Overview of Course

From the richest nations to the poorest, mass media have been used to inform, entertain, persuade, incite, and subjugate. JTC 100: Media and Society provides an overview of historical and contemporary mass media, including print, electronic, and web-based. Whether you’re a consumer of mass media, researcher, or media industry professional, this course is designed to provide an overview and analysis of mass media’s sociological, economic and political effects. We’ll learn how mass media has spawned and quelled social changes, and in many cases, changed the course of history. We will also consider fundamental communication theories to help us understand and explain various media systems and their power. In addition, we will explore how the mass media influence -- and are influenced -- by governments and institutions, while gaining a greater appreciation for how mass media impact each of us, consciously or not.