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CS92PROD
Media and Society II: Music, Video Games, Internet

SOC 260
Spring 2016 not offered
Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory

This course explores contemporary developments in the study of media, focusing on three primary areas--music, video games, and the Internet--that depart from and sometimes challenge earlier frameworks rooted in visual and narrative forms. In the first unit of the course, we will examine the relation of music to identity formation, as well as revisit media scholars' longstanding interest in questions of meaning in light of music's particular characteristics. In the second unit of the course, we will investigate the social dimensions of video game play, focusing on the often-overlooked seriousness of play and on the unique properties of games as rule-bound systems. In the third unit, we will review and "unpack" some of the social, psychological, economic, and bodily transformations thought to be instigated by Internet use. Overall, the course aims to revisit sociologists' and media scholars' preoccupation with power, inequality, freedom, autonomy, and agency in light of the contemporary prevalence and particular characteristics of sonic and interactive media.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS SOC
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: SOC151
Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSCT)(SOC)

Last Updated on DEC-26-2024
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