Course Syllabus

Glued to the Screen: TV Shows, Norms, and Culture

Leave it to BeaverSKAMBuffy the Vampire Slayer

The Handmaid's TaleI Love LucyScenes from a MarriageThe Young and the RestlessSherlockHouse of Cards

 

Semester & Location:

Summer 2019 – DIS Stockholm

Type & Credits:

Elective Course – 3 Credits

Field Studies:

National Library; Sveriges Television

Major Disciplines:

Communication, Film Studies, Media Studies

Faculty Members:

Anne Bachmann, anne.h.bachmann@gmail.com

Program Director:

Iben de Neergaard, idn@dis.dk

Time & Place:

Monday - Friday, various times. Location 1E-509 (1E-508)

Description of the Course

From broadcast syndication to Netflix binge watching, our experience with television is dynamic and evolving. Yet, what persists is its power to shape our societies’ gender roles, race relations, class divisions, sexual norms, and values. This course introduces the notion of TV as a cultural forum, a social regulator, and a social critique. Using examples from American, Scandinavian, and also British television, we will analyze how TV operates by working through social issues, and how TV shows mirror societal concerns and assumptions.

Gender roles, race relations, class divisions, sexual norms, and other values in our societies are both reflected in and shaped by TV series and shows like I Love Lucy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation or Parks and Recreation. This course critically views the history of, and reflects on the social importance of, TV fiction. The optics of the course are global as well as a national and transnational.

The course offers an introduction to television history in the USA and Europe/Scandinavia, on the one hand presenting the rise of television in its various organizational forms (e.g. BBC in 1936 and NBC in 1939), and on the other, looking at specific television genres and programs in the social contexts from the time in which they were made. Each class will concentrate on one period, theme or aspect of television history and/or analysis and will usually include some viewing material. The approach will be analytical, esthetical, and historical.

Some of the key words investigated are TV and domesticity, intimacy, flow, convergence and quality. We explore ways of pondering the relationship between representations on a screen and real-life society. The shows we study deal with social questions such as crime and guilt, sexuality and reproduction, the nuclear family, matrimony and divorce. Part of the material is Swedish, and towards the very end of the course, we will look at a couple of 'Nordic Noir' shows to tease out attitudes towards modern Sweden in them.

Tying in with the TV-historical side of the course, in the latter part of the course we will take a detailed look at the revolution in moving images which started with time-shifting devices such as VCR, larger selections of cable channels, and the remote control, and which is now present in streaming services, youtube videos and a convergence between TV and film material. How does television ”after” television maintain its social significance also when watched individually on personal screens?

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, each student will have gained:

  • A sound knowledge of the history of television (mainly TV fiction) in the Western hemisphere and its relation to cultural and social conditions.
  • An understanding of basic procedures of media analysis.
  • The ability to produce an academic research paper demonstrating critical media literacy and the ability to interpret and discuss the history of TV and particularly fiction, in the U.S. and partly in Europe/Scandinavia.

Faculty

Anne Bachmann holds a PhD in Cinema Studies from Stockholm University, and a Master of Studies in European Literature from University of Oxford. She has taught cinema and media studies at several Swedish universities and published in a number of academic journals. 

Readings

Gray, Jonathan and Amanda D. Lotz, Television Studies, 2nd edition, Cambridge UK, Polity, 2019) 

Further readings are to be found on Canvas. Some key texts: 

Anderson, Christopher. “HBO: Producing an Aristocracy of Culture in American Television,” in The Essential HBO Reader, eds., Gary R. Edgerton and Jeffrey P.Jones (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2009), 23–38 plus notes.

Hendershot, Heather. “Parks and Recreation: The Cultural Forum” in How to watch television, eds. Ethan Thompson and Jason Mittell. (New York, NYU Press, 2013). 204–212.

Modleski, Tania. “The Rhythm of Reception: Daytime Television and Woman’s Work,” in E. A. Kaplan, Regarding Television (Los Angeles: AFI, 1983), 67–75.

Spigel, Lynn. “Television in the Family Circle”, excerpt from Make Room for TV (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 36–50.

Tryon, Chuck. “TV Got Better: Netflix’s Original Programming Strategies and the On-Demand Television Transition.” Media Industries 2.2 (2015). 104–116.

Field Studies

For the first field study, we go to the National Library's section for audiovisual media to learn about the archiving of otherwise ephemeral moving images and to watch some material kept there. The second field study is a visit with Sveriges Television at the TV House, combined with a walking tour past the Film House and Radio House. 

 

Guest Lecturers

To be confirmed

Approach to Teaching

Teacher's comment: I hold that learning happens not only when attaching new concepts and facts to your individual pre-existing experiences, but also when being challenged by something initially foreign and mystifying, which may force you to re-think what you already knew. So, in class I will on the one side try to make sense of things together with students, and on the other side be ready to supply what I believe to be the missing pieces to that puzzle. Not least, the chance to be challenged in my own knowledge structures and opinions is a great fringe benefit for myself.

Expectations of the Students

Teacher's comment: My basic assumption about students is that you are present because you are interested in the subject on offer. For this reason, I expect that you will wish to prepare in advance, contribute to the learning situation with informed reflections and questions, and try to find out more about anything you realize you do not yet grasp or simply want to follow up on. 

To allow for the best possible learning climate, please don't take out your laptops or phones unless called for

Evaluation and grading

Grading breakdown 

Assignment

Percent

Short paper

10 %

 Midterm

30 %

 Final paper as video essay or in writing, including two drafts 

40 %

Engaged and informed participation in class, including brief class presentations and peer review

20 %

 

Test

A test with questions to the readings is done in class.

Reflection 

The reflection assignment is personal in tone and is not graded beyond Pass/Fail, although dedicated work here can also inform your participation grade. 

Research paper

The research paper is a two-part assignment where one part is theoretical and one is a comparative analysis of TV material, informed by course reading and/or other scholarly literature. You can submit the analysis in writing or as video essay. 

Participation grade 

Participation in class requires being prepared to discuss the readings and to reflect on them in class. Any attempt at making a point that is relevant in relation to readings and audiovisual material will be welcomed and noted. 

Areas for assessment

  • Handling of course material 
  • Scholarly argumentation and analytical abilities 
  • Command of relevant terminology 

Grades

A = Excellent. The assignment is notably elucidative, knowledgeable, inventive and critical. 

B = Well above average. The assignment is sound, well-reasoned and independent.

C = Average. The assignment is competently understood with good individual reasoning. 

D = Below average but passing. The assignment shows adequate understanding and treatment of course contents. 

P = Pass

F = Failure or failure to complete

I = Incomplete (only issued in place of final course grade if an agreement exists for completion

   by a definite deadline which is approved by the instructor and the DIS registrar).

Plus (+) and minus (-) grades are used for examinations and home assignments as well as for final grades. For purposes of calculating grade points and averages, the "+" equals 0.3 and the "-" equals minus 0.3 of a grade.

 

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due