Course 2011-2012 a.y.

Course Objectives

The main objective of the course is to enable students to understand and explain the communicative spectrum of television medium, with its complexity in the modulation of its many variables, and which is subject to numerous endogenous and exogenous forces. In order to do so, it is necessary to gain a broad knowledge of television history, and to draw from it a meaningful understanding of the strategic role held by the medium and the power applied by it in society, economy, politics and culture. Furthermore, because no choice is random when it comes to television communication, it is important to catch every nuance, albeit apparently flimsy or meaningless, of its language and of the contents it divulges. Once the contemporary reality of the medium and the ways in which it has been generated are understood, the final goal of the class is to provide students with a set of analytic-critical tools to best forecast and observe its fast development.

Course Content Summary

The course mainly focuses on television communication, seen as contents creation and their reprocessing into complex messages. Nevertheless by virtue of medium’ nature of cultural industry, the topic is not reduced to an analysis of the language and its theories: it comprises the examination of a wide range of factors that are intertwined with politics, economy and culture, in a continuous and direct conditioning process between the medium and its audience. For these reasons, the main theme of the course will be:

• exploration of historical and social parameters that facilitated the birth and guaranteed the development of the most important international television broadcasting systems and, through the symbolic function of the medium, of the customs and consumption models of their viewers
• critical approach to the most relevant television communication theories
• investigation of the new dynamics and elements that are pushing more and more of today’s television towards post-modernity
• analysis of genres, languages and styles that form the basis of creativity in television, with a focus on the details and differences of communication that affect the audience’s experience

The learning style is characterized by the regular screening of audiovisual materials, as well as panel discussions with external guests.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

Detailed description of the exam is communicated at the beginning of the course

Textbooks

Textbooks are communicated at the beginning of the course

Prerequisites

This class does not require prior knowledge of communications and mass media. However, daily fruition of the television medium and a frequent reading of newspapers and trade magazines is recommended.