Popular Television

Lecturer: Mgr. Iva Baslarová, Ph.D.

E-mail: iva.baslarova@seznam.cz

(Cell phone): 777 60 51 38

Class (day, time): Wednesday 15.30 - 16.10

Where: Faculty of Social Science, Holar, classroom H112

Course description

This course will familiarize students with basic, yet fundamental, concepts and theories related to popular culture and television. Course session will deal with various TV-related issues and will be placed within the European context and compared with cultural specificities of American society. Further, issues of TV production, product (media contents), representations, stereotypes and audiences (receptions) will be discussed in the global context. Media will serve as an example for us to see in what ways popular culture are reproduced, innovated and, scarcely, dismantled and/or subverted. Social construction of reality will manifest itself in an analysis of TV genres.

Course evaluation

1) Active Participation in class (participation in discussions) 20 %

3) Final Test 80 %

The grading scale:

100 - 90 %	A (1)
89 - 80 %	B (2)
79 - 60 %	C (3)
59 - 0 %	F (4)

Class protocol

Students are required to be involved in class activities. They are expected to show their preparation by active participating in the class activities, by asking relevant questions, being critical and analytical with the contents presented in class as well as by sharing their ideas and opinions.

It is expected that students arrive to class on time.

Mobile phones must be put on silence mode during classes. If it is necessary for a student to use any other personal appliances, it must not disturb the working atmosphere in a classroom.

During the Study Abroad course any plagiarism is prohibited (look what is defined as plagiarism at ISA Charles university official blog - www.blogspot.com)

During the Study Abroad course any ethnic, racial or sexual discrimination is considered immoral and is prohibited.

Contents

Week 1: TV Triangle: Production, Product and Audience

Mandatory readings:

Livingstone, S. 1998. Making Sense of Television. London: Routledge. Pp. 1-25.
Kellner, Douglas. 1995. "Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism and Media Culture." In Dines, Gail; Humez Jean M. (eds.). Gender, Race and Class in Media. London: Sage, s. 8.

Week 2: TV Production and Popular Culture

Mandatory readings:

Meehan, Eileen R.; Torre, Paul J. 2011. "Markets in Theory and Markets in Television." In The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications. Malden, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, s. 62-83.

Week 3: Media Contents - Reproducing of Popular Culture

Mandatory readings:

Tulloch, J. 1990. Television drama: agency, audience and myth. London; New York: Routledge. Pp. 29-75.

Week 4: Audiences

Mandatory readings:

Fiske, J. 2004. Active Audiences. In: Television Culture. New York: Routledge. Pp. 62-84.

Brunt, R. 1992. Engaging with the Popular: Audiences for Mass Culture and What to Say about Them. In: Cultural Studies. Grossberg, L., Nelson, C.