Announcements

Thank you so much for the students who attended today, especially the Com11-B students who chose career talks over basketball. Your future > basketball game. :)

I'd also like to commend the classes for (generally) having very good and very entertaining presentations. The skits, videos, and impersonations showed off your creative side, which I hope to see more of in the future. In particular, I'd like to commend the group of Patricia, Nadia, Katrina, Jigs, and Rachel (Media as Environment, Com11-E). Their presentation went above and beyond my expectations, displaying great imagination and critical thinking. Bravo! Or, Brava! (as they say in High School Musical)

NOTE: Starting August 2, we begin a new block in our class. We end Institutions and move on to the Images block, which I feel is the most exciting and most challenging block for a media studies course. It is absolutely crucial for you to read the Stuart Hall reading on Representations (Ch1). It is already available for pick-up from the usual photocopy point. It is an easy-to-read introductory text to the study of representations, but it is rather long. I do hope that you read this before our class on Thursday. And I hope that you read it NOT one night before but allow yourself time to digest and reflect on it. The August 2 lecture is very important as it is the basic introductory lecture. You may have difficulty keeping up with the rest of the topics within the block if you miss this lecture.

Working Schedule:
* Aug 2 (Thursday): Plenary Lecture on Representations c/o Jonathan Ong (12NN classes: Com Studio; 3PM classes: Ching Tan Room - confirmed)
* Aug 7 (Tuesday): Discussion Classes (We go back to our regular classes and try to analyze media texts in class)
* Aug 9 (Thursday): Plenary Lecture on Race/Gender/Sexuality c/o Leloy Claudio (12NN classes: Com Studio; 3PM classes: Ching Tan Room)

Please watch this space for updates. Happy weekend, everyone!

Week 5 Discussion: Public Sphere

Once again I hope that we can extend our classroom discussion to this online discursive space.

Guide Questions:
1) What can you say about Habermas' ideal of the public sphere. Give a critical appraisal of the evidence he provides.
2) How do today's media create a public sphere?
3) Do you agree with Videomalaise (e.g., Putnam) and/or Crisis (e.g., Blumler & Gurevitch) thinkers? Or do you see positive contributions of the media to democracy?
4) Give examples of media forms and relate them to the concept of the public sphere.

Creative project groups can consult me at bertiebott@hotmail.com or face-to-face. Please sign up for my office hours HERE. You can also approach me to discuss your quiz results.

Quiz on Tuesday

Good luck! I hope you all have the readings and are all set for Tuesday. Post here for those with questions/comments on the readings so you can help each other.

Week 4 Discussion

We had good classroom discussions today. I hope we can extend the lively discussion to this space.

Here are the questions that we attempted to answer today. Feel free to move the discussion forward.

1. To what extent do you agree with the Frankfurt School's critique of the media's role in contemporary society?
2. How does the Frankfurt School perceive the audience?
3. How does the Frankfurt School conceptualize media power?

Homework for Tuesday, July 3

Please bring a consumer product, or a representation of a consumer product, that you cannot resist splurging on. Reflect on whether your purchase/purchases/addiction has been influenced by your reception of media (cf "And when I say media, I mean media") messages.

I will call on students at random to share about their experiences as consumers.