home courses new work work in progress résumé media links album

GENDER, RACE, ETHNICITY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TC 822

Prof. Bella Mody
Michigan State University
418 Comm Arts

This graduate course introduces social researchers to the role of communication media in the social construction of difference(s) in society. By the end of this course, participants will be able to go beyond generalizations about differences between gender and ethnic groups to contextualizations of specific groups (e.g. which gays) on a number of power dimensions (e.g. class, age, physical abilities, national citizenship). The experiences of all women viewers are not the same; the portrayals of all African Americans are not the same; the dominant portrayal of masculinity is constructed in relation to femininities as well as in relation to various racialized masculinities.

The course begins with how gender and racial/ethnic differences are organized. It will then address how media institutions are owned and organized. The third part of the course deals with how and why these media organizations refract and represent gender and race/ethnicity and how/why they enable access and usage for particular groups (and not others). The course then deals with social consequences of media representations and usage: under what conditions do media reproduce existing differences in society and when might they be able to contribute to changing these differences. It closes with future social policy and research questions.

Method

Each class will begin with student discussion of the assigned readings for the day. This will be followed by student presentations of research papers, a lecture and illustrations via video or a guest presentation.

Requirements

Required Reading:

Gandy, Oscar H. Communication and Race: A Structural Perspective. Arnold U.K./OUP USA1998. (available new in all 5 campus book stores)

Biagi Shirley and Marilyn Kern-Foxworth. Facing Difference: Race, Gender and Mass Media. Thousand Oaks, Pine Forge Press, 1997 (RGMM in the reading list; available USED in all five campus book stores)

RR: The materials marked RR are bound together in a course pack. They are on reserve among the many other books reserved for your use at the Main Library Assigned Reading desk.

Daily reading assignments:
These will be distributed per class session after introduction to student interests on Day 1.

Grades:

No INC or DF (Deferred) grades are possible except in strict accordance with university policy. LATE SUBMISSIONS OF ANY ASSIGNMENT WILL LOSE 5 PERCENTAGE POINTS PER DAY OF DELAY.

Five short written response papers, one per section of the course: 25%
Midterm exam: 25%
Final exam: 25%
Research project: 25%

Written Assignments:

1. Responses to the assigned readings: You are invited to respond to the assigned readings in each of the five parts of the course. You are required to turn in your 3-page typed summary and commentary a week after each part of the course is over. Each commentary is worth up to 5 % of the course.

2. A data-based research project (5 pages, 25%): on a hypothesis or exploratory research question suggested by the course readings or discussion. Section-headings must be clearly labeled; the sections will address the following:

  • title page (your name, student number, date, title of paper, course number, abstract consisting of one 150-word paragraph summarizing your research question, how you collected the data, and what you found);
  • reason to investigate this topic (e.g. a claim in a reading, the passage of time, general stereotypes, social significance of issue, intellectual rationale); (1/2-1 page);
  • purpose of research (hypothesis, exploratory or descriptive research question) 1 paragraph;
  • research method: thorough description of your definitions of concepts, how you operationalised and measured them, what media and materials you used; plan at least 45 observations in each group that you are comparing) ½-1 page;
  • results: report exactly what you found, using clearly labeled tables. (1-2 pages);
  • discussion: the heart of the paper that connects what you found to previously published literature: does it amplify it, contradict it, support it?
  • references: list the sources used in the introduction and in the discussion sections. Use the most recent APA manual at the Reference Desk in the Main Library as guide for the format of references and the paper.

    Selecting a topic: Build on previous research or a gap in previous research, advancing what we know in a different direction or in a different time or place. Read ahead to see what interests you. One-page outlines and personal meetings must be completed by the fist week after mid-term to get topic approval.

    Grammar and Composition: Read your paper aloud for sentence construction and readability. Check for missing words. Check if all abbreviations are spelled out the firs time that you use them. Indent paragraphs. Make logical transitions between paragraphs. Please feel free to go to the Writing Center with a draft before you finalize it.

    Page layout: e.g. check your margins, make sure the document is double-spaced and that your pages are numbered.

    Class presentation: each of you will get 15 minutes to present your study with overhead transparencies towards the end of the term. 3. The mid term and final exam will be a short-answer in-class exam based on the readings, class discussions and videos.

3. Midterm and Final Exam: the midterm and final exam will be a short-answer in-class exam based ont he readings, class discussions and videos.

Academic honesty: We follow the policy on academic honesty specified in General Student Regulations 1.0 Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the All-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades sections in Spartan Life. Plagiarism is defined as presenting another's work or ideas as your own. You are expected to do your own work on all assignments. Students who plagiarize will receive severe grading penalties up to and including failing the course.

Accommodation for disabilities: Please let us know how we can accommodate you at the beginning of the term. Please also call the OPHS Disability Resource Center at 353-9642 to establish how they can assist you.

Dropping this course: the last day to drop this course with a 100% refund and no grade reported is 9/20. You may drop this course after the middle of the semester only to correct verified errors of enrollment or because of a catastrophic event. Failing a test is not a catastrophic event. After you drop the course, make a copy of your amended schedule for verification.

Religious observances: If you will be absent from class for a religious holiday, make arrangements at the beginning of the term an alternative if there is a test, exam or assignment on the religious holiday.

Reading Assignments:

Part I
Gender, race and ethnicity as social constructions
-Gandy, Ch. 2
-RGMM 6.1
-Mendoza-Denton, Pregnant pauses: silence and authority in the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings. In Kira Hall and Mary Buccholz ed. Gender Articulated (NY: Routledge 1995).
-Houston, Marsha, The Politics of Difference, in Lana Rakow ed. Women Making Meaning (Sage 1992).

Part 2
Tele-mediation via radio, television and the Internet as humanly and socially constructed
- Gandy Ch 3
- Weiman, G. Ch 1 (RR)
-RGMM, Chapters, 1.7, 2.1, 2.4,2.5, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6, 3.7, 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.10
-Gabler, Neal. An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood. NY: Crown, 1988 ( RR)
-Belt, Vicki and R. Richardson. Women's Work in the Information Economy: the case of telephone call centers. In iCS, 3, 3, Autumn 2000 (RR)

Part 3
Media refraction, representation, access and usage by gender, race and ethnicity -Gandy Ch. 4
- Greenberg, Bradley S. and others. Minorities and the Mass Media: TV into the 21st century. In Bryant J and D. Zillman Media Effects (2nd edition). Erlbaum 2001. (RR)
- Kunkel, D and others. Sex on TV: Comparing Trends. ICA paper 2001 (RR)
- Entman Robert M. and Andrew Rojecki. Minorities in the Mass Media: A Status Report. Investing in Diversity (Aspen 1998). RR
- RGMM Chapters 1.1,1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 3.1, 3.4, 5.6, 5.7, 6.8
- Wildman S and T Karamanis. The economics of minority programming. In Investing in Diversity (Aspen 1998) RR
- Kray, Susan. Orientalization of an "almost White" woman: The Case of the Missing Jewish Woman. In A Valdivia ed. Feminism, Multiculturalism and the Media. (Sage1995). RR
- Kohut, A and K. Parker, Talk Radio and Gender Politics. In Pippa Norris, ed. Women, media and politics. Harvard U Press, 1997 RR
- Makani Themba. Black Entertainment TV's "Lifestyle" choice. The Nation, May 14, 2001. RR
- Ellis, John W. TV hashing out its minority problems. Advertising Age. 71, 8, Feb 21, 2000, pp. S6, 8, 20. RR
- Spector, Alan J. Disney does diversity. In Kamalipur, Y. R. and Carilli T. ed. Cultural Diversity and the U.S. media. SUNY Press, 1998.
- Hoffman, Novak and Alladi, Diversity on the Internet: the Relationship of Race to Access and Usage in Investing in Diversity (Aspen 1998) RR
- Herring, S. Deborah A Johnson and Tamra DiBenedetto, This Discussion is Going Too Far: Male Resistance to Female Participation on the Internet, in Gender Articulated. RR
- Hindman, D B. The Rural-Urban Digital Divide. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 77, 3, Autumn 2000 RR
- Spender, Dale. Nattering on the Net: Women, Power and Cyberspace. Pp. 165-247. RR

Part 4
Consequences of gender, race and ethnic representations in the media
- Gandy Ch. 5
- GRMM Ch. 5.3

Part 5
Future policy directions and research questions
- Gandy Ch. 6
- Rodriguez, America. Reinventing Minority Media for the 21st Century. Wash D.C. Aspen Institute 2001 (Available free on the Internet at http://www.aspeninstitute.org/c&s/pdfs/reinventing.pdf
- Ofori, Kofi A. In the Black: African American Web Entrepreneurs and Internet Advertising. In Reinventing Minority Media (see above).

MSU library books on reserve for TC822:

-Barber, John T and Alice Tait. The Information Society and the Black community. Praeger 2001
- Biagi and Foxworth. Facing difference: race, gender and mass media.
- Brown, Mary Ellen. Soap opera and women's talk. Sage 1994.
- Caldwell, John Thornton. Electronic media and technoculture. Rutgers U Press 2000
- Cornell, Stephen, and Hartmann, Douglas. Ethnicity and race. Pine Forge Press, 1998.
- Cottle, Simon. Ethnic minorities and the media. Open University Press, U.K. 2000.
- Craig, Steve. Men, masculinity and the media. Sage, 1992
- Dines, Gail and Jean M Humez. Gender, race and class in media. Sage 1995.
- Douglas, Susan. Where the girls are. Times Books. 1995.
- Entman R and Rojecki. The Black image in the White mind. U of Chicago Press 2000.
- Ferguson, R. Representing Race. OUP. 1998.
- Fiske, John. Media matters: race and gender in U.S. politics. U of Minnesota Press 1996. -Gandy, Oscar H. Jr. Communication and race: A structural perspective. Arnold 1998. -Garmer, Amy Korzick. Ed. Investing in diversity. Aspen Institute. 1998.
- Hamamoto, Darrell. Monitored Peril: Asian Americans and the politics of TV representation. U of Minnesota Press, 1994.
- Harcourt, Wendy, ed. Women@internet. Zed Books, 1999.
- Herman Gray. TV and the struggle for "Blackness". U of Minnesota Press, 1995.
- Jeffords, Susan. Seeing through the media. Sage 1994.
- Kamalipour, Yahya and Carilli, T. Cultural Diversity and the U.S. Media. Albany: SUNY Press 1998.
- Kinder, Marsha. Kids' media culture. Duke U Press 1999.
- Kolko, Beth and others. Race in cyberspace. Fetter, NY, 2000.
- Means Coleman, Robin. African-American Viewers and the Black Situation comedy. NY: Taylor and Francis/Garland, 1998.
- Morrison, Toni. Race-ing justice, en-gendering power. Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas and the construction of social reality. Pantheon 1992. Pine Forge Press 1997. -Noriega, Chon A. The future of Latino independent media. A NALIP Source Book. Los Angeles 2000.
- Rodriguez, Clara. Latin looks. Images of Latinos and Latinas in the U.S. media. Westview, Boulder Co. 1997.
- Takaki, Ron, A different mirror. A history of multicultural America. Little Brown and Co. 1993.
- Valdivia, Angharad N. Feminism, multiculturalism and the media. Sage, 1995
- Weimann, Gabriel. Communicating unreality. Sage 2000
- Wilson, Clint C and Felix Gutierrez. Race, muticulturalism and the media. Sage 1995.






[Copyright Dr Bella Mody: May 1, 2000]