Audience Studies

Catalog description

This course explores audience studies methods for analyzing audiences of popular music genres, television shows, films, and videogames. The class utilizes various theoretical traditions (ideological, semiotic, economic, sociological, psychoanalytic, cultural studies, etc.), with a focus on their utility for interpreting the meanings of the aforementioned media phenomena and its relationship to society and everyday life. These conceptual tools will provide the basis for analyzing media phenomena and its relationship with audiences and fans. Combining theory with practice, the course emphasizes critical thinking and writing about media texts in its varied dimensions and forms.