Plugged In: Media Studies in the 21st Century

Score Requirements: (Score Table 2)

About the Course: How do the ways we use media make us different from our parents? How might the next generation use media differently than we do? This course is designed as an introduction to media studies for students who inhabit the “always on” multimedia environment of MySpace, cable television, text messaging, and Xbox. By defining media broadly—including print, photographic, broadcast, cinematic, and digital forms—we will examine how media functions socially, study key moments in its history, and investigate media’s potential to influence our values and beliefs.  Students will explore how “new” digital media differs from traditional media and consider how communications technology helps shape individual, cultural, and group identity.  We will look critically at specific texts (such as novels and films) and analyze the transformations in meaning that occur when narratives are adapted into different media forms (such as graphic novels and video games). Our readings, online discussions, and live chats will equip students with the necessary skills to design and carry out their own media projects as well as explore the role of media in their own lives.

About the Instructor: Barton Keeton is a Ph.D. candidate in English at Duke University, where he teaches American literature, writing, and film. After earning a B.A. from the University of Virginia, Barton completed his M.A. at James Madison University. Since 2005 he has taught various courses for Duke TIP, including Rhetoric and Reason and Documenting the Documentary. He has also taught undergraduate courses in France, Germany, and England. Barton is currently writing on film noir and twentieth century American Literature and is developing a multimedia humanities project with Duke University Library Special Collections.

Instructor(s) subject to change.