ENG 242 Contemporary Media in Everyday Life

(Formerly SPE 240) 

3 hours 

Contemporary media in the form of personal communication devices, radio, television, film, and computer games, and instantaneous global communication by means of the Internet or orbiting satellites, have left few spheres of human existence untouched. These and other contemporary media forms educate us, stimulate our desires, provide us with real or virtual communities, and shape our private and public identities and fantasies. This course offers a study of the contemporary media arena and the impact it has on our lives as citizens and consumers. Through a targeted examination of contemporary media culture including video games, advertising, Internet, film, TV and music, students will deepen their critical and theoretical understanding of how the mass media operates to construct our sense of culture, place, identity and citizenship. To develop a historical and analytical understanding of this subject, students will read a variety of scholarly and popular texts, and closely examine a variety of contemporary media forms.