COMM3378 · Communication

Critical Theory

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

Satisfies the required theory course in the Communication major. This course investigates and critiques the many ways that social, cultural, and political power is consolidated, negotiated, or resisted through popular media. We will read an assortment of theoretical approaches and primary texts (including those drawing from Marxist, ritual, semiotic, psychoanalytic, and functionalist traditions, among others) and apply them to ideological norms in society surrounding gender, race, class, violence, and the body. Looking at both the structural constraints in the production process of advertising, television, film, and social media, and the interpretive agency of audiences, our targets for analysis will be wide-ranging and contemporary.