Published: Feb. 26, 2018

This graduate seminar provides an introduction to the Anthropology of Media, paying particular attention to contemporary anthropological approaches, ethnographic practices, and writing strategies.  This course is intended to encourage students to theorize about their own experiences and to spark interest in the possibilities of the anthropological study of media.  We consider the relationship between media technologies, social relations, and cultural practices and explore issues of representation, cultural production, and reception through full length ethnographies as well as newspaper articles, films, anthropological literature, and online resources.  We cover a wide range of case studies from international journalists to indigenous peoples in the Amazon to television viewers in India to people who participate in online social networks in the United States. Students are encouraged to think critically about the contemporary moment and the role of media in America, as well as the ways in which they can apply the methods, critiques, and analytical concepts of the anthropology of media to other fields of interest.

 

Professor Jen Shannon

See the University Catalog for specifics, recommendations, and prerequisites.