The Media and Identity

Catalog description

This course integrates philosophical analysis with cultural and media studies in order to examine the profound cultural role that the media play in shaping individual and social experience-how media production, content and reception affect the way in which we think, understand ourselves, perceive the world and live from day to day in an environment which is largely media-constructed. Through the application of critical thinking and various theoretical perspectives, we investigate how media representations significantly contribute to the formation of identities, values, beliefs, assumptions, social institutions and social practices. Specific attention is given to (1) how various media forms and genres-such as television, film, the internet, art, advertising, news reporting, music recording-produce and communicate meaning; and (2) how audiences receive, interpret and respond to media-generated content.