Media, Film and Society

Catalog description

In our current global society, media has great power over those who consume it. Media has the power to create fame, produce overnight celebrities, promote buying trends, and sway political viewpoints. Additionally, exposure to television, film, and media may affect one’s worldview and belief systems. In this course, students will learn to separate and expose falsehoods from truth by learning to recognize rhetorical tools, using evidence-based research, and developing critical thinking skills. We will study everything from memes to media ecology to celebrity culture to social media to the Anthropocene. Each week, this course will pair a movie with critical readings to give students the tools to understand the influence of media and to recognize its intent.