Week 1 - Introduction to the Class (Jan 9)

For today:

• Brief introduction to the course
• Discussion about 'politics'
• Small group collaboration to select some content categories for this semester

Week 2 - Media & Democracy (Jan 16)

For today:

• Robert McChesney, “Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times,” in The Political Economy of Media (Monthly Review Press, 2008), pp. 425-443. *This reading is posted on our class ANGEL page....just click on 'Lessons', then 'Course Readings'....it's inside  
• Also watch Aaron Swartz on 'The Network Transformation'
• In-class screening of Manufacturing Consent (excerpt)

For further reading and research:

• "Killers, Slavers, and Bank Robbers All Face Less Severe Prison Terms Than Aaron Swartz Did," Think Progress, January 14, 2013.

Keywords: political economy, corporation, conglomeration, commercialization, democracy

Week 3 - Media & War (Jan 23)

Readings for today:

• Robert McChesney, “Telling the Truth at a Moment of Truth: US News Media and the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq," via the International Endowment for Democracy.  Reprinted in The Political Economy of Media (Monthly Review Press, 2008), pp. 97-116.  *This is also posted to ANGEL if the link above does not work.

Keywords: journalistic integrity/professionalism, weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), Downing Street Memo, Abu Ghraib, military industrial complex

For further reading and research:

• Al Jazeera World: Songs of War (a special on music as a weapon of war).

Week 4 - Framing Issues, Part I: The Environment (Jan 30)

For today:

• Jill Fitzsimmons, "Warmest Year on Record Received Cool Climate Coverage," Media Matters, January 8, 2013
• "A Brief History of Greenwash," from the CorpWatch website
• Just one example of BP restricting press access during the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill in 2010.
• In-class screening of Gasland

Keywords: greenwashing, front group

For further reading & research:

• 'Greenwashing' in Green Consumerism: An A-to-Z Guide (you must log into the library website to access this page)
• Jules Boykoff, "Has London 2012 Been Greenwashed?," The Guardian, April 22, 2012.
• 'Affirming Gasland' - A rebuttal to criticisms of the film that were made by a host of organizations connected to the gas industry.  There has been a well-organized campaign to try and debunk the film's questions & answers, most specifically by Energy-In-Depth (E-I-D), which is s a PR firm/lobbying group funded by the American Petroleum Institute. 
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer, Don Hopey, has produced a number of stories about the Pennsylvania government's intricate & cozy relationships to the gas industry. You can read some of them HERE. 
• Media coverage of climate change, via the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
• Watch the trailer to Promised Land
• Mark Drajem, "Gas Industry Ads Bash Promised Land," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 5, 2013
• Jacob Chamberlain, "Campaign Aims to End Evening News' Prime Time 'Climate Science'," Common Dreams, April 2, 2013.

Week 5 - Framing Issues, Part II: Breast Cancer (Feb 6)

Readings for today:

• "Ideology," from The Theory Toolbox (on ANGEL)
• Douglas Rushkoff, "Commodified vs. Commoditized"
• Interview with Samantha King about her book, Pink Ribbons, Inc.
• In-class screening of the documentary film, Pink Ribbons, Inc.

Key words: ideology, commodification, appropriation, pinkwashing

Week 7 - Framing Issues, Part III: The 1999 WTO Protest (Feb 20)

Readings for today:

• Read Battle for the Story of the Battle of Seattle (focus on pages 1-72)
• In-class screening of The Battle in Seattle

For further reading & research:

• Video: "The Battle of Seattle 10 Years Later: Organizers Reflect on the 1999 Shutdown of WTO Talks and the Birth of a Movement," Democracy Now!, Nov 30, 2009.
• Steve Macek, “The Reporters’ Rebellion,” AREA #7 (on the underground press in Chicago during the 1960s & 1970s).

Keywords: globalization, World Trade Organization (WTO), news frames, anarchist

Week 8 - Music and Politics, Part I: Afrobeat (Feb 27)

For today:

• Fela Kuti entry in Wikipedia
• Excerpts from Michael Veal, Fela: The Life And Times Of An African Musical Icon (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000) - on ANGEL
• Listening assignment: 'Colonial Mentality' (lyrics on pgs. 114-115 of the reading) & 'Black Man's Cry' (lyrics on pg. 85 of the reading)
• In-class screening of Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon (excerpts)

Keywords: afrobeat, anti-colonialism, Pan-Africanism, Black Nationalism

Week 9 - NO CLASS (March 6)

Keywords: Spring Break

Week 10 - Music and Politics, Part II - Hip Hop (March 13)

Readings for today:

• Excerpt from Robin D.G. Kelley, “Kickin’ Reality, Kickin’ Ballistics: ‘Gangsta Rap’ and Postindustrial Los Angeles,” in Race Rebels (New York: Free Press, 1994), pp. 183-227.
• Listening assignment: TBA
• In-class screening of Slingshot Hip Hop (a documentary about hip hop in Palestine and Israel)

Keywords: hip hop, postindustrialism, criminalization, masculinity, cultural critique

Week 11 - Sports Media and Politics (March 20)

For today:

• 1ST MEDIA CRITIQUE DUE TODAY (submit on ANGEL)
• Dave Zirin, “Balls and Stripes,” UTNE Reader, July-August, 2011
• Michael Oriard, introduction to Brand NFL (on ANGEL and sent via email)
• In-class screening of Dave Zirin's More Than a Game

Keywords: nationalism, sports/media complex

For further reading & research:

• The official London 2012 branding guidelines: 'Using the Brand'
• Eshter Addley, "Olympics 2012: branding 'police' to protect sponsors' exclusive rights," The Guardian, April 13, 2012.
• More on the London 2012 branding guidelines.
• Dave Zirin and Zack Zill, "A History Lesson for the Redskins Owner," The Nation, Feb 9, 2011.
• Powerpoint (by Oregon educators) on Indian mascots in sports.
• 'Media and Mythology' (on Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch), via The Listening Post, Al Jazeera, May 4, 2007.
• Anderson Cooper apologies for complicity in media cover-up of Pat Tillman's death.

Week 12 - Info Wars, Part I: Copyright and Intellectual Property (March 27)

Readings for today:

• Siva Vaidhyanathan, “Copyright and American Culture. Ideas, Expressions, and Democracy," in Copyrights and Copywrongs, pp. 17-34.
• Siva Vaidhyanathan, "Welcome to the Surveillance Society," IEEE SPECTRUM, June 2011.
• Watch: Aaron Swartz on the fight against Internet censorship & SOPA 
• In-class screening: Steal This Film

For further reading & research:

• Siva Vaidhyanathan articles and interviews in the media
• Steal This Film (website)
• Kembrew McLeod - Professor and copyright activist (website)
• The legality of re-selling purchased digital music, via Slate.

Keywords: copyright, pirating, intellectual property, the commons

Week 13 - Info Wars, Part II: Computer Hacking (April 3)

For today:

• WE ARE A WEEK BEHIND DUE TO PROFESSOR'S ILLNESS. PLEASE DO THE READINGS FROM WEEK 12 FOR TODAY, IN ADDITION TO THE PIECE BELOW FROM MATT TAIBBI
• Matt Taibbi, "Wikileaks Was Just a Preview," Rolling Stone, March 22, 2013.
• In-class screening of Democracy Now! special on homeland security.

Keywords: hacker, Wikileaks

For further reading and research:

• Wikileaks (website)
• Kristen Gwynne, “How Anonymous Hacking Exposed Steubenville Rape Case,” Alternet, Jan 4, 2013.
• Normon Solomon, "Digital Grab: Corporate Power Has Seized the Internet," Common Dreams, March 28, 2013.
• Interview w/ Douglas Rushkoff about 'Present Shock'

Week 14 - Fighting Back with Media, Part I: Political Art (April 10)

For today:

• 2ND MEDIA CRITIQUE DUE BY TODAY (submit on ANGEL)
• Excerpts from Paper Politics (on ANGEL)
• Colette Gaiter, “The Revolution Will Be Visualized: Emory Douglas in the Black Panther,” Bad Subjects #65, 2004. 
• I'm working on bringing a guest speaker for today!

For further reading and research:

• Justseeds Artists Cooperative
• Beehive Design Collective
• Interview with artist, Dylan Miner in måg, pp. 8-32.
• Directory of political murals in Ireland
• Paint for Peace (documentary on muralists in Ireland)
• Banksy (and his artwork in the Palestinian Territories)

Week 15 - Final Paper Workshop (April 17)

For today:

• You will be expected to submit an outline and working draft of your final paper today (15% of your final paper grade).

Fighting Back with Media, Part II: Jamming Culture

For today:

• Andrew Boyd, “Truth is a Virus: Meme Warfare and the Billionaires for Bush (or Gore),” in (ed.) Stephen Duncombe, The Cultural Resistance Reader (New York: Verso, 2002), pp. 369-378.
• Ricardo Dominquez, “Electronic Disturbance: An Interview,” in (ed.) Stephen Duncombe, The Cultural Resistance Reader (New York: Verso, 2002), pp. 379-396.
• In-class screening: Yes Men

Week 16 - Student Presentations (April 24)

For today:

• Roundtable discussion of your final projects & papers.  Each person and/or group will give a synopsis of his or her findings and we will discuss them as a class. NOTE: THIS ASSIGNMENT CONSTITUTES 10% OF YOUR FINAL PAPER/PROJECT GRADE.