Television Storytelling: The Conditions of Narrative Complexity
ANTH 308
Spring 2011
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AMST 316, FILM 319 |
This course examines the industrial and cultural conditions for the development of complex forms of storytelling in commercial U.S. television. Narrative complexity is a cross-generic phenomenon that emerged over the 1980s and has proliferated within an increasingly fragmented media environment. In class discussions and individual research projects, students will analyze particular programs in-depth, with attention to their industrial and social conditions of production, their aesthetic and ideological appeals, and the cultural tastes and practices of their viewers. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Interpretation
This course explores the industrial and cultural conditions of possibility for an aesthetic shift in television storytelling. It understands a move toward more complex narrative forms as multiply conditioned by producers' strategies, audience tastes, and new technologies. Interpretation, as pursued in the course, thus encompasses processes of production and reception.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS ANTH |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(ANTH)(FILM-MN)(FILM)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Robert Thompson, TELEVISION'S SECOND GOLDEN AGE
Jason Mittell. TELEVISION AND AMERICAN CULTURE
Roberta Pearson, ed., READING LOST
Dana Polan, THE SOPRANOS
Jeremy C. Butler, TELEVISION: CRITICAL METHODS AND APPLICATIONS
Course packet (including texts by Jeffrey Sconce, Horace Newcomb, Jane Feuer, Julie D'Acci, Janet McCabe, Kim Akass, David Lavery, Amanda Lotz, and others)
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Examinations and Assignments:
weekly research journal
short (5-7page) midterm paper
class presentation and final research paper
students will also take turns facilitating class discussions over the semester. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Most Monday evenings there will be screenings of episodes for that week's class; these will run (approximately) from 7 to 9. Although we will not need to hold screenings every Monday, students should keep that time free.
Applicants will be selected on the basis of a short questionnaire. Please contact the instructor (etraube@wesleyan.edu) to obtain the questionnaire; it should be returned by no later than Tuesday, November 16; POIs will be distributed by the beginning of the adjustment period. For additional info, you may email etraube or come to office hours, MW, 3-4:30, in the Anthropology Department. |
| Instructor(s): Traube,Elizabeth G. Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM; Location: ANTH6; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 16 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 5 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 3 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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