ANTHRO 3438 - Anthropology of Mass Media

Institution:

Temple University

Subject:

Description:

Mass media is a comparatively new topic of study for anthropology, which a century ago focused on supposedly pre-literate, pre-modern, traditional societies. Now, of course, anthropologists study people in cities as well as villages, in the U.S. and Europe as well as on remote islands, and even supposedly “exotic” groups have access to media, as rainforest residents wield video cameras and Africa is the world’s fastest-growing cell phone market. Today the social life of media (books, magazines, TV, films, videos, audiocassettes, radio, e-mail, the Internet, telephones, billboards, etc.) is a vibrant and growing topic of interest within anthropology. Some of the questions anthropologists ask: What roles do media play in the circulation, transmission, and contestation of culture? How do media (and new media technologies) affect people’s lives, and how do people transform and adapt media to fit their needs? What is the relation of the media to economic and political systems? What can we learn by paying attention to the specific details of how media are produced, used, and talked about? This course provides an introduction to theoretical and methodological tools used by anthropologists in studying media; a forum for critical analysis of media processes in the U.S. and around the world; and opportunities to do ethnographic research of media processes.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

WWW.TEMPLE.EDU

Phone Number:

(215) 204-7000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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