“On Television”
This course takes up television (specifically, North American television) as an object of investigation and a subject for criticism. We will approach television in a number of different ways: by watching it and by reading literary, historical, and critical writing about it. Treatments of television are often characterized by sexual fantasy, political anxiety, intense excitement and contempt, and highly reflexive irony. 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. Warning: some of the materials for reading and viewing in this course feature strong language, sexuality, and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.
Learning objectives of this course :
- to familiarize students with the history of network television in the United States
- to introduce students to formal vocabulary to describe televisual experience
- to communicate to students tools for critical thinking and writing about television
The course format will combine lectures, discussion, and group work.
The following required books will be available at the bookstore or as an e-text from UBC library:
- Jeremy G. Butler, Television: Visual Storytelling and Screen Culture (2018)
- Marshall McLuhan, The Medium Is the Massage (Penguin, 2003)
Other course readings will be available through the Canvas website.
A number of television programs will be required viewing for this course. Students are responsible for these viewings in the same way that they are responsible for the readings. Many of these are available through online resources (such as Netflix or YouTube) or will be on reserve at Koerner Library.