SCHOOL
OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 223-3
604-291-5398;
CC 6228 Fall
2003
ADVERTISING AS SOCIAL
COMMUNICATION
Course
Description:
This
course is an introduction to the study of advertising as social communication.
Over the semester we will examine advertising as both an economic strategy and
an ideological practice.
The
key objective of the course is to provide a historical perspective on
advertisingÕs role in the emergence of and perpetuation of Ôconsumer culture.Õ
We will examine the strategies historically employed to promote the circulation
of goods as well as the impact of advertising on the creation of new habits and
expectations in everyday life. We will consider the ways in which advertising
mirrors and shapes a variety of social phenomena, such as desire and the
family.
Topics
to be considered will include: arguments for and against advertising; questions
of cultural distinction through consumption; advertising in relation to the
history of visual culture; the relationship between advertising and the media;
subcultural consumption; and the problem of ethical consumption. Weekly topics
will be explored more fully in a series of short papers.
Lectures,
readings, and tutorials are complementary aspects of the course. Students are
expected to keep up with readings and attend lectures and tutorials regularly.
Prerequisite:
CMNS 110 or 130
Required
Reading:
Required
videos:
Most
of the videos shown in class are available for re-viewing in Media Collections,
5th Floor, Bennett Library.
|
Short
paper #1 (due week 5) |
15% |
|
Short
paper #2 (due week 9) |
20% |
|
Short
paper #3 (due week 13) |
25% |
|
Final
exam (during exam period) |
30% |
|
Tutorial
participation and presentation |
10% |
Late
assignments will be subject to penalty.
A
note on academic standards:
Academic cheating of any sort is considered to be an affront
to the academic pursuits we are collectively engaged in and will be dealt with
severely. Please ensure that you are familiar with SFUÕs policies on academic
dishonesty. If you have any question about what constitutes plagiarism, please
talk to the professor or TA. The onus is on you to know the rules.
The
school expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable
relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels
and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02
with respect to ÒIntellectual HonestyÓ and ÒAcademic DisciplineÓ (see the
current Calendar, General Regulations section).
Course
Schedule:
September
11 Week 2: Commodities and Consumers
Reading: Karl Marx, ÒThe Fetishism of the Commodity and its
secretÓ (CSR); Stuart Ewen, ÒAdvertising as Social ProductionÓ (CC)
Video:
Modern Times
(clip)
September
18 Week 3: History of Consumer Society-
Reading: Stuart Ewen, ÒThe Political
Ideology of ConsumptionÓ(CC)
Video: Burp: Cola Wars
September
25 Week 4: Reengineering Daily Life
Reading: Stuart Ewen, ÒToward
a Modern Architecture of Daily
LifeÓ(CC)
Video: Affluenza
Part II: Reading commodities as
social signs
October
2
Week 5: Cultural Capital and Display
Reading: Thorstein Veblen, ÒConspicuous ConsumptionÓ (CSR);
Pierre Bourdieu, ÒAesthetic Sense as the Sense of DistinctionÓ (CSR)
Clips: Titanic;
Pumping Iron
October
9 Week 6: Ways of Seeing I
Reading:
John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Chapters 1-3
Video: Ways of Seeing, part 1
October
16 Week 7: Ways of Seeing II
Reading:
John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Chapters 4-7
Video:
Ways of Seeing,
parts 3 and 4
October
23 Week
8: The
Matter of the Image
Reading:
Goldman & Papson ÒAdvertising in the Age of Accelerated MeaningÓ (CSR);
Henry Giroux ÒConsuming Social ChangeÓ (course package)
Video:
LeviÕs: Branded
October 30 Week 9: The Culture Industry
Reading:
Adorno & Horkheimer, ÒThe Culture IndustryÓ(CSR); John Kenneth Galbraith,
ÒThe Dependence EffectÓ (CSR)
Clips:
Dames, Matrix, Triumph of the Will, Yankee Doodle Dandy
Reading:
John Fiske, ÒShopping for PleasureÓ (CSR); Alexander Wilson, ÒTechnological
UtopiasÓ (course package)
Videos: Temples of Mammon, Paris is Burning (clip)
November 13 Week 11: Anti-advertising and Hip Consumerism
Reading:
Thomas Frank, ÒAdvertising as Cultural CriticismÓ (CSR); Malcolm Gladwell,
ÒCoolhuntersÓ (CSR)
Videos: Merchants of Cool (clip); The Volkswagon
Beetle
November
20 Week 12: Ethics of Consumption
Reading:
Duane Elgin, ÒVoluntary Simplicity and the New Global ChallengeÓ (CSR); Juliet
Schor, ÒTowards a New Politics of ConsumptionÓ (CSR)
Video: Escape from Affluenza
November
27 Week
13: Conclusions
and Exam Review
N.B.
Final Exam is December 4, time and room TBA.