Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2017 - CMNS 445 J100

Media and Popular Culture in China (4)

Class Number: 3540

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 4 – Apr 7, 2017: Sat, 12:30–4:20 p.m.
    Surrey

  • Prerequisites:

    75 units, including CMNS 240; and one of CMNS 260, CMNS 261 or CMNS 262; and one of CMNS 310, CMNS 331 or CMNS 346.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An exploration of the media and popular culture scene in reform-era China. A wide range of media and popular culture forms and practices are analyzed in their concrete institutional settings and dynamic relationships with official ideologies, market imperatives, and the everyday struggles and cultural sensitivities of various social groups during a period of epochal transformation in China.

COURSE DETAILS:

Overview:

This course explores the media and popular culture scene in reform-era China. A wide range of media and popular culture forms and practices will be analyzed in their concrete institutional settings and dynamic relationships with official ideologies, market imperatives, and the everyday struggles and cultural sensibilities of various Chinese social groups, during a period of epochal transformation in the country.

Emphasis will be placed on the continuities and changes, both in the political economic structure and ideological orientations of Chinese media, and in popular culture processes and practices.

The global dimension of China’s rapidly evolving media and popular culture scene will also be explored in relation to the country’s accelerated integration with the global market system, on the one hand, and the articulation of official and popular nationalistic discourses, on the other.

Seminar Topics: (subject to minor revisions)

·      Understanding China: Theoretical and Methodological Issues.
·      The Party, the Revolution, and Popular Culture: The Legacy of Maoism.
·      The Party, Media Reform, and the Intellectual Elite in the 1980s.
·      One China, Four Worlds: Media and Social Transformation since the Early 1990s.
·      One China, Many Paths: Media and the Disintegration of the “Reform Consensus” Since the Late 1990s.
·      Understanding Censorship in China: Changing Tactics, Shifting Ideological Boundaries
.      From Commercialization to Conglomeration: The Structure of the Chinese Media.
·      Transnational Capital, the Chinese State, and the Rise of Popular Nationalistic Discourses.
·      Private Capital and the Cultural Dynamics of Popular Television Entertainment.
·      Media and Internet-Based Popular Mobilization for Civil Rights: Case Studies.
·      Media, the Internet, and the Crusade for Economic Justice: Case Studies.
·      Chinese Media and Popular Culture in the Global Marketplace.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

·     The media system, regulatory regimes, and the relationship between media and the party-state since Mao.
·     The role of commercialized media and cultural industries in the process of legitimation in post-Maoist market reforms.
·     China’s nation-building, modernization and trajectory of transformation, from a communication and cultural perspective.
·     Cultural politics, social conflicts and resistance in concrete historical, political, cultural, and socio-economic contexts in reform-era China.

Grading

  • Subject to confirmation in class.
  • Seminar Participation (attendance, reading questions & class discussions) 15%
  • Seminar Presentation 15%
  • In-Class, Open Book Mid-Term Exam 20%
  • One Reflection Short Essay 15%
  • Final Research Paper 35%

NOTES:

A minimum CGPA of 2.25, and approval as a communication student is required for entry into most communication upper division courses.

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 S10.01 with respect to Academic Integrity, and Policies S10.02, S10.03 and S10.04 as regards Student Discipline. [Note: as of May 1, 2009 the previous T10 series of policies covering Intellectual Honesty (T10.02) and Academic Discipline (T10.03) have been replaced with the new S10 series of policies.]

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Zhao, Yuezhi, Communication in China: Political Economy, Power, and Conflict. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008 [Paperback].
ISBN: 9780742519664

Supplementary weekly readings will be available on Canvas.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Chen, Wenhong and Stephen D. Reese, Networked China: Global Dynamics of Digital Media and Civic Engagement: New Agendas in Communication (New Agendas in Communication Series). Routledge, 2015. ISBN: 9781138840034 or ISBN:  10:138840033
ISBN: 9781138840034

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS