Communication Theory

Course Instructor: Tina Sikka Class: Mondays 11:30pm to 2:30pm; R S169 Office Hours: TBA Communications Theory: SOSC 3320 Fall/Winter 2006/2007 Course Description: This course is an introduction to the theory of communication as a distinct discipline. We can define the field of communication loosely as concerned with studying the processes by which people interactively create, sustain, and manage meaning. In this sense, language, science, the media, technology, culture, society, and philosophy are a few of the many areas in which communication studies is relevant. We begin this course by mapping the origins of the field, beginning with media effects and theories of communication, then move on to policy, theories of technology, critical theory etc., and finish with the philosophy of language and the key debates between structuralism/poststructuralism. Course Requirements: 15% Participation: Please note that participation makes up a large portion of your grade and because this is a seminar, much of the learning will occur between students rather than as a result of information I impart. 15% Presentation on Readings 20% Take-home midterm (December 4th) 20% Take-home final (April 2nd) 5% Proposal with Annotated Bibliography 25% Final Paper (10-12 pages) Required Texts: Course Kit (all readings – absent the books you must buy – are in the course kit. The articles, however, are not. I will e-mail these to all students once the class begins). Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. (1999). Sources: notable selections in mass media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN: 0073031828. Collin, F. and Guldmann, F. (2005). Meaning, use and truth: introducing the philosophy of language. Birlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN: 0754607593. An important resource to note (because many of the readings assume you are familiar with the definitions of certain philosophical terms) are dictionary/encyclopedia websites which define these terms (http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/index.htm and http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/). (Sept. 11): Introduction No readings (Sept. 18th): Theories of Communication Carey, J. (1989). A cultural approach to communication (13-36). In: Carey, J. Communication as Culture. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 041590725X Laswell, H. (1999). The structure and function of communication (3-10). In: Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN:0073031828 Wright, C. (1999). Nature and functions of mass communication (50-59). In: Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN:0073031828 Katz, E., et al. (1999). Utilization of mass communication by the individual (60-69). In: Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN:0073031828 (Sept. 25th): Media Effects and Popular Culture Grossberg, L. et al. (1998). Mediamaking: mass media and popular culture (193-216). Sage Publications: California. ISBN: 0761911774. Herman, E. and Chomsky, N. (1999). Manufacturing consent: the political economy of the mass media (180-192). In: Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN: 0073031828. Schiller, H. (1999). The mind managers (171-179). In: Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN:0073031828 McCombs, M. and Shaw, D. (1999). The agenda-setting function of mass media (100-108). In: Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN:0073031828 Ewens, S. (1999). Captains of consciousness: advertising and the social roots of the consumer culture (206-216). In: Hanson, P. and Maxcy, D. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media 2nd ed. Guildford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. ISBN:0073031828. (October 9th): Policy McChesney, R.. (1996). The internet and US communication policy-making in historical and critical perspective. Journal of Communication, Vol. 46(1): 98-124. Available at: [http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol1/issue4/mcchesney.html]. Barney, D. (2004). The democratic deficit in Canadian ICT policy and regulation (91-108). In: Moll, M. and Shade, L.R. Seeking Convergence in Policy and Practice: Communications in the Public Interest Vol. 2. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Fletcher, F. and Everett R. (2000). The media and Canadian politics in an era of globalization (381-402). In: Whittingdon, M. and Williams, G., eds. Canadian Politics in the 21st Century. ISBN: 0176166769. (October 16th): Rhetoric Aristotle’s Rhetoric: Book I, Chapters I and II. Available at: [http://www2.iastate.edu/~honeyl/Rhetoric/oneindex.html]. Plato’s Dialogues: Gorgias. Available at: [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/plato/gorgias.htm]. Murphy, J.J, et al (2003) A synoptic history of classical rhetoric: third edition (Introduction). New York: Random House. ISBN: 1880393352. Bernard-Donals, M. (1992). Mikhail Bakhtin, classical rhetoric, and praxis. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Vol. 22: 10-15. Zebroski, J.T. (1992). Mikhail Bakhtin and the question of rhetoric. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Vol. 22: 12-28. (October 23rd): Symbolic Interactionism/Chicago School Plummer, K. (2000). Symbolic interactionism in the twentieth century (193-222). In: Turner, B., ed. Blackwell Companion to Social Theory. Massachusetts: Blackwell. ISBN: 063121365. Mead, G.M. (1934). Mind, self and society (Part III: The Self). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Available at: [http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/Mead/pubs2/mindself/Mead_1934_toc.html]. Blumer, H. (1969). Society as symbolic interaction (78-89). In: Blumer, H. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN: 0520056760. (October 30th): Cybernetics/Systems Theory Shannon, C. and Weaver, W. (1949). The mathematical model of communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Excerpts available at: [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~felsing/virtual_asia/info.html]. Baecker, D. (2001). Why systems? Theory, Culture & Society, 18, 1: 59-74. Leydesdorff, L. ‘Interaction’ versus ‘action’ in Luhmann’s sociology of communication. Forthcoming in: Grant, C.B. Rethinking Interactive Communication: New Interdisciplinary Horizons. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Available at: [http://users.fmg.uva.nl/lleydesdorff/interactions/interactions.pdf]. Vandarstraeten, R. (2000). Autopioesis and socialization: on Luhmann’s reconceptualization of communication and socialization. British Journal of Sociology, 51, 3, 581-598. (November 6th): Modernity Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity (1-37). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN: 0804718911. Thompson, J. (1996). The media and modernity: a social theory of the media (44-80). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN: 0804726795. (November 13th): Postmodernity Lyotard, J.F. (2004). The postmodern condition: a report on knowledge (selected statements) (374-388). In: Farganis, J., ed. Readings in Social Theory. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0072825774. Harvey, D. (1991). The condition of postmodernity: an enquiry into the origins of cultural change (39-65). Massachusetts: Blackwell. ISBN: 0631162941. Best, S. and Kellner, D. (1997). The postmodern turn (3-37). New York: Guildford Press. ISBN: 1572302208. (November 20th): The Public Dewey, J. (1954). The public and its problems (110-141). Ohio: Swallow Press Books. ISBN: 0804002541. Habermas, J. (1991). The structural transformation of the public sphere: an inquiry into a category of bourgeois society (27-51 & 141-150). Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN: 0262581086 (November 27th): Marxism Marx, K. and Engels, F. (1848). The communist manifesto. Available at: [http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html]. Berman, M. (1988). All that is solid melts into air: the experience of modernity. (15-36, 87-129) New York: Penguin Press. ISBN: 0140109625. (December 4th): Hegel, Dialectics Hegel, G.W.F. Master-slave dialectic. In: Hegel, G.W.F. The Phenomenology of Mind. New York: Harper Torch Book. [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ol/ol_phen.htm#29 & http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ph/phba.htm]. Read both. Mansueto, A. journey of the dialectic. Social Philosophy. Available at: [http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Soci/SociMans.htm]. Adorno, T. (1966). Negative dialectics (Introduction). New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Available for download: [http://www.efn.org/~dredmond/ndtrans.html]. (Janurary 8th): Phenomenology & Hermeneutics Moran, D. (2000). An introduction to phenomenology (1-22 & 222-237 & 248-288) New York: Routledge. ISBN: 0415183731 . (Janurary 15th): Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School Rush, F (2004). Conceptual foundations of early critical theory (6-39). In: Rush, F. ed. The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0521016894. Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1979). Dialectic of enlightenment: philosophical fragments. Read summary: Available at: [http://www.arasite.org/adhkdofe.htm]. Habermas, J. and Levin, T.Y. (1982). The entwinement of myth and enlightenment: re-reading dialectic of enlightenment. New German Critique, 26: 13-30. (January 22nd): International Communication Theory Thussu, D.K. (2001). International communication: continuity and change (39-81). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0340741317 Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1998). The global and the local international communications (118-138). In: Curran, J. and Gurevitch, M. eds. Mass Media and Society. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0340732016. (January 29th): Toronto School McLuhan, M. (1994). Understanding media: the extensions of man (Intro & 17-35). Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN: 0262631598. Innis, H.A. (1999). Bias of communication (33-60). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN: 0802068391. Kroker, K. (1984). Technology and the Canadian mind: Innis/McLuhan/Grant (7-19). Montreal: New World Perspectives &/or Palgrave Macmillan ISBN: 0312788320. (February 5th): Critical Theories of Technology Feenberg, A. (1991). Critical theory of technology (Introduction and Chapter one). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: [http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/CRITSAM2.HTM]. Feenberg, A. (2000). From essentialism to constructivism: philosophy of technology at the crossroads (Introduction). In: Higgs, E. et al, eds. Technology and the Good Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Available at: [http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/talk4.html]. Habermas, J. (1989). Technology and science as ideology (237-265). In: Seidman, S. Jürgen Habermas on Society and Politics. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN: 080702001X (February 19th): Cultural Studies and the Birmingham School Williams, Raymond (1983). Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society (87-93). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0195204697. Hall, S. (1980). Cultural studies: two paradigms. Media, Culture and Society, 2, 1. Available at: [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/hall.html]. Hall, S. (1990). The emergence of cultural studies and the crisis in the humanities. October, 53: 11-23. Grossberg, L. et al. (1991). Cultural studies: an introduction (1-16). In: Grossberg, L., ed. Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 0415903459. Hall, S. (1991). Cultural studies and its theoretical legacies (277-285). In: Grossberg, L., ed. Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 0415903459. Bhabha, H.K. (1991). Postcolonial authority and postmodern guilt (56-66). In: Grossberg, L., ed. Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 0415903459. (February 26th): Political Economy Calabrese, A. and Sparks, C., eds. (2004). Toward a political economy of culture (1-11). In: Calabrese, A. and Sparks, C., eds. Toward a Political Economy of Culture: Capitalism and Communication in the Twenty-First Century. Lanham, MD.: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN: 0742526844 Murdoch, M. and Golding, M. (2004). Rethinking the Dynamics of Participation and Exclusion (244-259). Toward a Political Economy of Culture: Capitalism and Communication in the Twenty-First Century. Lanham, MD.: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN: 0742526844 McChesney, R.W. and Schiller, D. (2003). The political economy of international communications: foundations for the emerging global debate about media ownership and regulations. Technology, Business and Society, Programme Paper Number 11. United Nations Research Institute for Social Devleopment: Available at: [http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/(httpPapersForProgrammeArea)/C9DCBA6C7DB78C2AC1256BDF0049A774?OpenDocument]. You can access the pdf by clicking on the icon on the right of the page. (March 5th): Philosophy of Language I Collin, F. and Guldmann, F. (2005). Meaning, use and truth: introducing the philosophy of language (1-41 and 89-116). Birlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN: 0754607593. (March 12th): Philosophy of Language II Collin, F. and Guldmann, F. (2005). Meaning, use and truth: introducing the philosophy of language (117-204). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN: 0754607593. (March 19th): Structuralism Althusser, L. (1978) Ideological state apparatuses. In: Althusser, L. and Brewster, B., trans. Lenin and Philosophy. New York: Monthly Review Press. Read excerpts available at: [http://www.marx2mao.com/Other/LPOE70ii.html#s5]. Barthes, R. (1984) Myth today. In: Barthes, R. and Lavers, A., trans. Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang Press. Available at: [http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Barthes-Mythologies-Myth_Today-1984-2.html]. Hawkes, T. (1977) Structuralism and semiotics (new accents) (8-43). Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press. ISBN: 0415321530. (March 26th): Poststructuralism I Derrida, J. (1980). Structure, sign, and play in the discourse of the human sciences. In: Derrida, J. and Bass, A., trans. Writing and Difference. London: Routledge. Available online. [http://www.hydra.umn.edu/derrida/sign-play.html]. Foucault, M. (1981). The order of discourse (48-78). In: Young, R. ed. Untying the Text: A Poststructuralist Reader. London: Routledge. ISBN: 0710008058. (also read the introduction by Robert Young). (April 2nd): (TBA) Presentation: 15% The presentation on readings will start at the beginning of each class and will be led by two students. The following is a breakdown of the requirements for each presentation: Background (/10): Provide an overview of the field for the week: How did the field emerge? Who are the main thinkers? What are their primary assumptions? What are the critiques of the field? How (or is) the paradigm still being used? How has it changed? How does it fit into the field of communication? How does it relate to the previous week (does it build upon it? refute it? – explain how). Readings (/10): Go through each reading in detail and include a discussion of: The primary thesis/project the author(s) are engaged in Their central arguments (this should be in detail) The evidence they provide Their methodology Their epistemological and ontological assumptions Provide a detailed critique of the article(s): Are the author(s) persuasive? (And do they succeed in what they set out to do?) Have they failed to account for anything/any phenomenon? Are their assumptions sound? Discuss how the individual readings in the week relate to one another Conclusion (/10): Make some brief concluding/summarizing marks and have several questions ready to spark class dialogue. You and your partner will be responsible and graded for ensuring that the class engages in a discussion of key themes and issues. 10