MAGical Final Act

Call me biased (and honey, who isn't?), but Media and Globalization brought together the most exciting, argumentative, and quirky personalities in any class I've seen before. As an undergrad, I remember loving my Media Studies classmates under Mark Escaler (six years ago!). And as a postgrad at LSE, I remember exiting each Representations seminar class delightfully dazed from all the heady geek- and pop culture-talk. But my MAG class tops them all, methinks. From Orientalism to cosmopolitanism, diaspora to disaster jokes, Roger Silverstone to Sonia Livingstone, being/becoming to roots/routes, death of distance to proper distance, Anderson Cooper to Malu Fernandez, our discussions were the most fearless and fiercest I've seen.

Our MAGical course culminated with the Creative Project presentations day, which was framed of course by the party theme of "Come as The Other." From a wannabe terrorist to a muse from "300" to a Chinese waitress straight out of Ien Ang's (2001) _On Not Speaking Chinese_, we brought our best self-representations to the show.Tami and Franz opened the afternoon by presenting their Intellectual Apparel tee designs. Franz, now famous among sophomore Theory students from his MediaTalk stint, continued to milk his performance with his and Tami's take on Bauman's "Through the media, we have grown artificial eyes but no hands to act upon the other onscreen." That shirt and the "media as environment" design indeed highlighted how the media have transformed everyday experience. But their Jon Ong and Silverstone's Army design was the sentimental favorite. Adrian, Kristine, and Diane's MAG Game Show totally topped the previous week's Mr and Ms Global Media pageant for asking some of the most provocative questions and eliciting some fantastic responses. Contestants Tami, Ayee, Dre, and Franz deftly fielded questions that ranged from "Heroes: Proper Distance or Not?" to "Starbucks: Place or Non-place?" to "Marimar: Imperialism? Global/local? Self-representation?" And as their teacher, I couldn't be more pleased. I had to pinch myself several times just to check whether it was all real; that game show splace looked like geek heaven to me.
From there we had delightful meditations on the constructions of Filipino-ness with Lesley, Ayee, and Hub's Photo Exhibit and Ralph, Marvin, and Seul-gi's "What is Filipino?" message board. Indeed we have gone a long way from discussing issues of misrepresentation and are now dealing with the more confusing yet productive issue of how one might practice, if at all, "responsible" patriotism. The power AND danger of essentialist discourses of nation in a globalizing world was well demonstrated in both the images and the texts that the two groups presented.

And from the national we also went global with Dre, Glaiza, and Redmond's postcard exhibit of "The Global Village." McLuhan of course has been much derided in our class for his utopian narrative of the global village as created by media technologies. And in the exhibit, I think we saw both the promises as well as the nightmares of the village as enabled and disabled by the media in contexts private and public, personal and political, with the lines being continually blurred.
Shan's video montage on proper distance provided an interesting take on Silverstone's now classic descriptions of media representations as "too close" and "too far." Indeed, there is a need to distinguish between "being" and "appearance" in the media today.Tin, Myka, Vicky, and Kryng's Talk Show brought the theme of The Other back to the fore in the concluding presentation of the day. The exercise where we all secretly wrote our testimonials to "We feel Other-ed when ____" drew responses that ranged from brutally honest to unusual to funny to painfully embarrassing. And once again I credit everyone for sharing their unspeakable stories to their classmates. Indeed, lest we forget, when we view the Other in the media, we should be reminded as well of the Other in ourselves.And from the Oprah Winfrey feel of that segment, where I thought everyone in the class was primed to give everyone else a big hug afterwards, we shifted discursive styles to Pinoy noontime variety show: all designed to make me cry of course. And from their goodbye video and testimonials (blink and you'll miss it! haha!) to the jetsetter tiramisu cake to Hub's delightful caricature (no despair of representation, for once!), this teacher here felt so incredibly humbled by these 19 wonderful students.Thank you for the most memorable four months. You have no idea how much you've affected who I am.

Let's continue to disturb the universe. The universe which we recognize, natch, as always-already MEDIATED.

Creative Project Day

Hi!

The venue of our Creative Project Presentation Day (aka Come as "The Other" party) is Comm D. We'll be having class from 130-430PM.

In the evening I'll be treating to dinner and drinks at Jack's Loft, Eastwood. See you all then!

Week 14 Discussion: Cosmopolitanism, Media and Morality

For the last time, HERE are the lecture slides.

Thank you once again for your active participation, infectious energy, and unwavering commitment to the course--and its key message. In the past weeks most especially, your posts, participation, and even feedback from other faculty about your performance have been absolutely delightful. Today, it was indeed but fitting that we finished off with reminders of the challenges that we face as media students/producers/actors/audiences. As many have remarked, Silverstone's call for hospitality to the stranger in the space of appearance is an impossible task, but I think we have been "disturbed" and "cursed" enough from the 14 weeks to engage with the challenge of the mediapolis, to engage with the despair of representation, to engage with the cosmopolitan ideal in everyday life. While I felt sad delivering the lecture today (I was particularly senti when we were reviewing the images we've seen/analyzed before), I also felt that the course had arrived at its rightful conclusion. Your eager, intent faces revealed that, yes, you were ready to engage. As your lecturer, I could not be more pleased.

Feel free to share here the key learning/insight that you will take away from this course. I'm particularly curious to know which topics you find most interesting or relevant. This helps me plan also future iterations of the course syllabus.

Please watch this space for announcements re our exciting creative project presentation day. Case study groups may also wish to schedule final consultations. Happy weekend, everyone!

Week 13 Discussion: Identity Politics and Resistance

HERE are the lecture slides for this week.

Again, I'd love to hear your thoughts about our lecture today. Here are our discussion questions:
1. What makes a narrative a counter-narrative?
2. Why study resistance movements? Why do we need to study the who and the what of representation in relation to resistance movements?
3. When the subaltern speaks, what does s/he speak about? When/how/why do "we" listen?
4. How should we regard jokes and their political potential?
5. How do we study the Internet critically in the context of globalization?

I'm also hoping that you post links to other "resistance" websites here.

Remember to photocopy Silverstone's Media and Morality Ch2 from the Reserve Section in the Library. And for those who borrowed my books the past weeks, kindly return them by Friday next week.

MediaTalk@admu Event Commentary

Comm people always love a good show. They love to put on a show. And they love to active-audience a worthy show. So to the MAG students who put together this most stimulating, entertaining, and thoroughly geekgasmic MediaTalk@admu seminar, and to all the guests who kept all the speakers at the edge of their seats (hoping they won't get grilled), THANK YOU. We broke new ground last night in engaging industry professionals, philosophy professors, media scholars, media students, and future media moguls with a lively, critical discussion about media and morality.

Events such as yesterday serve to remind us how urgent and important the study of the media really is. So whether one is a film buff or an aspiring pro photographer or a Silverstone fanboy, I hope that we left the evening with our mind buzzing not with answers, but with more and more questions, with questions that lead and loop to other questions. That's the only way we form insights after all.

Check out photos from the event in my Multiply HERE and Hub's Multiply HERE. Feel free to post comments/questions/suggestions in this space. Online is not divorced from offline after all. :)

Overheard last night:

1. Jon commenting on crowd control: "Di ko kinaya. Can we close the door already?"

2. Doc Leo's prescription for media representations: "We should let the Other explode in the media."
3. Random viewer: "Jason was fierce!"
4. "Uyyyy. Sino yung mga nasa reception?"
5. "How much for the shirts?" Limited edition Tami design, sorry!
6. "Can we get Sir Howie's number?" "Can we get Ms Ella's number?" Howie's fantastic speech available in his blog HERE.
7. Mark Escaler: "You've taken a big step in beginning this long overdue discourse in the school."

Media and Morality--Seeing the Other in the News

PLEASE COME! :)

Date/Time: September 5, 430-600 PM
Venue: Escaler Hall, Ateneo de Manila University

In today’s globalizing world, we get to know distant peoples, distant cultures, and distant events primarily through screens, pages, and interfaces—what we have come to call as media. The news, in particular, brings us images of the Other on a live, continuous basis—but with what consequences? Indeed before we mistake connection for responsibility, we should ask Roger Silverstone’s forceful question, “The media may have extended reach, but have they extended understanding?”

In this public seminar Seeing the Other in the News, scholars from the Department of Communication dialogue with esteemed industry professionals Maria Ressa (ABS-CBN) and Howie Severino (GMA Network). The seminar wishes to highlight the ever-evolving, ever-increasing responsibilities of the media—and here we mean owners, producers, actors, and audiences—to create a space for hospitality for the distant others that we see onscreen. Issues such as objectivity in journalism, ethical issues in reporting on suffering, and compassion fatigue will be discussed. The format also allows for participation from the audience, as they can pose questions to the panelists.

This event also marks the launch of the MediaTalk@admu seminar series, produced by the Department of Communication and the Center for Communication Research and Training.

Announcements

Hello! I missed you all yesterday.

Here's a primer on what to expect/prepare for the next few weeks:

1. August 21-24, Tuesday to Friday
I'll be making myself available for consultations from Tuesday to Friday. You can sign up for Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday consultations HERE. Email me at bertiebott@hotmail.com if you wish to schedule Wednesday consultation. I recommend that you start talking to me about your creative projects.

2. August 24, Friday (Class)
Instead of continuing our discussion on identity, we will hold our Case Study Presentations this Friday. Treat this like an informal proposal presentation. Each group is expected to prepare around a 10- to 15-minute presentation (preferably on Powerpoint), telling the class about their motivation for the research (the research problem), their research questions, the key concepts (from our class) that they wish to explore and problematize in the study, and the methods to be used. The group is also expected to have done a cursory review of the materials that they wish to analyze and give initial speculations of what they expect to find. I.e., For representations case studies, you can bring the videos or articles that you want to analyze, show them to the class, and give a "working argument/analysis" about it. For audiences case studies, you can tell us about an informal chat that you had with a respondent and what key issues came up. Initially, I wanted to give 10% of the grade for the presentation; I am lowering this to 5% since we lost a session yesterday where we could have discussed this further. I just want to see that the groups are prepared and have a good (but not perfect) plan.

The last hour will be devoted to discussions about MediaTalk@admu and Creative Projects. I am expecting Creative Project proposals to be submitted on Friday. This can be a one-paragraph description of what you wish to do. Important to note the length of your production if it's a video or event.

3. August 31, Friday
No classes. August 31 will apparently follow a Monday schedule. I may schedule a briefing for volunteers for the MediaTalk@admu seminar this week, however.

4. September 5, Wednesday (Seminar)
MediaTalk@admu: Media and Morality--Seeing the Other in the News; Escaler Hall; 430PM. All students are required to attend. Please bring your friends!

5. September 7, Friday (Class)
Lecture: Identity Politics and Resistance.

6. September 14, Friday (Class)
Creative Project Presentations. Depending on what you wish to do for your creative projects, we may all hold them on one day (or maybe over two meetings). I am even open to moving this to September 21, but again it depends on the type of projects being planned. Again, the objective is to "play with" a concept/argument/issue discussed in our class. We want to provoke debate and critical thinking using a creative product, such as a video, website, media event, etc. Examples: 1) a Philippine AdBusters-type of blog, 2) a fashion show that exhibits the homogenization vs heterogenization debate, 3) a documentary that represents distant suffering using the concept of proper distance, 4) a reality TV program that tries to find the “ultimate cosmopolitan,” 5) a non-Orientalist tourism ad for the Philippines.

7. Remaining weeks
Lectures on Cosmopolitanism, Media and Morality.

Migrants Mentioned

This People Asia magazine article has some interesting things to say about OFWs.

Week 9 Discussion: Diaspora, Identity, and the Media

HERE are the lecture slides for the week.

I'm really pleased how everyone has become comfortable sharing both their insights and their personal (unspeakable?) stories in class. I think that our class has become a real space for critical and responsible discourse. :) I'm still waiting for more posts online however.

Here are the questions regarding our readings for the week:
1) What does a "diasporic perspective" (Gillespie) contribute, if any, to our understanding of identity and the media?
2) Critically discuss one or more central (conceptual) tensions or contradictions that Gillespie explores in her empirical study.
3) How is the framework of media as environment (Silverstone) applied, if at all, in Gillespie’s AND/OR Cabanes’ studies?
4) Why are strategies for inclusion and exclusion central in understanding diasporic identity in Cabanes’ study?
5) Evaluating Cabanes’ study, what is the value of essentialist discourses in self-representations of diasporic identities?

I am excited to hear your thoughts.

Once again, I ask the case study and creative project groups to consult with me. You don't have to have fixed plans for your projects during consultation; I am happy to help you think things through. It's just crucial to discuss these at this time and not cram everything. Allow ideas to simmer and give data time before they "speak to you."

For next week, you can choose between two readings: Madianou and Gillespie. Madianou's chapter (in Filipiniana) is a very sophisticated framework on media and identity. Very useful background material, even for your other classes. Gillespie's book (in Reserve Section) has chapters that reveal her findings, which are quite fun to read because they're in narrative form. (Additional Note: For folks doing discourse analysis, the best discourse analysis book is in the Reserve Section as well--MacDonald's Exploring Media Discourse)

For those wanting more of Oh Tokyo, HERE is the link to the website where you can download episodes. Enjoy!

Happy weekend!!!

Week 8 Discussion: Nation and National Identity

HERE are the excellent lecture slides prepared by Nicole C. Curato.

I really enjoyed our discussion today. I hope that we get the same kind of active audiencing from the class in future weeks. For those who are kinda shy to recite in class, do remember that this space (place? splace?) is another venue by which you can share your ideas.

Some possible points for discussion:
1) Critically discuss the concept of "imagined community" (Anderson). What are its strengths and weaknesses? How is this concept useful for our understanding of the media? (Relate to the media's centripetal and centrifugal qualities, technological determinism, narrativisation)
2) How do we relate "banal nationalism" (Billig) and "ecstatic nationalism" (Dayan and Katz) to our understanding of the media and its role in a globalizing world?
3) How might audience studies argue with the concepts of "imagined community," "banal nationalism," and "ecstatic nationalism?"
4) "Stories give us a sense of belonging, not the other way around." Critically discuss.
5) "The nation should be seen as A starting point and not THE starting point in doing social science research." Critically discuss.
6) How should we understand "Filipino-ness"? Relate to concepts of globalization, identity, time, place, representation, etc.

HOMEWORK:
1) Please schedule consultations for your creative projects and case studies. Your case study presentations, where you informally present your problem, framework, and initial findings, is drawing near (August 24 to be exact). And your creative projects are due in six weeks' time. Please note also that in both projects, you will be given individual grades: groupmates will evaluate one another. I am making myself free on the week of August 6 for consultation. I will be busier in the week of August 13, however. Please contact me ASAP.

2) The readings of Gillespie (Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change) and Cabanes (Pinoy Postings: Self-Representations of Singapore-based Filipinos in Blogs) are available for photocopy at Filipiniana. These readings are quite enjoyable, I promise.

3) We have our second essay-based quiz on Friday. Once again, you will be asked to choose from one of five questions that cover the reading/s for the week (i.e., There will be questions that cover Gillespie, questions that cover Cabanes, and questions where you can draw from both).

Announcement

As of today, Wednesday, our Department Chairperson has announced that there are classes on Friday, August 3 for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Only freshmen have no classes.

Our class on Nation and National Identity (guest lecturer: Nicole Curato, MA University of Manchester) will push through as scheduled.

Week 7 Discussion: Audiences in the Age of Globalization

Hi. HERE are the lecture slides for this week.

We really didn't have time for class discussion this afternoon. I'm still curious to know what you think of the following issues:
1) To what extent do you agree with the arguments of media imperialism and/or audience studies? Is there a way to bridge the two approaches?
2) How does the model of media as environment and the model of global/local relate to one another? How do these two frameworks compare to the effects and uses and gratifications frameworks?
3) "Active audience does not mean powerful audience" (Ien Ang). Critically discuss.

HOMEWORK:
Please read Imagined Communities (Benedict Anderson). This is the shortest reading at four pages! (Gasp!) Please be prepared because we have a guest speaker next week. Let's be ready to be active audiences. I think she's planning for a more discussion-heavy meeting than a lecture-based meeting.

I have read through the four case study proposals so far. While the hip-hop proposal presented a very clear and relevant problem (great abstract, actually), and the Harry Potter audiences proposal was well written, I am encouraging everyone to still think of alternative topics, or ways to refocus their current topics. I suggest you go review our previous lectures, and pick one or two concepts then think how you can empirically examine it in a case study. Think how you may be able to extend the concept, argue against it, problematize it, etc. (e.g., problematizing "proper distance" in an audience study)

I am also encouraging others to look at news and news audiences. All the proposals so far are all entertainment-related. Feel free to email and discuss. I am available for face-to-face consultation Thursday and Friday next week.

Please email me if you wish to know your group presentation grades as well.

Happy weekend!

Week 6 Discussion: Representations of the Other

Hi. HERE are the lecture slides for this week.

Feel free to expound on some of our discussion questions:
1. Discuss Chouliaraki's typology of news items on suffering.
2. Media fatigue? Or compassion fatigue?
3. What is the significance of the concept of proper distance?
4. What are the continuities and discontinuities of Orientalist discourse in contemporary media?

Alternatively, you can post about the class presentations. I'm expecting similar work at a larger scale for your case study.

HOMEWORK for WEEK 7
1. Read Gillespie's Media Audiences Ch 4. Available in Filipiniana.
2. Prepare for an essay-based quiz based on the Gillespie reading.
3. Submit working case study proposal (title, research questions, abstract, key concepts, methods). Feel free to email me at bertiebott@hotmail.com for consultation.
4. Website posts this week count as 10-point quiz grades.

As there are many Potterfans in class, you can reflect upon the media event of the Book 7 launch from an audience/fan perspective. Happy reading!

Week 5 Discussion: Representations

I was really impressed with our class discussion today. Representation, as I said, is a very crucial yet very heady topic in media studies. And it was great to see everyone giving great contributions to analyzing the media texts that we had in class. HERE are the lecture slides for your reference.

We don't have discussion questions this week pertaining to theory (unlike in previous weeks) because I do want us to focus on applying the constructivist approaches rather than know the whole shebang about ideology vs discourse debates, etc. The first task for any budding analyst of representations really is to commit to the assumption that reality is constructed and is always-already mediated by systems of representation. But of course, if you do want to clarify certain issues about the theoretical approaches that we discussed, feel free to do that here.

More crucially, I suggest that we post here interesting links to articles, YouTube videos, etc. so that we can try to analyze them together. To kick things off, you may want to look at representations of the VEIL in BBC news reports right HERE.

JULY 20 CLASS
Maybe you can even post a working analysis of a media text here before your class presentation/quiz on Friday, July 20. (Diane's group can present on July 27. Who else is going on immersion on July 20?) Remember that our class will be in Com B on July 20. BTW, the two readings (Said; Silverstone) will be available in Filipiniana beginning Monday. And the book Exploring Media Discourse by Myra Macdonald is in the Reserve Section. This is an excellent book for the many budding discourse analysts in class who wish to see more examples such as: a) the demonizing of Islam, b) the construction of children at risk / discourse of paedophelia, and c) panics about "unsafe" food, etc.

CASE STUDIES
I know some of you are tired of thinking of research topics because of your thesis, but I am encouraging you to begin consulting me about potential topics for your case study. Make sure that you pick topics that interest you; it's important to be excited about your topic. I would hope to collect your proposed topics by July 27.

PUBLIC SEMINAR SERIES
On a different note, I am looking forward to hearing your suggestions for alternative name studies for our seminar series. Please email me at bertiebott@hotmail.com or even post here your suggestions. I'm hoping that our design team can start work by next weekend already. :)

Public Lecture on July 16, Monday

This may be of interest for some of you. Tell me if you plan to attend. I'm actually unsure whether to go here or to stay in and write my dissertation. It sounds intriguing though.

---
Queer Love in the Time of War and Shopping

A lecture by
Martin F. Manalansan IV

16 July 2007, Monday
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Natividad Galang Fajardo Conference Room
G/F, De La Costa Hall

Utilizing the film Brokeback Mountain, the talk will explore how U.S. contemporary gay culture is reproducing white masculinist and neoliberal ideals through the genre of romance. At the same time, this talk is a preliminary meditation on how love as a political discourse can function as a pivot in meaningful social transformation and activism.

Martin F. Manalansan is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Asian American Studies, and Criticism and Interpretive Theory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora (Duke University Press 2003; Ateneo de Manila University Press 2005), a critical ethnography of Filipino immigrants living in New York City, which was awarded the Ruth Benedict Prize by the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists. In addition to framing sexuality and gender within the processes of globalization and transnationalism, his interests include food, modernity, and urban life. He is presently working on several projects, including one that looks at the return migration of Filipinos from various parts of the world.

Week 4 Discussion

Hi. HERE are the lecture slides for Theories and Concepts in Globalization Studies.

I enjoyed our discussion this afternoon; I hope that you did as well. I hope that we can extend it to this online SPACE. (Or is it a splace?)

Once again, here are the guide questions for this week:
1) Do processes of globalization render space and time differences insignificant? I.e., do we all experience space and time in the same manner?
2) Critically discuss the notion of non-places.
3) Do you agree with Anderson (1983) and Dayan and Katz (1992) that shared/simultaneous experiences through media integrate society?
4) Bonus: How can spaces become places? How can spaces become non-places?
5) Are online spaces (chatrooms, MMORPGs, websites) spaces, places, or non-places?

I wanted to show this ad in class, but we didn't have Internet connection (how ironic). I hope that you can comment on this ad (a 1994 ad for MCI, an Internet service provider in the US) in light of the concept of time-space compression (Harvey) and also the technological deterministic arguments.
For next week (July 13), please read MacDonald's Exploring Media Discourse (chapter 1) and (optional:) Van Dijk's New(s) Racism. Please bring newspaper articles or magazines or CDs/DVDs that contain interesting representations of nation, culture, race, and/or gender. For the students who will go on immersion on Friday, make sure that you have your friends take notes for you. The July 13 lecture is very important, especially for those doing case studies on representations. Furthermore our first quiz on Week 6 (July 20) will be a class presentation where students present an analysis of a global media text.

Previewing the Readings: Week 4

The readings are available for photocopy in the Filipiniana section. Kindly post here if you have difficulty accessing the readings. I will be in school Tuesday and Thursday so I can bring the books if you wish to photocopy.

As the readings are quite lengthy, I wish to highlight here the themes/concepts that you should focus on.

Our objective for this week's class is to examine how globalization has transformed our experiences of time, place, and space. And of course central in this experience is the role that media and communications have played historically.

The Rantanen (2005) reading on Time, Place and Space offers an easy-to-read literature review, outlining the different definitions of time, place, and space. She also offers a useful review of how theorists from different disciplines have described the media's role in the transformation of time, place, and space. It is crucial to read pages 46-55.

The Tomlinson (1999) reading on Deterritorialization is a critical account of how culture has become "divorced" from place or territory through processes of globalization (i.e., we can experience American culture even from outside the borders of the USA). It is crucial to read pages 106-120 and 128-130. (We will not focus on food and identity, and we will discuss hybridization--the concluding section--in greater detail later in the term)

Week 3 Discussion

HERE is the link to the lecture slides.

Please post here your reflections/opinion/arguments/questions pertaining to the Introductory Lecture. Again this is a free space for discussion. Feel free to raise anything relevant to our lecture.

As nudge for further reflection, you can address some of these questions (however, feel free to raise any idea that you may have):
1) We used the example of Ugly Betty in class and how the show can be studied in different ways. What other media products are you interested in studying, and what might be the possible questions/approaches that you can take in studying them?
2) Give examples of how the discourse of globalization is framed as a) dream and b) nightmare.
3) Follow the news coverage of today's terror threat in London. How are discourses of risk and terror constructed by the media? What are the recurring codes and themes that they employ?
4) Following our discussion of Lost and Ugly Betty, can you give further comments as to how Otherness and sameness are "played with" in media narratives? Any examples from Philippine programs?
5) What enabling/disabling roles does the Internet play in the global media space?

I am excited to hear your thoughts.

No Classes on June 22

Because of Faculty Day, there will be no classes tomorrow, June 22.

I feel very unhappy that we have missed classroom lectures for two weeks now. We can supplement this however by posting more actively in this website. (I am also planning a make-up class in the future)

In the meantime, kindly spread the word about the correct URL of our site (especially to PolSci majors). There are 20 students in the course, and I am hoping to hear from more students before next week.

Getting to Know You

It seems most fitting for a class about media and globalization to first have the predictable yet indispensable exercise of self-presentation in a mediated environment. Obviously the manner of communication in cyberspace is starkly different from face-to-face interaction, with the loss of many symbolic cues--from body language to the rise and fall of voice pitch. But much are added as well--from the adoption of avatars to the narrative closure afforded by one's writing of a beginning, middle, and end. And in both types of communication, the challenge is to make a good first impression. What is frustrating--and exciting--of course is that we simply don't know just how our audience will react, respond, remember, reply. Also, with the affordances of technology: forward, comment, poke, reject, refer, block, flame, spam.

However this site, and this class, is a site of hospitality. It is a site of learning and exchange. It aims to be a space premised not simply on reason and/or emotion, but on responsibility, Roger Silverstone's (2006) lofty requirement for a mediaspace.

I am happy to welcome you to the website of Media and Globalization, Com110.10, 1st Semester SY 2007-2008, a brand new class offered by the Department of Communication. I wish that you treat this online space not simply as a supplement to our offline lectures but as a meaningful resource for learning, an active and vibrant space for discussion, and a shared experience with your fellow classmates and lecturer.

Kindly reply to this post and introduce yourself below so that we can get our discussions going. Aside from your name and course, I'd especially like to know what you wish to gain from this elective, your post-college plans, and what you think about a specific issue in/about the global media.

Switching to a different medium, please bring a 5x7" index card with 2x2" ID photo on Friday, June 22. Please include: name, course, birth date, and contact information (cell phone and email address).

June 22, Friday is the first classroom lecture. Please be prepared with the Silverstone and Rantanen readings.

Syllabus: Com110.10 Media and Globalization

Com110.10 Media and Globalization
Lecturer: Jonathan C. Ong
Schedule: Fridays 130-430PM, Com A
1 Semester 2007-2008
Department of Communication
Ateneo de Manila University

I. Course Description
While globalization scholars such as Giddens, Beck, and Sassen identify the increasing interconnectedness of individuals in the compression of time and space, they pay little attention to the role that the media has historically played—from the telegraph to television to the Internet. At the same time there are airport books that now proclaim the “death of distance” and the “flattening” of the world without sufficient emphasis on the cultural and moral implications of having “artificial eyes” but with no hands to act upon the distant Other on our screens. This course then aims to highlight the centrality of media and communications in processes of globalization using a cultural studies approach.

This course involves reviewing key theories in media and globalization side-by-side case studies on popular culture (e.g., American television, Bollywood movies, Koreanovelas), transnational audiences (e.g., Filipino migrants), and media conglomerates (e.g., MTV, Disney, ad agencies). Emphasizing both theoretical and creative work, this new course challenges students to be responsible media consumers and producers in today’s globalized/globalizing world.

II. General Objectives
This course aims to:
• introduce theories and concepts from the fields of globalization and media studies, highlighting key issues and debates from the literature
• underscore the political, social, cultural, and moral relevance in understanding the media’s role in processes of globalization

III. Methodology
Media and communications is an academic discipline that requires much reading—reading from textbooks and academic journals as well as “reading” from media such as film, television, and music. The quintessential Ateneo Communication student is someone who is able to link “theoretical knowledge” gathered from books and “practical knowledge” acquired from exposure to media artifacts. It is the student’s responsibility to keep up with the varied reading materials.

The course consists of lectures, lecturettes, guest lectures from industry professionals, seminar discussions, online discussions, film viewings, research work, and creative work.

IV. Topic Outline
1. Week 1 (June 15): Film-viewing
* As the lecturer is in London at this time, there is film-viewing of Ugly Betty (ABC) and Lost (ABC).

2. Week 2 (June 22): Introduction
• Introduces course aims, methods, and requirements
• Introduces the study of globalization from various academic disciplines and positions “traditional” globalization studies alongside a media and cultural studies framework
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (1999). Why Study the Media? London: Sage. (Chapter: Globe)
b. Rantanen, T. (2005). The Media and Globalization. London: Sage. (Chapter 1)

3. Week 3 (June 29): History of Mediated Globalization
• Examines the centrality of information and communication technologies in an historical analysis of globalization
• Introduces the concepts of time, space, place
• Seminar debate: When did globalization begin?
• Key readings:
a. Thompson, J. (1995). The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Cambridge: Polity. (Chapter 5)
b. Rantanen, T. (2005). The Media and Globalization. London: Sage. (Chapter 3)

4. Week 4 (July 6): Textual Politics in a Global Context
• Underscores the value of the study of representations within the context of globalization
• Introduces the method of critical discourse analysis as a tool for studying representations
• Case studies: Newspaper articles, travel narratives, tourism ads, lifestyle magazines, talk shows, Ugly Betty.
• Key readings:
a. Macdonald, M. (2003). Exploring Media Discourse. London: Arnold. (Chapter 1)
b. Van Dijk, T. (2000). “New(s) Racism.” In Cottle, S. (ed) Ethnic Minorities and the Media. Buckingham: Open University Press.

5. Week 5 (July 13): Representations of the Other
• Develops a critique of the processes of Other-ing present in popular media representations
• Introduces the concepts of Orientalism, compassion fatigue, media fatigue, and proper distance
• Case studies: Lost (ABC), Battlestar Galactica (SciFi), ID4, television news, telethons.
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 3)
b. Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. London: Routledge. Pp. 1-28, 49-73.

6. Week 6 (July 20): Audiences in the Age of Globalization
• Presents new trends and issues within the field of audience studies in the context of globalization
• Introduces focus groups and ethnography as tools for studying audiences
• Examines how non-Western audiences use and receive international news and entertainment
• Case study: Filipino fans of Koreanovelas
• Key readings:
a. Gillespie, M. (2005). Media Audiences. London: The Open University Press. (Chapter 4)
b. Kim, Y. (2006). Journeys of Hope. London: Routledge. (Chapter 9)

7. Week 7 (July 27): The Industry Responds
• Guest Lecturers: Howie Severino, Host, I-Witness; Tanke Tankeko, Creative Director, TBWA
• Presents the perspective of a news producer and an advertising executive in relation to issues regarding representations in the media
• Explores news and advertising discourses in relation to processes of Other-ing and commodification
• Key readings:
a. Tester, K. (2004). “September 11, 2001: Sociological Reflections.” In Paterson, C. & A. Sreberny. International News in the 21st Century. Hants: University of Luton Press.
b. Mazzarella, W. (2003). Shoveling Smoke: Advertising and Globalization in Contemporary India. (Chapter 1)

8. Week 8 (Aug 3): The Nation and National Identity
• Guest Lecturer: Nicole Curato, MA, University of Manchester
* Exposes the “nation” as a cultural and mediated narrative
* Examines the various new tensions in identity construction as a result of transnational connections and disconnections
• Introduces the concepts of imagined community, banal nationalism
• Seminar: How powerful is the nation in a globalizing world?
• Key readings:
a. Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities. London: Verso. (Chapters 1-2)
b. Madianou, M. (2005). Mediating the Nation. London: UCL Press. (Chapter 5)

9. Week 9 (Aug 10): Case Study Presentations Batch 1 (Representations)
• Students present case studies analyzing global media representations

10. Week 10 (Aug 17): Diaspora and Transnationalism
* Discusses how and with what consequences diasporic communities use and receive media
• Problematizes the fixity of “nation” and “culture” in light of transnational communities and their media
• Film viewing: Bend It Like Beckham (India), Milan (Philippines)
• Key readings:
a. Gillespie, M. (1995). Television, Ethnicity, and Cultural Change. London: Routledge. (Chapter 1)
b. Appadurai, A. (1990). Modernity at Large. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

11. Week 11 (Aug 24): Case Study Presentations Batch 2 (Audiences)
• Students present case studies analyzing audiences in the context of globalization

12. Week 12 (Aug 31): The Philippine Diaspora
• Guest Lecturer: Jason Cabanes, ASEAN Research Fellow, National University of Singapore
• Discusses particular qualities of Filipino diasporic communities
• Key readings:
a. Ignacio, E.N. (2005). Building Diaspora: Filipino Cultural Community Formation on the Internet. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. (Chapter 3)
b. Aguilar, F.V. (2004). “Is there a transnation?” In Yeoh, B. & K. Willis (eds). State/Nation/Transnation. London: Routledge.

13. Week 13 (Sept 7): Identity Politics and Resistance
• Addresses the question “Can the subaltern speak?” in a global media environment
• Discusses issues of self-representation, resistance movements, culture jamming
• Case studies: We Are Not Afraid, PerezHilton, Adbusters, Anti-globalization movements
• Key readings:
a. Phillips, A. (1996). “Dealing with Difference: A Politics of Ideas or a Politics of Presence.” In Benhabib, S. (ed.) Democracy and Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
b. Mitra, A. (2001). “Marginal Voices in Cyberspace”. In New Media & Society, 3 (1).

14. Week 14 (Sept 14): Presentation of Creative Projects

15. Week 15 (Sept 21): Cosmopolitanism, Media and Morality Part 1
• Underscores the moral role of all participants in the global media: owners, producers, actors, and audiences
• Introduces the concepts of public sphere, mediapolis, responsibility, cosmopolitanism, and risk society
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 1)
b. Beck, U. (2007). “Global Generations in World Risk Society.” Public Lecture at the London School of Economics.

16. Week 16 (Sept 28): Cosmopolitanism, Media and Morality Part 2
• Opens up the debate on cosmopolitanism and its possibilities (or impossibilities)
• Links cosmopolitanism to concepts of hybridity and the “third space”
• Case studies: local and international audiences of distant suffering; empirical studies and reflections on September 11
• Key readings:
a. Ang, I. (2001) On Not Speaking Chinese. London: Routledge. (Chapter 1)
b. Ong, J.C. (2007). “Children Watching Children: How Filipino Kids Perceive Suffering in International News Media”. MIT Media in Transition Conference Paper. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

17. Week 17 (Oct 4): Conclusion
• Presents a summary of the course and provides suggestions as to its application in everyday life
• Key readings:
1. Bauman, Z. (2001). “Whatever happened to compassion?” In Bentley, T. & Stedman, J. (eds.) (2001). The Moral Universe. London: Demos.
2. Orgad, S. (2007). “The Internet as a Moral Space: The Legacy of Roger Silverstone.” In New Media & Society, 9 (1).

V. Course Requirements
1) Case study - 35%
2) Creative project – 25%
3) Participation – 20%
4) Quizzes – 20%

1 - The case study is a small-scale empirical research project to be carried out by groups of not more than three (3) students. Students have a choice of analyzing either global media texts or audiences using key theories and concepts discussed in class. They are supposed to use appropriate research methods in the case study.
Weeks 9 and 11 are when students are supposed to present preliminary findings for feedback. The presentation counts as 10% of the grade, with the final paper comprising the remaining 25%. Submission of the paper is on October 6 via email to Jonathan Ong and Jason Cabanes. Papers are marked independently and averaged.

2 – The creative project (documentary, fiction film, ad campaign, webisodes, website, “media event”, debate, etc) is an attempt to challenge students to become effective and responsible media producers in the age of globalization. The objective of the creative project is to provoke further debate in a specific issue (or issues) discussed in class. This is to be accomplished by groups of not more than five (5) students. Examples of creative projects may be: 1) a Philippine AdBusters-type of blog, 2) a fashion show that exhibits the homogenization vs heterogenization debate, 3) a documentary that represents distant suffering using the concept of proper distance, 4) a reality TV program that tries to find the “ultimate cosmopolitan.”

3 – Participation takes into account classroom discussions and online discussions. Students are expected to display critical thinking, wide reading, and the ability to link concepts from the various lectures and even from their other classes.

4 – There will be at least four quizzes throughout the term. Quizzes can be essay-based or can take the form of class presentations.

VI. Biographical Notes
Jonathan C. Ong graduated AB Communication from Ateneo de Manila University (summa cum laude) in 2003. Since then, he has worked at McCann-Erickson, GMA Network, and the British Broadcasting Company. He is currently completing his MSc dissertation at the London School of Economics on how Filipinos in London construct their identity in the rituals of news reception and use of videoke. His research interests are on media and migration, media and morality, and mediated public participation.

VII. Contact Information
Contact the lecturer at bertiebott@hotmail.com with COM110.10 on the subject line. He holds office at the Department of Communication every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Students (individually or in groups) should sign up for consultation in this online sign-up sheet. Office hours can be used to clarify theories discussed in class, get feedback from class assignments, discuss the readings, etc. Students are encouraged to meet with the lecturer at least once during the term.