Television & Society

Visual and Performing Arts
Theater and Television
Fall 2008    
Rutgers, Newark

Television occupies a central role in American culture. How does television shape our perceptions and beliefs?  What effect does television have on our behavior as individuals and in the public sphere?  Do mass consumed narratives have a significant impact on forming our cultural values?This course will examine the relationship between television and American culture from its inception to its current proliferation on mobile phones, iPods and broadband.  We will examine how television positions its viewers and how it constructs our ideas about our own identity and that of others.  An analysis of television genres and their relationship to cultural values will also play an important roles.  A variety of critical perspectives will be explored from cultural theory and the social sciences.