Sociology of Media

By Dr. Ipsita Barat | St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata

Learners enrolled: 286

Sociology of Media

The course provides an introduction to the study of media and mediated communication from a sociological perspective, focusing on the societal role and importance of traditional and new media. To put it simply it provides a basic understanding of the correlation between media and functioning of the society and vice versa. It is important for media students as such understanding is important to understand whether mass media have any impact on social structure and vice versa. Communication in contemporary times are mediated and this mediated communication has become important cultural force.

The approach is interdisciplinary therefore draws from various sub fields of media and sociological studies. Media systems and media organizations, media users, and media effects are avidly discussed in the course. Furthermore, it discusses Media economy, media representation, media and globalization, how media and communication influence the society and various such aspects with strong theoretical framework. It also focuses on research using the sociology of media framework.

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Duration :	15 weeks
Category :	Multidisciplinary
Credit Points :	5
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	15 Jan 2024
End Date :	28 Apr 2024
Enrollment Ends :	29 Feb 2024
Exam Date :	25 May 2024 IST
Shift I :	9AM - 12PM

Note: This exam date is subjected to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1

Module 1. Introduction to Media Studies

Module 2. The Sociological Imagination

Module 3. Key debates in Media Studies

Week 2

Module 4. A sociological approach to Media Studies

Module 5. Researching Society and Culture

Module 6. Types of Research Paradigms

Week 3

Module 7. Researching Media Effects

Module 8. Impact of Media on Society: Case Study

Module 9. Marxist Paradigm I

Week 4

Module 10. Marxist Paradigm II

Module 11. Non- Marxist Theories I

Module 12. Non- Marxist Theories II

Week 5

Module 13. Feminist Theories: A sociological approach I

Module 14. Feminist Theories: A sociological approach II

Module 15. Feminist Theories and Media Studies

Module 16. Towards a semiotic sociology

Week 6

Module 17. The semiotics of Mass Communication

Module 18. Semiotics as a method to study media text – Case Study

Module 19. New Media and Society

Module 20. New Media & Digital Culture

Week 7

Module 21. Production and control in old vs New Media

Module 22. Representation of gender in popular cinema

Module 23. Representation of women in popular media- a case study

Module 24. Stuart Hall: Representation & the Media

Week 8

Module 25. The application Stuart Hall Audience Reception Theory

Module 26. The changing nature of Media audience

Module 27. Case Study - Audience Reception Analysis of popular media text

Module 28. Analysing Media Content I

Week 9

Module 29. Analysing Media Content II

Module 30. The influence of ideology on content I

Module 31. The influence of ideology on content II

Module 32. Media and Globalization I

Week 10

Module 33. Media and Globalization II

Module 34. Media and technology

Module 35. The industry perspective of Media

Module 36. Media Convergence

Week 11

Module 37. Stereotyping in the Media

Module 38. Media Literacy: Understanding how mainstream media works

Module 39. Journalism and the Public Sphere

Module 40. How Audience Use Media and Gratify themselves

Week 12

Module 41. Cinema, Society and Culture

Module 42. Cinema and Development

Module 43. Sociology of Film

Module 44. Media Economics and Society

Week 13

Module 45. Advertising and Society

Module 46. Marketing Communication and Society

Module 47. Review of recent literature

Module 48. Review of recent literature

Week 14

Module 49. Research design

Module 50. Research design using 'sociology of Media' framework

Module 51 Film Criticism: How to analyse a film I

Module 52 Film Criticism: How to analyse a film II

Week 15

Module 53 Ethnography in Media

Module 54 Media Ethnography I

Module 55 Media Ethnography II

Module 56 Bollywood and Sociology: A Case Study

Books and references

1. McLuhan, Marshall. 1964, „Roads and Paper Routes‟ In Understanding Media: Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw- Hill Book Co. Silverstone, Roger. „The Sociology of Mediation and Communication‟ in Craig Calhoun, Chris Rojek & Bryan S Turner (ed) Sage Handbook of

2. Sociology London: Sage Publications, 2005 (p. 188-203)

3. Adorno, T. & Horkheimer, M., 1944. „The Culture Industry: Enlightenment 92 as Mass Deception‟ In T. Adorno and M. Horkheimer. Dialectics of Enlightenment. Translated by John Cumming. New York: Herder and Herder, 1972.

4. Benjamin, W. 1968, „The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction‟ In H. Zohn (Trans.), Illuminations: Essays and reflections (pp. 217-252). New York: Schocken.

5. Mulvey, Laura. „Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.‟ Film Theory and Criticism : Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP, 1999: 833-44.

6. McRobbie, Angela, ‘Post-Feminism and Popular Culture: Bridget Jones and the New Gender Regime‟ In The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change, Sage Publication Ltd. 2009:11-22.

7. Barthes, Roland. „The Photographic Message‟ in Image, Music and Text Ed. and trans. Stephen Heath. New York: Hill, 1977. 15-31.

8. Hall, Stuart “Encoding/Decoding,” Critical Visions In Film Theory. Ed. Timothy CorriganP. White, M. Mazaj. Boston: Bedford St. Martins 2011. 77-87. Print.

9. Thompson, John B. „The Rise of Mediated Interaction‟ in The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1995.

10. Media Production, Control and challenges by New Media

11. Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. „A Propaganda Model‟ In Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon, 1988. Print.

12. Kaur, Raminder, and William Mazzarella. „Between sedition and seduction thinking Censorship in south Asia‟ In Censorship in South Asia: Cultural Regulation from Sedition to Seduction. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2009.

13. Williams, Raymond. „Alternative Technology, Alternative Uses‟ In Television: Technology and Cultural Form. (139-157) New York: Schocken, 1975.

14. Eko, Lyombe, 2012. „New Media, Old Authoritative Regimes: Instrumentalization of the Internet and Networked Social Media in the “Arab Spring” of 2011 in North Africa‟ p. 129-160

15. Hall, Stuart, „Foucault: Power, Knowledge and Discourse‟ In Margaret Wetherell, Stephanie Taylor, Simeon J Yates (ed) Discourse Theory and Practice: A Reader 2001 Wetherell, Taylor and Yates

16. Sorenson, John. 1991, „Mass Media and Discourse on Famine in the Horn of Africa‟ In Discourse & Society, Sage: London 1991; Vol 2(2); 223-242

17. Livingstone, Soina. 2003, „The Changing Nature of Audiences: From the Mass Audience to the Interactive Media User‟ In Angharad N. Valdivia (ed) A Companion to Media Studies. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.

18. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984, „Supply and Demand‟ In Richard Nice (Trans)Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Harvard Univ. Press: Cambridge

19. Naficy, Hamid. „Ideological and Spectatorial Formations‟ In A Social History of Iranian Cinema. Durham [N.C.: Duke UP, 2011. pp. 115-140

Instructor bio

Dr. Ipsita Barat

St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata

Dr Ipsita Barat has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mass Communication & Videography at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, for more than ten years. She is presently the Head of the Mass Communication & Videography Department and in the past has been acting as the head of the Film Studies Department at St. Xavier's College. She has completed her PhD. from Film Studies Department of Jadavpur University, Kolkata and holds a master's degree from AJK Mass Communication and Research Centre (MCRC), Jamia Millia Islamia. Her academic research remains focused on industrial networks, and investments in the post-millennium Hindi film industry. Prior to her academic career, she has also worked extensively as a media professional in the Kolkata television industry. Dr Barat was also appointed Principal Instructor (PI) for the MOOC course Documentary Production in 2018 and additionally, has been appointed as a resource person for several educational films produced by EMMRC Kolkata for nation-wide telecast.