AMST310 - Global Media Cultures

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Academic Year 2001/2002

Global Media Cultures
AMST 310 FA

Crosslistings:
AFAM 309
WMST 312

This course examines the relationship between globalization and mass-mediated images and sounds. Starting from the premise that Hollywood is now, and has always been, a global culture industry, this course begins by looking at the global distribution of Hollywood entertainment, from the early twentieth century onward. From there, the course will examine responses to Hollywood cultural imperialism from the perspective of non-Western audiences, with special emphasis on questions of gender. We will look at both the reception of Hollywood cinema in different national and cultural contexts, and at the production of alternative or oppositional film and television by indigenous populations. The next section of the course will consider the concept of "national cinema," given the global circulation of entertainment and information media, by focusing on several different Asian film and television industries. Finally, the course will conclude with a discussion of theories of postmodernity, contrasting claims of a postwar historical shift in economics and subjectivity with the readings from earlier in the course that demonstrate the long history of global media cultures.

MAJOR READINGS

Kristin Thompson, EXPORTING ENTERTAINMENT: AMERICAN IN THE WORLD FILM MARKET, 1907-34 (1985)
Ruth Vasey, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HOLLYWOOD, 1918-1939 (1997)
Armand Mattelart, MAPPING WORLD COMMUNICATION: WAR, PROGRESS, CULTURE (1994)
Stam and Shohat, UNTHINKING EUROCENTRISM: MULTICULTURALISM AND THE MEDIA (1994)
Pines and Willemen, eds, QUESTIONS OF THE THIRD CINEMA (1989)
selections from Schneider and Wallis, eds., GLOBAL TELEVISION (1988)
selections from PUBLIC CULTURE vol. 5 (1993) on global television
selections from Tony Dowmunt, ed., CHANNELS OF RESISTANCE: GLOBAL TELEVISION AND LOCAL EMPOWERMENT (1993)
Noel Burch, TO THE DISTANT OBSERVER: FORM AND MEANING IN THE JAPANESE CINEMA (1979)
Rey Chow, PRIMITIVE PASSIONS: VISUALITY, SEXUALITY, ETHNOGRAPHY AND CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CINEMA (1995)
David Bordwell, PLANET HONG KONG: POPULAR CINEMA AND THE ART OF ENTERTAINMENT (2000)
Sumita Chakravarty, NATIONAL IDENTITY IN INDIAN POPULAR CINEMA: 1947-1987 (1992)
Benedic t Anderson, IMAGINED COMMUNITIES (1983)
Phil Rosen, "Nation and Anti-Nation: Concepts of National Cinema in the 'New' Media Era".
Fredric Jameson, THE GEOPOLITICAL AESTHETIC: CINEMA AND SPACE IN THE WORLD SYSTEM (1995)
Wilson and Dissanayake, eds ., GLOBAL/LOCAL: CULTURAL PRODUCTION AND THE TRANSNATIONAL IMAGINARY (1996)

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two papers, 5-7 pages long
One paper, 10-15 pages long

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Attendance, participation in discussions, attendance at screenings.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS AMST Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Ostherr,Kirsten

Times: ..T.R.. 01:10PM-02:30PM; ...W... 07:00PM-09:00PM; Location: FISK115

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 15)

SR. major: 7 Jr. major: 8

SR. non-major: Jr. non-major: SO: FR:

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal: Ethical Reasoning, Reading Non-Verbal Texts

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2002