Media
Activism
HUM 696/COMM 695
Fall, 2007
Professor: Dr. Jeffrey Jones
Office: BAL 3012
Office Phone: 683-6267
E-mail:
Office Hours: Monday 10-12, Tuesday 3-4:30, and by appointment
Class:
Wednesdays, 7:10-9:50 p.m., BAL 3062
Web site:
www.odu.edu/al/jpjones
Course Description:
This
class examines the ways in which citizens employ media for direct political
action. We scrutinize the potentialities and effectiveness of political
action facilitated by or conducted through communication technologies,
both historically and in contemporary social and political movements.
These technologies include talk radio, pirate radio and low-power FM, public
access and guerilla television, cell phone swarming, blogging, Photoshop
political art and culture jamming, direct mail, faxes, newsletters, popular music,
list serves, discussion boards, websites, VCRs and DVDs, and the alternative
press (radical, ethnic, racial, sexual).
We analyze political engagement from a social movement perspective, as
well as from the individual citizen acting outside formal organizational or
institutional structures. We are
interested in those who seek political change or recourse from both the left
and right sides of the ideological spectrum, but more often than not, by those
who are or feel powerless. Yet we are
also interested in the ways in which political action and engagement is a
product of the complex processes of production and consumption of popular
culture. In short, activist politics is
concomitant with the need to communicate, and this class examines the myriad
ways in which multiple communication technologies facilitate those actions.
Activities and Evaluation
1. Weekly
2. Mid-Term Exam (take home): The
mid-term will answer a critical question based on the readings from the first part
of the semester. The length should be as
long as it takes to answer the question adequately. Due October 17 by 12:00 noon. Worth 20%.
3. Original Research Paper: This
is a typical graduate level research paper based on your own original research (20-22
pages). It should be more than a
literature review of existing knowledge on the subject (though that should
certainly be included as well), and should contain a sufficient amount of
scholarly citations to demonstrate that you are in conversation with other
thinkers in the field. Like a journal
article, you should seek to advance your own argument on a subject of your
choosing. Worth 40%.
You are to submit the following as part of the
paper writing process. Failure to submit
individual components will affect the final grade:
October
3: Topic
approval (what is it you plan to study?)
October
24: Research question and methodology (what is the specific question
you will ask and try to answer in your paper and how will you go about
answering it?)
November
7: Bibliography of materials (what books, journal articles, newspapers
and magazines will you use in your paper?) [note:
simply a list, not an annotated bibliography]
November
14: Paper Outline (a formal
outline that denotes each section of the paper and the arguments advanced in
each)
December
5: Presentation (a 10-minute summary your research question, your
data, and findings)
December
12: Final Paper (double-spaced, titled, pages numbered, works cited
page in MLA, Chicago, or APA).
4. Class Participation: As
a graduate student, it is expected that you will come to class having read the
material and prepared to discuss it. As
a once-a-week class, absences should be kept to a minimum. This grade also includes the quality of your
presentation of your original research on the last class day (5%). Worth 15%.
Required
Waltz, Mitzi. 2005. Alternative
and Activist Media.
Keren, Michael.
2006. Blogosphere: The New
Political Arena.
Rennie, Ellie.
2006. Community Media: A
Global Introduction.
Dean, Jodi, Jon W. Anderson, and
Geert Lovink. 2006. Reformatting
Politics: Information Technology and Global Civil Society.
Jones, Steven J.
2006. Antonio Gramsci (Routledge Critical Thinkers).
Meikle, Graham.
Future Active: Media Activism and the Internet. Routledge (2002) ISBN:
0415943221
Streitmatter,
Rodger. Voices of Revolution: The
Dissident Press in
Viguerie,
Richard. 2004.
August 29:
Class Introduction
September 5: Hegemony and Resistance
September 12:
Political Economy and/of the Public Sphere
Blackboard
September 19: Historical Considerations: The
Alternative Press
September 26: Alternative and Activist Media Today: An Overview
October 3:
Community Media
October
10: Music and Social Protest
Blackboard
October
17:
NO CLASS: Professor at Conference
*****Mid-Term Exams Due
by 12:00 noon via E-mail*****
October 24: Reformatting
Politics
October 31:
The Internet
November 7: Blogs
November 14:
Personal Media and Video Culture
Blackboard
November 21:
NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Holiday
December 5:
Presentations of Research Projects