HERE are our lecture slides for download. I really really enjoyed our discussion yesterday. And I hope that you did too! Let's hope that we continue it online!
Here are some of the discussion questions. As always, feel free to discuss these or raise some other issues that you find interesting:
1) How can we relate the theories of mediation with the models of communication? Which story do you believe?
2) From your experience, when and how do the media connect? When do they separate?
3) Why or how do you privilege dialogue over dissemination? Why the nostalgia for dialogue in an age of dissemination/always-already mediation?
4) What is YOUR dream for perfect communication?
5) (Cf Xela's question about the teacher as a medium) Can you guess the main message or "ending" of the course?
Also, some of you have asked about consultation hours and contact information. Feel free to email me anytime at jo296@cam.ac.uk to schedule a meeting. My consultation hours are T/TH 3-430PM, but we can arrange to meet outside of this, if necessary. We can discuss concepts discussed in class that you need clarified, ideas that you have for your papers and projects, and any other thing remotely related to media and communications.
HOMEWORK:
1) The reading for next Wednesday is Exploring Media Discourse by Myra MacDonald. Chapter 1 is available for photocopy in the Filipiniana section of the library. Please get a copy!
2) Bring a print ad or a news article that we can analyze for its interesting portrayal of a particular country (e.g., Wow Philippines advert, business news about China, news coverage of French riots).
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Lecture 2: Homogenization, Heterogenization
You can download the lecture slides HERE.
Today's lecture was kinda heavy, but I did think that it was provocative too. There's a lot of things to say about the changes in time, place, space, non-place, splace. Also, with the world being more similar AND more different due to complex interconnections. How do we describe what's happening in the world? In the home? In spaces cyber and human? With cultures and identities? And how do we (or should we) judge such novelties? What experiences do you have of time-space distanciation or compression? With the media connecting and separating the globe? Feel free to discuss any, or all, of these questions above. Or even the discussion questions below:
1) Have the media rendered space and time differences insignificant?
2) Why worth mentioning splaces/non-places?
3) Do shared and simultaneous experiences through the media integrate society?
4) BONUS: How do spaces become places? How can non-places become places?
Please read the Silverstone/Barnett reading for next week (Chapter 2 of Demanding World), available in the Filipiniana Section of the library.
Anonymous commenting now allowed! (But please always label your posts with your name!) Start posting!
Today's lecture was kinda heavy, but I did think that it was provocative too. There's a lot of things to say about the changes in time, place, space, non-place, splace. Also, with the world being more similar AND more different due to complex interconnections. How do we describe what's happening in the world? In the home? In spaces cyber and human? With cultures and identities? And how do we (or should we) judge such novelties? What experiences do you have of time-space distanciation or compression? With the media connecting and separating the globe? Feel free to discuss any, or all, of these questions above. Or even the discussion questions below:
1) Have the media rendered space and time differences insignificant?
2) Why worth mentioning splaces/non-places?
3) Do shared and simultaneous experiences through the media integrate society?
4) BONUS: How do spaces become places? How can non-places become places?
Please read the Silverstone/Barnett reading for next week (Chapter 2 of Demanding World), available in the Filipiniana Section of the library.
Anonymous commenting now allowed! (But please always label your posts with your name!) Start posting!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Lecture 1: Global Media, Mediated Globe
You may download the lecture slides from the opening lecture HERE.
See you all tomorrow in COM C, Old Communication Building.
See you all tomorrow in COM C, Old Communication Building.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Getting to Know You
It seems most fitting for a class about media and communications to first have the predictable yet indispensable exercise of self-presentation in a mediated environment. Obviously the manner of communication in cyberspace is starkly different from face-to-face interaction, with the loss of many symbolic cues--from body language to the rise and fall of voice pitch. But much are added as well--from the adoption of avatars to the narrative closure afforded by one's writing of a beginning, middle, and end. And in both types of communication, the challenge is to make a good first impression. What is frustrating--and exciting--of course is that we simply don't know just how our audience will react, respond, remember, reply. And, with the affordances of technology, also: comment, forward, poke, reject, block, digg, flame, spam.
However this site, and this class, is a site of hospitality. It is a site of learning and exchange. It aims to be a space premised not simply on reason and/or emotion, but on responsibility, Roger Silverstone's (2006) lofty requirement for a mediaspace. This homepage is home.
I am happy to welcome you to the website of Com110.10 Media and Globalization (Year 2). I wish that you treat this online space not simply as a supplement to our offline lectures but as a meaningful resource for learning, an active and vibrant space for discussion, and a shared experience with your fellow classmates and lecturer.
Kindly reply to this post and introduce yourself below so that we can get our discussions going. Aside from your name and course, I'd like to know your expectations of MAG2.0. Additionally, you have the option of answering any, or all, of the following questions:
1) how have the media influenced your perceptions or expectations about a particular person or place? how did your prior mediated experience affect, if at all, your actual encounter with that person or place?
2) how much time do you spend in shopping malls and chains such as Starbucks, McDonald's, etc? do you consider yourself a fan of such outlets? why? how?
3) American Idol or Pinoy Idol? Amazing Race or Amazing Race Asia? What can you say about global brands and their local spin-offs?
Switching to a different medium, please bring a 5x7" index card with 2x2" ID photo on June 18, Wednesday. Please include: name, birth date, and contact information (cell phone and email address).
Please be prepared with the de Block & Buckingham and/or Rantanen readings.
However this site, and this class, is a site of hospitality. It is a site of learning and exchange. It aims to be a space premised not simply on reason and/or emotion, but on responsibility, Roger Silverstone's (2006) lofty requirement for a mediaspace. This homepage is home.
I am happy to welcome you to the website of Com110.10 Media and Globalization (Year 2). I wish that you treat this online space not simply as a supplement to our offline lectures but as a meaningful resource for learning, an active and vibrant space for discussion, and a shared experience with your fellow classmates and lecturer.
Kindly reply to this post and introduce yourself below so that we can get our discussions going. Aside from your name and course, I'd like to know your expectations of MAG2.0. Additionally, you have the option of answering any, or all, of the following questions:
1) how have the media influenced your perceptions or expectations about a particular person or place? how did your prior mediated experience affect, if at all, your actual encounter with that person or place?
2) how much time do you spend in shopping malls and chains such as Starbucks, McDonald's, etc? do you consider yourself a fan of such outlets? why? how?
3) American Idol or Pinoy Idol? Amazing Race or Amazing Race Asia? What can you say about global brands and their local spin-offs?
Switching to a different medium, please bring a 5x7" index card with 2x2" ID photo on June 18, Wednesday. Please include: name, birth date, and contact information (cell phone and email address).
Please be prepared with the de Block & Buckingham and/or Rantanen readings.
Syllabus: Media and Globalization
COM 110.10/COM 203.6 Syllabus: Media and Globalization
Lecturer: Jonathan C. Ong
Schedule: Wednesdays 130-430PM
1 Semester 2008-2009
Department of Communication
Ateneo de Manila University
I. Course Description
“The anthropologist arrives in the city on foot, the sociologist by car and via the main highway, the communications specialist by plane” (Garcia Canclini, 1995).
Media studies scholars have been criticized in the past for being elitist, detached, even corrupt for celebrating American (global?) popular culture. The course Media & Globalization is a critical intervention in academic discourse by highlighting the social, political, cultural, and ultimately moral relevance of understanding the media’s role in processes of globalization. According to bestsellers, communication technologies are key to the “death of distance” and the “flattening” of the world. But this course stresses that the media are enabling and disabling, they include and exclude; the mediated “global village” is not open to all. Media & Globalization is then global in scope (we study CNN news, American Idol, Benetton print ads, Korean soaps) yet simultaneously local, if not always-already personal (we ask ourselves, “How do I contact my relatives abroad? How did I react to the tsunami disaster? When do I feel Othered?”). The aim is to enable students to critically evaluate the media’s capacity to make visible distant others as well as recognize their own duty to be responsible consumers and producers in today’s world.
This elective, on its second year, emphasizes both theoretical and creative work, and welcomes students from all tracks/courses, especially those who are active media users/pop culture fans. Exciting plans for MAG 2.0 include a visit to GMA Network, dialogue with renowned journalists and advertisers, a student-run version of MediaTalk@admu, and a guest lecture from a Pakistani journalist. The course is designed and taught by Jonathan C. Ong, who will arrive from Cambridge by plane.
II. General Objectives
This course aims to:
• introduce theories and concepts from globalization studies and media studies, highlighting key issues and debates from the literature
• underscore the social, political, cultural, and moral relevance in understanding the media’s role in processes of globalization
• train students in critical, dialectical thinking
III. Methodology
Media and communications is an academic discipline that requires much reading—reading from textbooks and academic journals as well as “reading” from media such as film, television, and music. The quintessential Ateneo Communication student is someone who is able to link “theoretical knowledge” gathered from books and “practical knowledge” acquired from exposure to media products. It is the student’s responsibility to keep up with the varied reading materials. The lecturer requires students to read only one of the listed readings per week.
The course consists of lectures, lecturettes, guest lectures from industry professionals, seminar discussions, online discussions, film viewings, research work, and creative work.
IV. Topic Outline
1. Week 1 (June 11): Global Media, Mediated Globe
• Introduces course aims, methods, and requirements: Why study the media in the context of globalization? Why study the globe in the context of mediation?
• Introduces the study of globalization from various academic disciplines and positions “traditional” globalization studies alongside a media and cultural studies framework
2. Week 2 (June 18): Homogenization and Heterogenization
• Discusses a key debate in globalization studies: Does globalization make the world the same or different?
• Introduces the concepts of time, space and place
• Case studies: Starbucks, Airports, Blogs
• Key readings:
a. De Block, L. & D. Buckingham (2008). Global Children, Global Media. London: Palgrave. (Chapter 1)
b. Rantanen, T. (2005). The Media and Globalization. London: Sage. (Chapter 3)
3. Week 3 (June 25): Proximity and Distance
• Reflects on the media’s role in a globalizing world: What does it mean to say that we live in a mediated world?
• Introduces the concepts of mediation, digital divide, political economy
• Case studies: Disney, Coca-Cola, the Olympic Games
• Key readings:
a. Barnett, C et al. (2006). A Demanding World. London: Open University Press. (Chapter 2)
b. Dayan, D. & E. Katz. (1992). Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Chapter 2)
4. Week 4 (Jul 2): Reflections and Representations
• Underscores the value of the study of representations in the context of globalization: How does the media include and exclude through the power of representation?
• Introduces the method of discourse analysis
• Case studies: Time magazine article on Chinese toys, Transformers, ID4, George Bush on Iraq War
• Key readings:
a. Macdonald, M. (2003). Exploring Media Discourse. London: Arnold. (Chapter 1)
b. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 3)
5. Week 5 (Jul 9): Us and Them
• Develops a critique of the processes of Other-ing present in popular media representations: How does the media construct the Other as tooclose or too FAR?
• Introduces the concepts of Orientalism, compassion fatigue, media fatigue, and proper distance
• Case studies: Lost (ABC), American Idol (Fox), Hurricane Katrina
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 2)
b. Chouliaraki, L. (2008). “The Media as Moral Education.” Media, Culture & Society, 30(5).
6. Week 6 (Jul 16): Student Presentations
• Students select text/s from television, films, newspapers, websites and present an analysis of how their chosen media text/s construct(s) the Other
7. Week 7 (Jul 23): Being and Becoming
• Discusses the slippery concept of “identity” in relation to theories of modernity: How do audiences reflect on who they are in consuming global media?
• Introduces the rich tradition of audience studies and its contribution to our understanding of identity
• Case studies: Dallas, teen “dollmaker” websites
• Key readings:
a. Gillespie, M. (2005). Media Audiences. London: The Open University Press. (Chapter 4)
b. Willet, R. (2008). “Consumer Citizens Online: Structure, Agency and Gender.” In Buckingham, D. (ed.) Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Boston, MA: MIT Press.
8. Week 8 (Jul 30): The National and the Global
• Guest Lecturer: Nicole Curato, PhD, Birmingham University
• Exposes the “nation” as a cultural and mediated narrative
• Introduces the concepts of imagined community and banal nationalism
• Discusses a key debate in globalization studies: How powerful is the nation in a globalizing world?
• Case studies: National YouTube stars (Cebuano prisoners and Janina San Miguel)
• Key readings:
a. Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities. London: Verso. (Chapters 1-2)
b. Madianou, M. (2005). Mediating the Nation. London: UCL Press. (Chapter 2)
9. Week 9 (Aug 6): Motion and Migration
• Guest Presenters: Abigail Yao, MA, University of London; Megha Amrith, PhD, University of Cambridge
• Discusses how the concept of “diaspora” disrupts fixed notions of nation, culture, identity, and the media: How do migrants negotiate attachments to home and host countries through media consumption?
• Case studies: Desperate Housewives controversy, Malu Fernandez
• Key readings:
a. Corpus Ong, J. (2008). “Watching the Nation, Singing the Nation: London-Based Filipino Migrants’ Identity Construction in News and Karaoke.” Communication, Culture and Critique.
b. Yao, A. (2008). “Pinay Brit Blogger: Blogs, Identities and Filipino Women in the UK.” MA Dissertation Submitted to Institute of Education, University of London.
10. Week 10 (Aug 13): Student Presentations
• Students present bottom-up case studies that explore media power in the contexts of identity, nation, and/or diaspora
11. Week 11 (Aug 20): Voice and Visibility
• Discusses the impact of identity politics and resistance movements in the global stage: Can the Other speak in a global media environment? And when the Other does speak, who listens?
• Discusses issues of self-representation, culture jamming
• Lecturer presents his tentative ethical theory for the media hinged on the dialectic of voice and visibility
• Case studies: ChikaTime blog, Perez Hilton
• Key readings:
a. Mitra, A. (2001). “Marginal Voices in Cyberspace.” New Media & Society, 3(1).
b. Peters, J.D. (2001). “Witnessing.” Media, Culture & Society, 23(6).
12. Week 12 (Aug 27): Catastrophe and Celebrity
• Reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the news industry in eliciting compassion for vulnerable others: How are audiences positioned as both powerful and powerless in their reception of distant suffering?
• Case studies: photographs of Darfur, disaster news coverage, Make Poverty History
• Key readings:
a. Nash, K. (2008). “Global Citizenship as Show Business: The Cultural Politics of Make Poverty History.” Media, Culture & Society, 30(2).
b. Corpus Ong, J. (2008). “Children Watching Children: How Filipino Kids Represent and Receive News Images of Suffering.” Journal of Children and the Media.
13. Week 13 (Sep 3): Tour of GMA Network
14. Week 14 (Sep 10): Hostility and Hospitality
• Invited Speakers: Zebunnisa Burki, Editor, South Asian Journal, Pakistan; Howie Severino, Journalist, GMA Network
• Brings to fore the agenda of morality and ethics in studying the news: Can we construct a global media ethics? What philosophical tradition is best in evaluating the work of the media? Should we demand journalists to accept the superhuman challenge?
• Case studies: about-to-die photography, Anderson Cooper
• Key readings:
a. Cooper, A. (2001). Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival. New York: Harper Collins.
b. Zelizer, B. (2002). “Photography, Journalism, and Trauma.” In Zelizer, B. & S. Allan, S. Journalism After September 11. London: Routledge.
15. Week 15 (Sep 17): Cosmopolitans and Locals
• Guest Lecturer: Jason Cabanes, MA, Ateneo de Manila
• Opens up the debate on cosmopolitanism and its possibilities or impossibilities: How can the media facilitate, if at all, a cosmopolitan conscience?
• Case studies: Filipina tourists, nurses, and domestic helpers
• Key readings:
a. Corpus Ong, J. (2008) “Where Is the Cosmopolitan? Locating Cosmopolitanism in Media and Cultural Studies.” Media, Culture & Society.
b. Tomlinson, J. (1999) Globalization and Culture. Cambridge: Polity. (Chapter 6)
16. Week 16 (Sep 24): Free Cut
17. Week 17 (Oct 1): Creative Projects Presentations
18. Week 18 (Oct 8): Life and Death
• Presents a summary of the course and provides suggestions as to its application in everyday life: Why is the study of the media in relation to globalization a matter of life and death?
• Reflects on the significant contribution of the late Roger Silverstone, “the violent prophet” of media studies
• Key readings:
a. Orgad, S. (2007). “The Internet as a Moral Space: The Legacy of Roger Silverstone.” New Media & Society, 9(1).
b. Dayan, D. (2007). “On Morality, Distance and the Other: Roger Silverstone’s Media and Morality. International Journal of Communication (1).
c. Peters, J.D. (2007). “A Recent Chapter in the Messianic Tradition?” International Journal of Communication (1).
V. Course Requirements
1) Final Paper - 35%
2) Creative project – 25%
3) Participation – 20%
4) Quizzes – 20%
1 - The final paper is a small-scale research paper to be accomplished individually or in groups of three (maximum). Each individual is expected to write 3000 words for the paper. The Lecturer will present topic guides by Week 5.
2 – The creative project (documentary, fiction film, ad campaign, webisodes, website, “media event”, debate, etc) is an attempt to challenge students to become effective and responsible media producers in the age of globalization. The objective of the creative project is to provoke further debate on a specific issue (or issues) discussed in class. This is to be accomplished by groups of not more than five (5) students. Examples of creative projects may be: 1) a Philippine AdBusters-type of blog, 2) a fashion show that exhibits the homogenization vs heterogenization debate, 3) a documentary that represents distant suffering using the concept of proper distance, 4) a reality TV program that tries to find the “ultimate cosmopolitan.”
3 – Participation takes into account classroom discussions and online discussions. Students are expected to display critical thinking, wide reading, and the ability to link concepts from the various lectures and even from their other classes.
4 – There will be at least four quizzes throughout the term. Quizzes can be essay-based or can take the form of class presentations, such as in Weeks 6 and 10.
VI. Biographical Notes
Jonathan Corpus Ong is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. He is one of only 100 students in his batch with the prestigious Bill Gates Scholarship. He has an MSc in Politics and Communication (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and a BA in Communication (summa cum laude) from the Ateneo de Manila University. His industry experience includes becoming the youngest manager at GMA Network, media planning at McCann-Erickson Phils., and working as a research assistant at the BBC. His research interests are on media and morality, media and migration, and mediated public participation.
Lecturer: Jonathan C. Ong
Schedule: Wednesdays 130-430PM
1 Semester 2008-2009
Department of Communication
Ateneo de Manila University
I. Course Description
“The anthropologist arrives in the city on foot, the sociologist by car and via the main highway, the communications specialist by plane” (Garcia Canclini, 1995).Media studies scholars have been criticized in the past for being elitist, detached, even corrupt for celebrating American (global?) popular culture. The course Media & Globalization is a critical intervention in academic discourse by highlighting the social, political, cultural, and ultimately moral relevance of understanding the media’s role in processes of globalization. According to bestsellers, communication technologies are key to the “death of distance” and the “flattening” of the world. But this course stresses that the media are enabling and disabling, they include and exclude; the mediated “global village” is not open to all. Media & Globalization is then global in scope (we study CNN news, American Idol, Benetton print ads, Korean soaps) yet simultaneously local, if not always-already personal (we ask ourselves, “How do I contact my relatives abroad? How did I react to the tsunami disaster? When do I feel Othered?”). The aim is to enable students to critically evaluate the media’s capacity to make visible distant others as well as recognize their own duty to be responsible consumers and producers in today’s world.
This elective, on its second year, emphasizes both theoretical and creative work, and welcomes students from all tracks/courses, especially those who are active media users/pop culture fans. Exciting plans for MAG 2.0 include a visit to GMA Network, dialogue with renowned journalists and advertisers, a student-run version of MediaTalk@admu, and a guest lecture from a Pakistani journalist. The course is designed and taught by Jonathan C. Ong, who will arrive from Cambridge by plane.
II. General Objectives
This course aims to:
• introduce theories and concepts from globalization studies and media studies, highlighting key issues and debates from the literature
• underscore the social, political, cultural, and moral relevance in understanding the media’s role in processes of globalization
• train students in critical, dialectical thinking
III. Methodology
Media and communications is an academic discipline that requires much reading—reading from textbooks and academic journals as well as “reading” from media such as film, television, and music. The quintessential Ateneo Communication student is someone who is able to link “theoretical knowledge” gathered from books and “practical knowledge” acquired from exposure to media products. It is the student’s responsibility to keep up with the varied reading materials. The lecturer requires students to read only one of the listed readings per week.
The course consists of lectures, lecturettes, guest lectures from industry professionals, seminar discussions, online discussions, film viewings, research work, and creative work.
IV. Topic Outline
1. Week 1 (June 11): Global Media, Mediated Globe
• Introduces course aims, methods, and requirements: Why study the media in the context of globalization? Why study the globe in the context of mediation?
• Introduces the study of globalization from various academic disciplines and positions “traditional” globalization studies alongside a media and cultural studies framework
2. Week 2 (June 18): Homogenization and Heterogenization
• Discusses a key debate in globalization studies: Does globalization make the world the same or different?
• Introduces the concepts of time, space and place
• Case studies: Starbucks, Airports, Blogs
• Key readings:
a. De Block, L. & D. Buckingham (2008). Global Children, Global Media. London: Palgrave. (Chapter 1)
b. Rantanen, T. (2005). The Media and Globalization. London: Sage. (Chapter 3)
3. Week 3 (June 25): Proximity and Distance
• Reflects on the media’s role in a globalizing world: What does it mean to say that we live in a mediated world?
• Introduces the concepts of mediation, digital divide, political economy
• Case studies: Disney, Coca-Cola, the Olympic Games
• Key readings:
a. Barnett, C et al. (2006). A Demanding World. London: Open University Press. (Chapter 2)
b. Dayan, D. & E. Katz. (1992). Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Chapter 2)
4. Week 4 (Jul 2): Reflections and Representations
• Underscores the value of the study of representations in the context of globalization: How does the media include and exclude through the power of representation?
• Introduces the method of discourse analysis
• Case studies: Time magazine article on Chinese toys, Transformers, ID4, George Bush on Iraq War
• Key readings:
a. Macdonald, M. (2003). Exploring Media Discourse. London: Arnold. (Chapter 1)
b. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 3)
5. Week 5 (Jul 9): Us and Them
• Develops a critique of the processes of Other-ing present in popular media representations: How does the media construct the Other as tooclose or too FAR?
• Introduces the concepts of Orientalism, compassion fatigue, media fatigue, and proper distance
• Case studies: Lost (ABC), American Idol (Fox), Hurricane Katrina
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 2)
b. Chouliaraki, L. (2008). “The Media as Moral Education.” Media, Culture & Society, 30(5).
6. Week 6 (Jul 16): Student Presentations
• Students select text/s from television, films, newspapers, websites and present an analysis of how their chosen media text/s construct(s) the Other
7. Week 7 (Jul 23): Being and Becoming
• Discusses the slippery concept of “identity” in relation to theories of modernity: How do audiences reflect on who they are in consuming global media?
• Introduces the rich tradition of audience studies and its contribution to our understanding of identity
• Case studies: Dallas, teen “dollmaker” websites
• Key readings:
a. Gillespie, M. (2005). Media Audiences. London: The Open University Press. (Chapter 4)
b. Willet, R. (2008). “Consumer Citizens Online: Structure, Agency and Gender.” In Buckingham, D. (ed.) Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Boston, MA: MIT Press.
8. Week 8 (Jul 30): The National and the Global
• Guest Lecturer: Nicole Curato, PhD, Birmingham University
• Exposes the “nation” as a cultural and mediated narrative
• Introduces the concepts of imagined community and banal nationalism
• Discusses a key debate in globalization studies: How powerful is the nation in a globalizing world?
• Case studies: National YouTube stars (Cebuano prisoners and Janina San Miguel)
• Key readings:
a. Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities. London: Verso. (Chapters 1-2)
b. Madianou, M. (2005). Mediating the Nation. London: UCL Press. (Chapter 2)
9. Week 9 (Aug 6): Motion and Migration
• Guest Presenters: Abigail Yao, MA, University of London; Megha Amrith, PhD, University of Cambridge
• Discusses how the concept of “diaspora” disrupts fixed notions of nation, culture, identity, and the media: How do migrants negotiate attachments to home and host countries through media consumption?
• Case studies: Desperate Housewives controversy, Malu Fernandez
• Key readings:
a. Corpus Ong, J. (2008). “Watching the Nation, Singing the Nation: London-Based Filipino Migrants’ Identity Construction in News and Karaoke.” Communication, Culture and Critique.
b. Yao, A. (2008). “Pinay Brit Blogger: Blogs, Identities and Filipino Women in the UK.” MA Dissertation Submitted to Institute of Education, University of London.
10. Week 10 (Aug 13): Student Presentations
• Students present bottom-up case studies that explore media power in the contexts of identity, nation, and/or diaspora
11. Week 11 (Aug 20): Voice and Visibility
• Discusses the impact of identity politics and resistance movements in the global stage: Can the Other speak in a global media environment? And when the Other does speak, who listens?
• Discusses issues of self-representation, culture jamming
• Lecturer presents his tentative ethical theory for the media hinged on the dialectic of voice and visibility
• Case studies: ChikaTime blog, Perez Hilton
• Key readings:
a. Mitra, A. (2001). “Marginal Voices in Cyberspace.” New Media & Society, 3(1).
b. Peters, J.D. (2001). “Witnessing.” Media, Culture & Society, 23(6).
12. Week 12 (Aug 27): Catastrophe and Celebrity
• Reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the news industry in eliciting compassion for vulnerable others: How are audiences positioned as both powerful and powerless in their reception of distant suffering?
• Case studies: photographs of Darfur, disaster news coverage, Make Poverty History
• Key readings:
a. Nash, K. (2008). “Global Citizenship as Show Business: The Cultural Politics of Make Poverty History.” Media, Culture & Society, 30(2).
b. Corpus Ong, J. (2008). “Children Watching Children: How Filipino Kids Represent and Receive News Images of Suffering.” Journal of Children and the Media.
13. Week 13 (Sep 3): Tour of GMA Network
14. Week 14 (Sep 10): Hostility and Hospitality
• Invited Speakers: Zebunnisa Burki, Editor, South Asian Journal, Pakistan; Howie Severino, Journalist, GMA Network
• Brings to fore the agenda of morality and ethics in studying the news: Can we construct a global media ethics? What philosophical tradition is best in evaluating the work of the media? Should we demand journalists to accept the superhuman challenge?
• Case studies: about-to-die photography, Anderson Cooper
• Key readings:
a. Cooper, A. (2001). Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival. New York: Harper Collins.
b. Zelizer, B. (2002). “Photography, Journalism, and Trauma.” In Zelizer, B. & S. Allan, S. Journalism After September 11. London: Routledge.
15. Week 15 (Sep 17): Cosmopolitans and Locals
• Guest Lecturer: Jason Cabanes, MA, Ateneo de Manila
• Opens up the debate on cosmopolitanism and its possibilities or impossibilities: How can the media facilitate, if at all, a cosmopolitan conscience?
• Case studies: Filipina tourists, nurses, and domestic helpers
• Key readings:
a. Corpus Ong, J. (2008) “Where Is the Cosmopolitan? Locating Cosmopolitanism in Media and Cultural Studies.” Media, Culture & Society.
b. Tomlinson, J. (1999) Globalization and Culture. Cambridge: Polity. (Chapter 6)
16. Week 16 (Sep 24): Free Cut
17. Week 17 (Oct 1): Creative Projects Presentations
18. Week 18 (Oct 8): Life and Death
• Presents a summary of the course and provides suggestions as to its application in everyday life: Why is the study of the media in relation to globalization a matter of life and death?
• Reflects on the significant contribution of the late Roger Silverstone, “the violent prophet” of media studies
• Key readings:
a. Orgad, S. (2007). “The Internet as a Moral Space: The Legacy of Roger Silverstone.” New Media & Society, 9(1).
b. Dayan, D. (2007). “On Morality, Distance and the Other: Roger Silverstone’s Media and Morality. International Journal of Communication (1).
c. Peters, J.D. (2007). “A Recent Chapter in the Messianic Tradition?” International Journal of Communication (1).
V. Course Requirements
1) Final Paper - 35%
2) Creative project – 25%
3) Participation – 20%
4) Quizzes – 20%
1 - The final paper is a small-scale research paper to be accomplished individually or in groups of three (maximum). Each individual is expected to write 3000 words for the paper. The Lecturer will present topic guides by Week 5.
2 – The creative project (documentary, fiction film, ad campaign, webisodes, website, “media event”, debate, etc) is an attempt to challenge students to become effective and responsible media producers in the age of globalization. The objective of the creative project is to provoke further debate on a specific issue (or issues) discussed in class. This is to be accomplished by groups of not more than five (5) students. Examples of creative projects may be: 1) a Philippine AdBusters-type of blog, 2) a fashion show that exhibits the homogenization vs heterogenization debate, 3) a documentary that represents distant suffering using the concept of proper distance, 4) a reality TV program that tries to find the “ultimate cosmopolitan.”
3 – Participation takes into account classroom discussions and online discussions. Students are expected to display critical thinking, wide reading, and the ability to link concepts from the various lectures and even from their other classes.
4 – There will be at least four quizzes throughout the term. Quizzes can be essay-based or can take the form of class presentations, such as in Weeks 6 and 10.
VI. Biographical Notes
Jonathan Corpus Ong is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. He is one of only 100 students in his batch with the prestigious Bill Gates Scholarship. He has an MSc in Politics and Communication (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and a BA in Communication (summa cum laude) from the Ateneo de Manila University. His industry experience includes becoming the youngest manager at GMA Network, media planning at McCann-Erickson Phils., and working as a research assistant at the BBC. His research interests are on media and morality, media and migration, and mediated public participation.
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