It is important for students to know how to evaluate messages conveyed by the news media. Exploration of the artistic techniques used in political cartoons leads to critical questioning.

Students explore and analyze the techniques that political (or editorial) cartoonists use and draw conclusions about why the cartoonists choose those techniques to communicate their messages.

By looking at advertising and mass media critically, students begin to understand how the media oppresses certain groups, convinces people to purchase certain products, and influences culture.

By critically analyzing popular television programs, students develop an awareness of the messages that are portrayed through the media.

This lesson uses clips from "The Matrix" and other dystopian movies to introduce students to the characteristics found in dystopian works, such as "Brave New World", "Fahrenheit 451", and "1984".

This lesson uses the "1984" Macintosh Commercial to introduce students to dystopian characteristics. Students analyze techniques used in the commercial and identify the comments that it makes about contemporary society.

Through listing and observation, students identify the many texts that they read and compose: including books and magazines, television shows, movies, audio broadcasts, hypertexts, and animations.

Short Description:
An open pedagogy project of student-authored essays to help readers develop a better understanding of the ways that narrative media like movies and television represent issues of difference, power, and discrimination in American culture, both today and in the past.

Long Description:
An open pedagogy project of student-authored essays to help readers, particularly high school and college students interested in movies and television, develop a better understanding of the ways that narrative media like movies and television represent issues of difference, power, and discrimination in American culture, both today and in the past. Authors are students in English 223: Difference, Power, and Discrimination in Film course at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon taught by Dr. Stephen Rust.

Word Count: 150923

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Short Description:
An open pedagogy project of student-authored essays to help readers develop a better understanding of the ways that narrative media like movies and television represent issues of difference, power, and discrimination in American culture, both today and in the past.

Long Description:
An open pedagogy project of student-authored essays to help readers, particularly high school and college students interested in movies and television, develop a better understanding of the ways that narrative media like movies and television represent issues of difference, power, and discrimination in American culture, both today and in the past. Authors are students in English 223: Difference, Power, and Discrimination in Film course at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon taught by Dr. Stephen Rust.

Word Count: 165456

ISBN: 978-1-63635-079-0

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Students will learn about the juxtaposition of image and text to define the social and psychological mood of the civil rights movement in the United States.

Long Description:
This OER text was adapted from the 2016 text Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication which was produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing through the eLearning Support Initiative. The name author of the orginal text has been removed be request from the publisher.

Word Count: 231082

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

A Field Guide to “Fake News” and Other Information Disorders explores the use of digital methods to study false viral news, political memes, trolling practices and their social life online. It responds to an increasing demand for understanding the interplay between digital platforms, misleading information, propaganda and viral content practices, and their influence on politics and public life in democratic societies.

TED Studies, created in collaboration with Wiley, are curated video collections — supplemented by rich educational materials — for students, educators and self-guided learners. In Cyber-Influence and Power, activists, academics and statesmen come together at TED to delve into new ideas about how power and influence come about in the digital age. With them, we'll consider how communications technology is fueling transnational organizations and movements with inspiring and disturbing effects. 

An Open Textbook Created with Students at the University of Arizona

Short Description:
Social media and humans exist in a world of mutual influence, and humans play central roles in how this influence is mediated and transferred. Originally created by University of Arizona Information scholar Diana Daly, this Winter 2022 Edition of the book Humans R Social Media uses plain language and features contributions by students to help readers understand how we as humans shape social media, and how social media shapes our world in turn.

Long Description:
Social media and humans exist in a world of mutual influence, and humans play central roles in how this influence is mediated and transferred. Originally created by University of Arizona Information scholar Diana Daly, this Winter 2022 Edition of the book Humans R Social Media uses plain language, audio and video, embedded questions and active learning activities, and contributions by students to help readers actively understand how we as humans shape social media, and how social media shapes our world in turn. The authors and contributors examine digitally mediated identity, microcelebrity, and relationships through sociological and feminist perspectives, and visualize networked publics and online spaces using historic forms of communication. Dynamic coverage by Daly and contributors also examines the #metoo movement, Black Lives Matter, and conversations around race and radicalism. Most notably, the world of information is examined through simple explanations of algorithms, types of misinformation, and spreadable media including memes. Designed for beginning college students, Humans are Social Media offers a unique, multimedia overview of social media in relationships with users and human cultures. (Cover design by Jacquie Kuru featuring work by iVoices Media Lab students. Top row, from left: Aditya Kumar, Anonymous, Alora, Preston Pierce Kerstin. Row 2: Jenna N Wing, Anna, Brenda Dolores Perea, Kennedy. Row 3: Jillian Bandler, Emilee Gustafson, Anonymous, Bianca. Row 4: Abby Arnold, Ashlyn Geaslen, Malia, Nellie Youssef. Row 5: Blaze Mutware, Luis A. Ruiz, Rachel Rojas, Sydney)

Word Count: 71820

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Various attempts (Curran & Park, 2000; Thussu, 2009; Wang, 2011) have been made in recent years to “de-Westernize” or “internationalize” media studies. What justifies another volume seeking to “internationalize” what is purported to be the most “internationalized” subfield in the whole gamut of media and communication studies? In short, it is because international communication as a field of inquiry actually is not very “internationalized.”

Provides a framework for understanding the impact of media on society and the individual.  The history, organization, economics, theories, and social significance of communication media are surveyed. Special emphasis will be given toward the evolving media environment, how to evaluate media messages, and how to become a better consumer of the media.

"Introduction to Communication and Media Studies" is an in-depth exploration of how communication shapes our world. This book traces the historical evolution of media, from the early days of the printing press to today’s digital age, examining key developments such as the telegraph, radio, television, and the internet. It also covers critical theories that explain media’s impact on society, including the effects of advertising, the role of public relations, and the emergence of social media as a powerful force in modern communication. Chapters on media literacy, critical thinking, and rhetorical analysis help students develop critical skills for understanding and analyzing media messages.

Introduction to Media Studies is designed for students who have grown up in a rapidly changing global multimedia environment and want to become more literate and critical consumers and producers of culture. Through an interdisciplinary comparative and historical lens, the course defines “media” broadly as including oral, print, theatrical, photographic, broadcast, cinematic, and digital cultural forms and practices. The course looks at the nature of mediated communication, the functions of media, the history of transformations in media and the institutions that help define media’s place in society.
Over the course of the semester we explore different theoretical perspectives on the role and power of media in society in influencing our social values, political beliefs, identities and behaviors. Students also have the opportunity to analyze specific media texts (such as films and television shows) and explore the meaning of the changes that occur when a particular narrative is adapted into different media forms. We look at the ways in which the politics of class, gender and race influence both the production and reception of media. To represent different perspectives on media, several guest speakers also present lectures. Through the readings, lectures, and discussions as well as their own writing and oral presentations, students have multiple opportunities to engage with critical debates in the field as well as explore the role of media in their own lives.

This class is a survey of the mass media, including newspapers, magazines, television, radio, book publishing, music publishing, motion pictures and advertising and how all of those have been affected by the development of the Internet. This course emphasizes the history and structural biases of the mass media, and encourages students to critically analyze the role of media in society, and to become media literate.