Introduction to Mass Communication
We live in a mediated society. Every aspect of social life—our relationships with friends, family and acquaintances, our democracy and politics, our businesses and economy—is profoundly shaped by communication. Mediated communications—from the news, advertisements, entertainment, and social media—influence how we choose our political leaders, how we learn about ideas and products, how we decide what to believe and what to purchase, how we choose what entertains us, and how we perceive others.
Ultimately, J201 is about exploring ways to live a good life in a mediated society. It offers conceptual tools for understanding how and why our society’s mediated communications work the way they do. It is about getting beneath the surface layer of the global movements such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, how people of color found social media both a blessing and a curse, why a phony story got so many retweets, or why some people change their minds when presented with persuasive evidence that they are wrong while others don’t. We seek to develop knowledge and skills applicable across contexts and in different forms of media. No matter whether you seek to pursue a major or a certificate program in SJMC or not, this course will help you become a more conscientious media user and think deeply about the role of media in your life.
Student Feedback
"It was very well organized, I thought all of the assignments were very helpful and I learned a lot from them, and the TA discussions were very helpful."
"My experience has been great in this class. I really enjoy how lessons from lectures are applied to discussion and how we then apply that to different assignments. I think that this class is preparing me for the J School. The most memorable moment for me was documenting how I interacted with media in a day. This shifted and expanded my perspective on media and allowed me to understand just how much media that I interact with."
"The first strength is tying the writings to the speeches each week. I feel like it is a great way to keep students engaged and discussed on the reading. The next strength is the guest speakers because it gave me perspective on certain careers in the journalism field. The third strength is the lecture format. Professor Wang does a great job at explaining the topics in class and the addition of articles/videos gives real life examples on topics."