COLI 281PMedia Theory

Catalog

This course explores the major paradigms of media theory that have developed since the beginning of the twentieth century. Against the cultural tendency to treat the plural "media" as a single, unified object of study, the class focuses on the differences between media-from the printing press through the personal computer. Through readings spanning the Frankfurt School, Toronto School, and New German Media Theory, the course concentrates on how the structures and operations of contemporary and historical media technologies have been theorized and their social, political, psychological, and aesthetic implications for viewers, listeners, writers, readers, and users. Fulfills post-1800 requirement for art history major or minor.