Session dates and times for courses are available in Axess under the Guest Menu. Course day, time, and units are subject to change. Courses are eight weeks long unless otherwise noted in the course description or details.
The impact of media entertainment on individuals, social groups, and societies. Sources include a diverse cross-section of entertainment. Introduction to psychological and socio-psychological theories. Empirical findings relating to media entertainment as a stimulus and a reception phenomenon. What renders diverse genres of media content and format enjoyable? Why do individuals pursue entertainment experiences in ever-increasing numbers? What is the political impact of apolitical media entertainment?
Focus is on a alternative, cultural perspective on journalism less in terms of its ability to impose a world view on its audience or exert political pressure and more in terms of participation in the cultural practices of a society, helping to establish distinctions between truth and fiction, public and private, and right and wrong. What does it mean for the press to have power? Is that power political, cultural, or economic? The context of changes in journalism through digital technologies.
