SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 210-3

MEDIA HISTORY

Prerequisite:

CMNS 110.

This course will attempt to understand media by looking at how major developments in communication have influenced history. It will begin with prehistoric art and end with a brief examination of the internet. Along the way we will examine early writing systems, the alphabet and literacy, the printing revolution, the electric age heralded by the telegraph and telephone, and early broadcasting.

Throughout the semester what we learn from our analysis of past media of communication will be applied to the present. This will be done by regularly exploring a series of questions: How do new communication media impact old forms? What role do they play in the way a society organizes power and knowledge? How do they influence our perceptions of time and space?

It is important that the technologies of communication be placed in historical context. It is also important that we examine the economic, social, and cultural systems which support and make possible the development of technological innovation in the communications field. Therefore, we will spend time in the class exploring the relation between social theory and technological advance. We are shaped by the changing media of communication, but we define the conditions of their implementation. Examining this relationship closely is a guiding theme for this course.

Required Tests:

Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society Eds. David Crowley and Paul Heyer (Third Edition).
A courseware reader will also be available from the bookstore.

Student Evaluation:

Mid-Term Exam 30%
Final Exam 30%
Major Essay 40%

Topics and guidelines distributed in the second week of classes.

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty” and “Academic Discipline” (see the current calendar, General Regulations Section).