Course objectives, description
Requirements
Academic integrity
Attendance
Due dates/late assignments
Internet access
Contacting me
Expectations
Students with disabilities

Course objectives

1. To become more aware of mass media and their effect on society and individuals.
2. To sharpen your 'media literacy.'
3. To identify a broad range of media resources that will help you more critically evaluate mass media.
4. To better understand relationships between mass media and politics.

Mass media is a big area to study. We are inundated with media during our waking hours, and even while we're asleep it likely is affecting us (for a while there were those subliminal tapes you could play that would help you learn a language, become rich and powerful, etc.). Without media our lives would be radically different, even our conceptions of who we are would be different. We'll be taking a small chunk of it--the news media and its relationships to politics and private corporations. Because we're in the middle of a presidential election year, there will be plenty for us to watch/read/hear. By the time you finish this course, if you've put some effort into it and religiously paid attention to the assignments, you will be much more aware of the media around you. You will know many of the key corporate actors, some of the journalists and pseudojournalists and where they stand and what they stand for, you will have a good list of places on the Internet where you can go and do more homework on issues, individuals and corporations, and you will never watch the evening news the same way again. Hopefully this is a good thing. If you have taken mass media for granted, it will be hard for you to take a breath of air without wondering what's in it, so to speak, after this course. We will focus less on radio and television, and more on what is more universally accessible to us as members of the university community--print and online media (however online media now incorporates television networks and newspapers).

The object of this course isn't to teach you how to think--it's to motivate you to think critically for yourself about mass media, and provide you with many helpful tools, both intellectual and practical, to do so.

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Minimal course requirements

• You need to attend class regularly. Material for the mid-term exam and final will be covered, and material you'll need to grasp to do well on the final project will take up much of the second half of the course. Some attendance is required.
• You'll be asked to participate in class discussions covering assigned readings;
• You'll take two exams, do a journal, two smaller projects and a group term project;
• You'll need access to a computer and the Internet-outside of class I'll communicate when possible via e-mail or announcements on the course web site (www.eou.edu/socmedia). Courses tend to be dynamic in ways to which a syllabus cannot do justice. The site will include the assignment and readings schedule, lecture material, announcements, links to Web-based resources of possible interest, etc.
• You'll need to follow the news--you may never do this again (hopefully not because of this class), but for the next ten weeks, you'll need to be immersed in the news to do well in this class.
• You'll need to gain access to the following texts:
  • Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson. 2001. Age of Propaganda: The everyday use and abuse of persuasion. New York: W.H. Freeman.
  • Project Censored. 2004. Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2003-2004. Peter Phillips and Project Censored (eds). New York: Seven Stories Press.
  • Richard Paul and Linda Elder. 2004. The thinker's guide to fallacies: The art of mental trickery and manipulation. Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking.
  • In addition, we will have numerous readings available on the library's electronic reserve.
    

Academic integrity

The university's official position: Eastern Oregon University places a high value upon the integrity of its student scholars. Any student found guilty of academic misconduct (including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, or theft of an examination or supplies) may be subject to having his or her grade reduced in the course in question, being placed on probation or suspended from the university, or being expelled from the university--or a combination of these. (see section II of the 2002-03 Student Handbook, p. 32ff, and p. 41 ff).

My interpretation: Plagiarism is taking credit for others' work, ideas, or papers. Universities make lots of literature available for a nominal fee, the bargain being that if you use the ideas of others, you'll credit them. So it isn't just wholesale theft, but as the above says, deception, misrepresentation, etc. Be sure you're familiar with what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it. Anyone found to have plagiarized will receive an 'F' on the assignment and possibly for the course. If you're having problems in class, please come see me before you turn to the Web . . .

resources:

Penn State University Library Web page on citing sources
EOU's Academic Standards Web page
Defining and avoiding plagiarism (from the Council of Writing Program Administrators)

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Attendance

Some attendance will be required in this course--attendance at presentations during week 10, as well as for the small project discussion days (two during the term). To put it bluntly, if you want to do well in this class, you can't afford to miss. Exams will cover a mix of material from videos, class discussion, online lecture notes, and readings. Chronic absence in general won't gain my sympathies--especially because class space is limited and I had to turn students away. If you miss any class, it is your responsibility to find out what has been covered, get notes from other students, and find out whether there were any announcements. Don't depend on the announcements page to be up-to-the-minute, or lecture material online to be comprehensive. Online lecture material is no substitute for actual discussions we have in class. You might look at it as the difference between watching a movie, and reading a review of it. If you know you will be missing a class where points are due (exam, small project discussion, week 10 presentations), you need to let me know in advance. However, don't send me an email and assume I've read it if I didn't reply.

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Due dates and late assignments

Assignments are expected in class on the day they're due. Late unexcused assignments will be assessed a penalty (one letter grade for each day, increasing with lateness). You can turn in assignments electronically by attaching them to e-mail and sending them to me. I will send back a confirmation e-mail that I received and was able to open the attached document. Please please don't blame anything I never receive on technology. If you have extenuating circumstances for being late, I'm always willing to listen, and I can keep a straight face. But in fairness to others who've managed to get them in on time, it'll have to be good . . . Better to plan for technological disaster--save your files in at least two places, don't wait until 10 minutes before assignments are due to try to print them out, etc.

Everyone is expected to meet assignment due dates. They may change over the course of the semester, but they'll be the same for everyone. Turning in an assignment late will lead to a deduction. Later notifications or assignments turned in will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Printer/server/computer problems are your responsibility--the university is full of computers and printers, you can carry around a file on a floppy--I'm not very sympathetic to computer excuses, or last-minute excuses of any kind for that matter. If you're having trouble for whatever reason, you need to plan for it and let me know in advance (which will hopefully give you time to . . . not have trouble).

As for exams, if you're going to have a problem making the exam date you need to let me know in advance. If I don't hear from you prior to the exam, you can still make it up but you'll receive a one letter-grade deduction for each day you don't contact me. Exam make-up tests will be different.

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Internet access

You will need access to the Internet for this course. The course Web page contains a great deal of information on the course itself, course-related topics, and more general topics. Things happen, and assignments and due dates may be subject to change, so check the announcements page regularly. If Internet access is a problem, you need to let me know at the beginning of the course (there are multiple computer labs on campus (see a list), and not having a computer or Internet access from home won't be a valid excuse. I put this stuff up so that it's available to you anytime you're on a computer, not just during office hours, class time, or the regular school day.

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Expectations

I will justify my lecture and reading material, assignments, media offerings, etc., by showing its relevance to the overall course objectives. I will provide a friendly environment for discussion of ideas, try to make you think, impart personal experiences relevant to course material, and be generally accessible, approachable, and clear and precise about course expectations. With respect to coverage of content, I tend to emphasize depth over breadth—I would rather cover less points thoroughly, at a reasonable and engaging pace, than pledge strict allegiance to a course schedule.

In turn I expect students will do their own work, use or develop critical thinking skills and be able to express them on paper or in class discussion, speak up when unclear or in disagreement on a concept, either exhibit college-level writing skills or seek help to improve them, and refine note-taking skills. I'll look for progress in developing abstract thinking skills and students' abilities to focus on the “big picture”—key concepts delivered in class, their relevance to course material, the real world, etc.—and to be able to identify these phenomena and formulate informed ideas about them in real-life settings. To put it bluntly, I'm looking for evidence of learning--that you're able to read books and articles, identify their value, figure out how they're relevant to the subject matter, and if you're having a difficult time, let me know so I can help. You should be able to express this learning in some form I can evaluate--essays on a test, papers, discussion in class or online, etc.

With respect to attendance, you are not required to attend course, but participation in discussion both in class and online are factored into your grades, and chronic absence over the course of the semester will not gain my sympathies--it's just not fair to those who make the effort to show up for class prepared. In addition, if you're having a problem at the beginning of the term, you need to see me then, not during finals week. There is nothing in my grading formula to account for students' needs to maintain a B average, or to graduate in May.

Contacting me

My office number is 962-3591 (just push 23591 if you're on campus). You have my email address (bgrigsby@eou.edu). I have three office hours during the week:

Tu (12:30 - 1:30) W (10:30 - 11:30) Th (11-12) or by appointment

or you can make an appointment (I'm usually around). I teach in the mornings and use that time to prepare class material, so drop by if you have something quick to say, but this is not a good time to pop in for a chat.

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Students with disabilities

Any student requiring assistance or accommodation from me in performing course-related work should make his/her needs known to me in a timely manner. If you have a documented disability or suspect that you have a learning problem, and require reasonable accommodations, please contact the Disability Services Program in Loso Hall 230 (phone 962-3081).