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MEDIA MATTERS

ACADEMIC CONNECTIONS – UCSD – S UMMER 2014. Erica Bender. MEDIA MATTERS. Stereotypes and Social Change in Popular Media. Socially-Acceptable Narcissism!. About Me…. Ph.D. candidate in Sociology What does that mean, anyway?? My educational history What do I do??

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MEDIA MATTERS

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  1. ACADEMIC CONNECTIONS – UCSD – SUMMER 2014 Erica Bender MEDIA MATTERS Stereotypes and Social Change in Popular Media

  2. Socially-Acceptable Narcissism! • About Me…. • Ph.D. candidate in Sociology • What does that mean, anyway?? • My educational history • What do I do?? • I’m interested in things like gender, organizations, the military, and media • I’m writing a dissertation and teaching courses at UCSD • How you can get in touch with me: • e1bender@ucsd.edu(Remember the “1”)

  3. Let’s Get to Know Each Other!! First, tell us about yourself…. • Your name • Your grade • Where are you from? • Why did you enroll in this course (Media Matters) for Academic Connections? Now, a game (2 truths and a lie) Which do you think is NOT true? • I’m 30 years old • My face has been licked by a giraffe • I’m afraid of butterflies #1: I’m 27 years old!

  4. Your Turn! • Think of two truths and a lie about yourself • We’ll go around the room to share Can we guess the lie?!?!

  5. Let’s help each other remember our names…. • First, form a line by putting yourselves in alphabetical order by your first names. • Now, the name game! • Think of a letter that describes you that ALSO starts with the same letter as your first name • Example: Energetic Erica! • The first person will state their name and adjective, the second person will repeat and add theirs, and so on…

  6. So, now that we know each other… Let’s look at some media!

  7. What do YOU notice?? There are no wrong answers! What do you see/hear/feel/think?

  8. Media Matters!! • Even the simplest and shortest pieces of media communicate a message to us • Often, they communicate multiple messages • We have no choice but to consume these media • How so? • We have to ask ourselves… • What message(s) are being communicated? • Who made/constructed these messages? • How are these messages targeted at specific people? • Who benefits/profits from this? Who doesn’t? We’ll be asking these questions, and more, in this class!

  9. Class Goals • Building critical media literacy • A set of tools to read media and consume it actively rather than passively • Making critical media literacy a habit • Introduction to core sociological concepts • Class (aka socioeconomic status), Race, Gender • Social Structure and Culture • See the link between the media and social inequality /// the media and social change

  10. Course Plan • First, we’ll introduce the concepts of media literacy and practice analyzing media • Today! (July 7) • Then, we’ll spend 3-4 days on each sociological ‘realm’ and how we can see these representations in the media • Class (July 8-11) • Race (July 14-17) • Gender (July 18-23) • We’ll wrap up with a couple days of looking at how media can be used as a tool for social justice and listening to student presentations • July 24-25 • Let’s review the syllabus

  11. Goal 1: Critical Media Literacy • What does “media” mean? • Plural for ‘medium’ – an avenue for transmitting information • The “media” are the multitude of ways we transmit information in society • Types of media? • TV, Films/movies, Music, Radio, News sources, Advertisements • The internet, social media, email • Social networks, social interaction, communication

  12. Goal 1: Critical Media Literacy • What role does popular media play in society?? • Let’s think about just ONEmedium: television. • What kind of things do you see on television? • Television shows (characters, behaviors, products) • Commercials • News stories • What else? • WHO decides WHAT we see on television?? • This is the first step to building media literacy

  13. Goal 1: Critical Media Literacy • Media literacy:¹ • The ability to access, analyze, and evaluate media in a variety of forms. • Media literacy is a tool we can learn so that we can control the interpretation of what we see and hear rather than letting the interpretation control us. • Media literacy is NOT about memorizing facts or statistics, it’s about learning to ask the right questionsabout what we are watching, reading, or listening to. What do you think those questions might be? Adapted from: Thoman, Elizabeth and Tessa Jolls. 2005. Literacy for the 21st Century. Center for Media Literacy.

  14. Goal 1: Critical Media Literacy • Let’s revisit that H&M Commercial…

  15. Goal 1: Critical Media Literacy • This class will teach you: • What kinds of questions you should be asking when consuming media • How to interrogate the media you see so that you can control its effect on you • How to see what is missing or left unsaid, and draw conclusions about why that is important • Connect media to broader sociological issues

  16. Goal 2: Intro to Core Concepts What is sociology? (Systematic study of society) What do sociologists study? (Everything!) There are over 50 unique subfields, including: race, class, gender, education, crime, families, organizations, food, religion, and more!! What are core sociological concepts? (The “building blocks” of sociological thinking) They are: Class, Race, Gender, Social Structure and Culture

  17. Goal 2: Intro to Core Concepts • Class • What is class? How would you define it? • Class is complicated to define. Is it… • Income? • Education? • Professional status? • How many hours per week you work? • The things you buy (houses, cars, clothes, etc)? • Your position relative to others? (i.e. Can you hire a maid, gardener, or personal assistant?) • Class is all of these things put together. It is: Social differentiation based largely on economic factors and factors that indicate economic standing. Do we have a classless society?

  18. Goal 2: Intro to Core Concepts • Race • I think this concept is much more ‘real’ in our minds. We ‘know’ that race is real. • Do you agree? • But what is race? How do you define what race is? • More than just racial categories • If an alien from outer space came to the US, how would it describe this pattern to its home planet? • Put simply, race is a way we differentiate (and hierarchize) different groups in society, based on physical characteristics. • But what ‘counts’ as one race and not another depends on the social and historical context. • For example: Italian immigrants to the US • Is race biological, or does it just seem biological?

  19. Goal 2: Intro to Core Concepts • Gender • This one is easy! What is gender? • First, we need to know the difference between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ • Sex/Sex Category – the biological categories of ‘male’ and ‘female’ based on biological traits (genitalia, hormones, physiology) • Gender – the social categories of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ that attach meaning to being male or female • Gender is not just about your category, it’s also about ALL the behaviors and conduct that are associated with that category • When I say “guy” or “boy” or “man,” what kinds of qualities or characteristics come to mind? • When I say “girl” or “woman,” what kinds of qualities or characteristics come to mind? Is there anything wrong with having a gendered society?

  20. Goal 2: Intro to Core Concepts • Social Structure - The way society is organized, that you have little to no control over, that shapes your life • Systems – economic, political, power • Social institutions – education, laws, the military, the media • Distribution/organization of resources – wealth, social networks • SIDE EFFECT: CREATE AND REINFORCE INEQUALITY • Culture – the shared knowledge in society that we learn and internalize, which shapes our beliefs and our worldview • Social norms and customs • Beliefs, ideologies, values/morals • Well-known stories or genres of stories • Food and food manners • Holidays, Rituals (weddings/funerals) • Emotions, bodies • ALSO REINFORCE INEQUALITY – “That’s just the way it is.”

  21. Structure/Culture Continued…. Structure • Relationship between structure and culture: They reinforce and legitimate each other. • Let’s think of an example…. • Beliefs about education • Try hard and you will succeed • Education is key to getting a good job • The system of evaluation is fair and impartial • The people who get to (and do well) in college truly deserve it. Culture • Structures of education • K-12 education is set up for middle class, abled students • Necessary labor in an information/service economy • Teachers and test makers have their own backgrounds • Rising tuition costs, state budget crises, cirricula and language, other responsibilities

  22. Goal 3: Media and Social Inequality // Media and Social Change • The media is a….. social structure(an institution) that creates and reinforces culturalbeliefs and attitudes. • Now that you know this… • How do y0u think the media might create inequality? How can it reproduce inequality that already exists? • How do y0u think the media might challenge the status quo? How can it contribute to social change?

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