CMS1011 Understanding Television

Contents

• Staffing
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Reference materials
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Assessment notes
• Other requirements
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

SYNOPSIS

The narratives and images of mass media contribute to the repertoire of cultural meanings and practices of everyday life. This course surveys the cultural functions and institutional structures of television. Examples of televisual genres will be selected for detailed analysis and criticism.

OBJECTIVES

On completion of this course students will be able to:

1.

a knowledge of selected televisual forms and institutions and their relation to contemporary Australian culture and society (assignments 1, 2, 3 and CMA 1 & 2 refer);

2.

an understanding of the commodification of culture and its effects upon the construction, circulation and reception of texts (assignment 1, CMA 1 & 2 refer);

3.

an ability to analyse texts as sites of meaning constituted through various competing discourses (assignments 2 & 3 refer);

4.

an understanding of the significance of textual pleasure in reading and criticising television texts (assignments 1 & 3, CMA 1 & 2 refer).

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

USQ Study Package

Turner, G & Cunningham, S 2000, The Australian TV book, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Brown, ME (ed) 1990, Television and women's culture: The politics of the popular, Sage, London.

Corner, J 1995, Chapter 5 Adworlds, Television form and public address, Edward Arnold, London, pp105-134.

Cunningham, S & Jacka, E 1996, Australian television and international mediascapes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge & New York.

Curran, J & Gurevitch, M (eds) 2000, Mass media and society, 3rd edn, Edward Arnold, London.

Dyer, G 1988, Advertising as communication, Routledge, London.

Fairclough, N 1995, Media discourse, Edward Arnold, London.

Fiske, J 1989, Reading the popular, Unwin Hyman, Boston.

Fiske, J 1989, Understanding popular cultur, Routledge, London.

Geraghty, C 1991, Women and soap opera: a study of prime time soaps, Polity Press, Cambridge.

Goldman, R 1992, Reading ads socially, Routledge, Londo.

Hartley, J et al 2002, Communication, cultural and media studies: the key concepts, 3rd edn, Routledge, London.

Jhally, S 1990, The codes of advertising: fetishism and the political economy of meaning in the consumer society, Routledge, New York.

Leiss, W, Kline, S & Jhally, S 1990, Social communication in advertising: persons, products and images of wellbeing, 2nd edn, Routledge, New York.

Messner, MA 1992, Power at play: sports and the problem of masculinity, Beacon Press, Boston.

Messner, MA & Sabo, Donald F (eds) 1990, Sport, men and the gender order: critical feminist perspectives, Human Kinetics Books, Champaign, Illinois.

Moragas, SM, Rivenburgh, N & Larson, J 1995, Television in the Olympics, John Libbey, London.

O'Regan, T 1993, Australian television culture, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards.

Stevenson, N 1995, Understanding media cultures: social theory and mass communication, Sage, London.

Ward, I 1995, Politics of the media, MacMillan Education Australia, South Melbourne.

Wernick, A 1991, Promotional culture: advertising, ideology and symbolic expression, Sage, London.

Whannel, G 1992, Fields in vision: television sport and cultural transformation, Routledge, London.

Williams, L (ed) 1995, Viewing positions: ways of seeing film, 2nd edn, Athlone Press, New Brunswick.

Williams, R 1999, Advertising: the magic system, The cultural studies reader, S During, Routledge, London, pp320-336.

Williamson, J 1978, Decoding advertisements: ideology and meaning in advertisements, Boyars, London.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

NOTES

1.

Students will be advised AT THE BEGINNING OF SEMESTER of the due date for this assessment.

2.

All written assignments are due at 12.00 midday on the due date ( see Important Assessment Information No. 9).

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   It is the student's responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. For this course, normal class attendance consists of one 2 hour lecture and one 1 hour tutorial per week. NB. there is no lecture in week 1 but tutorials will commence in week one for important course information.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To successfully complete an individual assessment item, a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks or a grade of at least C-. This statement must be read in conjunction with Statement 4 below.
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   If students submit assignments after the due date without extenuating circumstances and without prior approval, then a penalty of a maximum of 5% of the assigned mark may apply for each working day late, up to a maximum of 10 working days, at which time a mark of zero can be recorded for that assignment.
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   There is no exam for this course.
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   Given the details under (6) above, there are no deferred exams for this course. However, if any deferred/makeup work is granted, it would have to be submitted by a date set by the examiner.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6 Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm

ASSESSMENT NOTES

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

1. Students will require access to email and have internet access to USQConnect for this course.

This version produced 28 Aug 2009.