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COMMUNICATION AND SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE

Prof. Gwenetha Y. Pusta, PhD Course Instructor COURSE OVERVIEW The course examines the interrelationship between communication, society and culture. It tackles the role of mass media as an agent of change and as catalyst to development, in the light of contemporary communication, critical, and cultural theories. At the end of the semester, students are expected to understand the nature and contexts of social and cultural change and develop a critical appreciation of such issues through a communications perspective. CLASS POLICIES 1. Students are expected to read newspapers, magazines and other types of publications. Monitoring the news for cases of social and cultural change should be a habit. 2. Students are expected to have read the required reading; likewise, students are expected to actively participate in discussions. 3. Good grammar and spelling are always expected. Excessive errors in both affect the grade. 4. Students who plagiarize and/or cheat will automatically fail the subject and may face other penalties as provided for in the UST Student Handbook. 5. Students are expected to have a working e-mail and should be subscribed to communicationandsocioculturalchange@yahoogroups.com. Checking e-mail should be a habit. 6. Students must wear uniform in class unless they present a written and duly signed permit from appropriate university authorities. 7. Students who have 12 or more hours of absences shall automatically receive an FA grade. Students who miss any exam or the deadline for any requirement will get zero for the particular exam and/or requirement they missed. There are no special exams and/or requirements. 8. Students who will be absent due to extra-curricular activities must present a letter signed by proper school authorities to be excused. In case a student is hospitalized, official hospital receipts and/or a medical certication should be submitted to be excused. Excused students will get a null grade for any exam they miss, but they are expected to submit any requirement soonest time possible. 9. Requirements should be submitted on time. Late submissions will not be accepted; students who fail to beat the deadline will get zero for the particular requirement. 10.Any consultation shall be by appointment.

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GRADING SYSTEM Class Participation Coursework Midterm Exam Final Exam Group Project COURSE OUTLINE The course is divided into 10 thematic blocks with several required readings for class discussion. Readings are chosen on basis of giving a general overview of each block topic and students are advised to read other sources for reference (a short list is provided below). COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES This lecture provides an overview of the nature, functions and contexts of communication and mass media systems in different societies. What social, cultural and political conditions have shaped mass media? Required Readings: Wright, C.R. (1996). The Nature and Functions of Mass Communication. In Hanson, J. & Maxcy, D.J. (Eds.). Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media (pp. 62-71). Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark Publishers. Maslog, C.C. (2001). Society and Communication, Communication and Society. In Maslog, C.C. (Ed.). Communication, Values and Society (2nd ed.) (pp. 17-44). Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 10% 30% 20% 20% 20%

SOCIETY AND CULTURE This lecture discusses the basic concepts of social structure, cultural identity and social norms and deviance, with particular focus on the ritual function communication plays. What is structure and agency? Do societies have different values or do they only have different ways of expressing them? Required Readings: The Challenge of Cultural Relativism (pp. 14-31). In Rachels, J. & Rachels, R. (2010). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (6th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill. Carey, J.W. (1996). A Cultural Approach to Communication. In Hanson, J. & Maxcy, D.J. (Eds.). Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media (pp. 233-242). Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark Publishers.

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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE This lecture distinguishes between social and cultural change and discusses their evolutionary and revolutionary nature as well as how media reect, construct and/or support such processes. How do we interpret behavioral changes as social/cultural? What is counterculture and when do we know it is happening? Required Readings: Social Change: Meaning and Myths (pp. 3-30). In Lauer, R.H. (1990). Perspectives on Social Change (4th ed.). Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon. Rosengren, K.E. (1981). Mass Media and Social Change: Some Current Approaches. In Katz, E. & Szecsko, T. (Eds.). Mass Media and Social Change. California: Sage Publications Inc. Brand, S. (1995, March). We Owe It All To The Hippies. Time Magazine. Available: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982602,00.html

CITIZENSHIP AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE This lecture introduces the concept of a public sphere that has long been debated in media and communication studies and tackles the association between/engagement of the individual self and/to the public through citizenship. How does the individual relate to the public? How does the public sphere help in enhancing democracy? Required Readings: Fraser, N. (2007). Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy. In During, S. (Ed.). The Cultural Studies Reader (3rd ed.) (pp. 488-506). London: Routledge. Technology and Mass Media (pp. 216-246). In Putnam, R.D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. Keum, H. et al. (2004). The Citizen-Consumer: Media Effects at the Intersection of Consumer and Civic Culture. Political Communication, 21, 369-391.

HEGEMONY This lecture tackles the nature of power, ideology and social control and the structures and processes that facilitate them. If social and cultural changes are imminent, why do certain structures remain dominant? Required Readings:

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Hebdige, D. (1996). From Culture to Hegemony. In Hanson, J. & Maxcy, D.J. (Eds.). Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media (pp. 243-251). Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark Publishers. Shearing, C.D. & Stenning, P.C. (2003). From the Panopticon to Disney World. In Massey, G. (Ed.). Readings for Sociology (4th ed.) (pp. 239-244). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

POLITICAL ECONOMY OF MASS MEDIA The lecture looks at the political economy of mass media in theory and practice as it expounds on the prevailing political and economic interests behind media content production. How do mass media affect cultural patterns? Are mass media democratic or hegemonic in nature? Required Readings: (must read before the lecture) * Adorno, T. (1998) Television as Ideology. In Critical Models: Interventions and
Catchwords (pp. 59-70). Columbia University Press.

* Herman, E.S. & Chomsky, N. (1996). A Propaganda Model. In Hanson, J. & Maxcy, D.J. (Eds.). Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media (pp. 180-192). Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark Publishers. Common Media for an Uncommon Nation (pp. 1-26). In Bagdikian, B.H. (2004). The New Media Monopoly. Boston: Beacon Press.

GLOBALIZATION This lecture tackles globalization as a cultural phenomenon and the roles mass media play in the process. Does globalization lead to homogenization or heterogenization? What are the consequences of global media? Required Readings: Hamelink, C.J. (1996). Cultural Autonomy Threatened. In Hanson, J. & Maxcy, D.J. (Eds.). Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media (pp. 355-364). Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark Publishers. Keane, M. (2006). Once Were Peripheral: Creating Media Capacity in East Asia. Media, Culture & Society, 28(6), pp. 835-855.

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MEDIA TECHNOLOGY This lecture discusses the effects of technological advancements on communication processes and how these changes affect patterns of individual and social behavior. In the course of social change, does technology shape society or does society shape technology? Required Readings: Funkhouser, G.R. & Shaw, E.F. (2000). How Synthetic Experience Shapes Social Reality. In Graber, D.A. (Ed.). Media Power in Politics (pp. 57-65). Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. Conceptualizing User Agency (pp. 9-36). In Bakardjieva, M. (2005). Internet Society: The Internet in Everyday Life. London: Sage Publications.

SOCIAL MEDIA This lecture focuses on the socio-cultural effects of Web 2.0, a new wave of the Internet revolution which harnesses network effects to improve software applications, including the creation and dynamics of cyber identities and communities and creating and sharing content through the Internet. How have social media affected social relations? Required Readings: Quiggin, J. (2006). Blogs, wikis and creative innovation. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(4), pp. 481-496. 1984 (version 2.0) (pp. 164-183). In Keen, A. (2007). The Cult of the Amateur: How Todays Internet is Killing our Culture. New York: Doubleday/Currency.

CONVERGENCE CULTURE This lecture examines the dynamics of cultural production, distribution and consumption in the age of new media technology, particularly the creation and ow of pop culture icons among and between different countries. How has media technology shaped pop culture? Required Readings: Jenkins, H. (2004). The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 7(1), pp. 33-43. Pop Cosmopolitanism: Mapping Cultural Flows in an Age of Media Convergence (pp. 152-172). In Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. New York: New York University Press.

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REFERENCES Adams, N. (2007). Self and Social Change. London: Sage Publications. Bakardjieva, M. (2005). Internet Society: The Internet in Everyday Life. London: Sage Publications. Bagdikian, B.H. (2004). The New Media Monopoly. Boston: Beacon Press. Bauerlein, M. (2008). The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupees Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. New York: Penguin Group, Inc. Cowan, T. (2002). Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the Worlds Cultures. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press Donald, S.H., Anderson, T.D. & Spry, D. (Eds.). (2010). Youth, Society and Mobile Media in Asia. New York: Routledge. Hanson, J. & Maxcy, D.J. (Eds.). (1996). Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media. Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark Publishers. Hassan, R. (2008). The Information Society. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Hedebro, G. (1982). Communication and Social Change in Developing Nations: A Critical View. Iowa: The Iowa State University Press. Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. New York: New York University Press. Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. Johnson, S. (2005). Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Todays Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. New York: Riverhead Books. Katz, E. & Szecsko, T. (Eds.). (1981). Mass Media and Social Change. California: Sage Publications Inc. Keen, A. (2007). The Cult of the Amateur: How Todays Internet is Killing our Culture. New York: Doubleday/Currency. Lauer, R.H. (1990). Perspectives on Social Change (4th ed.). Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon. Lerner, D. & Schramm, W. (Eds.). (1967). Communication and Change in the Developing Countries. Honolulu, Hawaii: East-West Center Press. Massey, G. (Ed.). (2003). Readings for Sociology (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Mosco, V. (2009). The Political Economy of Communication: Rethinking and Renewal (2nd ed.). London: Sage. Murphy, A. & Potts, J. (2003). Culture and Technology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Oswell, D. (2006). Culture and Society: An Introduction to Cultural Studies. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Putnam, R.D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. Rheingold, H. (2002). Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Perseus. Webster, F. (2001). Culture and Politics in the Information Age: A New Politics?. New York: Routledge.