NC State University | Department of Communication

COM257: Media History & Theory
Instructor: Dr. Adriana de Souza e Silva

 

Syllabus

Assignments

Readings

Resources

There will be weekly readings. The number of pages assigned to each week varies, but most readings are complex and need careful attention. You will be asked to deal with material that is often quite challenging in its language and theoretical positions. You should expect to read from 10 to 50 pages a week. You are responsible for not only reading all the material assigned to you, but engaging with it before class in a way that prepares you to participate in class discussion.  In order to do this, you will need to read the text two or three times slowly, take careful reading notes, and review your notes before each class. The readings shall be used not only for class discussion, but also to support your arguments in the mid-term and final exam.

All texts, except for the textbooks, are available online as PDF documents, through this Web site and the NCSU library online reserves. However, you should not rely on Internet connection. Download/print all texts at the beggining of the semester so you can have them with you ahead of time. I won't accept late assignments due to internet connection problems.

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Textbooks:

Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. (2009). New Media: A critical introduction (2nd edition). New York: Routledge. (34.03 USD, paperback). Book website:
http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415431613/

Gordon, E., & de Souza e Silva, A. (2011). Net Locality: Why location matters in a networked world. Boston: Blackwell. (29.90 USD, paperback; 19.22, Kindle).

 

Other required readings:

de Souza e Silva, A., & Sutko, D. M. (2011). Theorizing locative media through philosophies of the virtual. Communication Theory, 21 (1), 23-42.

Gane, N., & Beer, D. (2008). Network. In New media (pp. 15-27). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Gane, N., & Beer, D. (2008). Interface. In New media (pp. 53-70). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Nielsen, S., Smith, J., & Tosca, S. (2008). What is a game? In Understanding Video Games: The essential introduction (pp. 22-44). New York: Routledge.