ENGL 247-001
Television Studies [NEW COURSE!]
Adam Frank
Term 2
MWF, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
“On Television”
This course takes up television (specifically, North American television) as an object of investigation and a subject for criticism. Our method will be to approach television by watching it, by reading critical and historical writing about it, and by taking the perspectives of print fiction, graphic novels, and film. Many treatments of television are characterized by sexual fantasy, political anxiety, varieties of excitement and contempt, and ironic reflexivity. We will try to understand why television is so provocative, why it has been so difficult to understand, and how we may develop tools and techniques to approach it critically. Along the way we will consider television as a set of technologies, a set of institutions, a set of programming practices, and a set of experiences of watching, listening, and feeling.
The course format will combine lectures, class discussion, and group work.
