarantee a passing grade. Grading All assignments for this course will be assessed according to the standard WLU grading system. For more information, including what the letter grades mean, as well as policies regarding other issues concerning grading, such as revision and appeals, see the current calendar. The university policies on plagiarism will be strictly enforced. TAs are not allowed to revise grades, see the instructor for any revision request. Thibault CS100A Introduction to Media History Fall 2012 Schedule Week 1 September 14 What are “media”? Why study media history? Week 2 September 21 Media in Antiquity Week 3 September 28 Literate Culture: Writing Week 4 October 5 Print Culture: The Press No tutorial this week. No readings for week 1 Ø Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “The Media of Early Civilization,” Communication in History (6th ed.), 1-­‐4 Ø Schmandt-­‐Besserat, “The Earliest Precursor of Writing” Communication in History, 5-­‐13. Ø Robinson, Andrew. “The Origins of Writing,” Communication in History, 27-­‐33. Ø Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “The Tradition of Western Literacy,” Communication in History, 36-­‐37. Ø Innis, Harold. “Media in Ancient Empires,” Communication in History, 14-­‐21. Ø Ong, Walter. “Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media,” Communication in History, 49-­‐55. Ø Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “The Print Revolution,” Communication in History, 64-­‐66 Ø Mumford, Lewis. “The Invention of Printing,” Communication in History, 74-­‐77. Ø Eisenstein, Elizabeth. “The Rise of the Reading Public,” Communication in History, 78-­‐86. Tweeting begins: October 6 -­‐ October 16 Topics and guidelines for annotated bibliography are available on MLS Week 5 October 12 Time and Space: Telegraph and Telephone ** Guest Speakers: Michael Longford and Robert Prenovault ** Ø Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “Electricity Creates the Wired World,” Communication in History, 102-­‐104. Ø Standage, Tom. “Telegraphy -­‐ The Victorian Internet” Communication in History, 105-­‐111. Ø Fischer, Claude S. “The Telephone Takes Command,” Communication in History, 119-­‐125 Ø Carey, James. “Time, Space and the Telegraph,” Communication in History, 125-­‐131. Week 6 October 19 Mass Culture: Mass Media Week 7 October 26 Mid-­‐term exam Ø Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “Image Technologies and the Emergence of Mass Society” 133-­‐136. Ø Thompson, “The Trade in News,” Communication in History, 95-­‐100. Ø Williams, Rosalynd. “Dream Worlds of Consumption,” Communication in History, 137-­‐143. No tutorials this week Thibault CS100A Introduction to Media History Fall 2012 Week 8 November 2 Visual Culture: Photography and Film Due date for the report on Marconi’s case study Ø Keller, Ulrich. “Early Photojournalism,” Communication in History, 144-­‐152. Ø Czitrom, Daniel. “Early Motion Pictures,” Communication in History, 161-­‐169 Ø Fowles, Jib “Mass Media and the Star System” pp. 175-­‐182 Week 9 Ø
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November 9 Sound Culture: From the Phonograph to Radio November 16 Screen Culture: Television November 23 Digital Culture: The Internet Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “Radio Days,” Communication in History, 184 -­‐186 Gitelman, Lisa. “Inscribing Sound,” Communication in History, 152-­‐156 Sterne, Jonathan. “The Making of the Phonograph,” Communication in History, 157-­‐160 Peters, John Durham. “The Public Voice of Radio,” Communication in History, 190-­‐194 Douglas, Susan J. “Early Radio,” Communication in History, 194-­‐200. Week 10 Ø
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Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “TV Times,” Communication in History 219-­‐221. Boddy, William. “Television Begins,” Communication in History, 222-­‐231 Carpenter, Edmund. “The New Languages,” Communication in History, 231-­‐237 Spigel, Lynn. “Making Room for TV,” Communication in history, 237-­‐245. Week 11 Due date for the annotated bibliography Ø Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. “New Media and Old in the Information Age,” Communication in History, 274-­‐277. Ø Beniger, James. “The Control Revolution,” Communication in History, 278-­‐288. Ø Abbate, Janet. “Popularizing the Internet”, Communication in History, 292-­‐297 Ø Bolter, Jay D. & Grusin Richard. “The World Wide Web”, Communication in History, 297-­‐304 Week 12 November 30 Mobile Culture: Smartphones, Apps and Tablets Ø Manovich, Lev. “How Media Became New,” Communication in History, 288-­‐291 Ø Castells, Manuel. “A Mobile Network Society,” Communication in History, 304-­‐307 Final exam: to be announced Notes
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