Sections offered FALL 2020:
#13577 |
TIM BELL |
M 4:55-7:40pm
|
WEB
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CLASS NOTES: Film screenings on Mondays, 4:55-7:40pm
Above class meets 100% Online through Synchronous instruction. For more information visit https://fall2020.iu.edu/learning-modes/
No category of television production (with the possible exception of cable news) has proved more divisive or controversial in recent years than reality television. Spawning many of the most popular and successful series of the twenty-first century, from Survivor and American Idol to Keeping Up With the Kardashians and the Real Housewife franchise, it has also stoked vociferous criticism from certain quarters for allegedly fostering voyeurism, materialism, exhibitionism and narcissism.
Love it or hate it, reality TV has helped to define the popular and even political environment we inhabit. Understanding its history, the forms of representation it foregrounds, the economics it is premised on and the way it speaks to its audience(s) is vital to an understanding of the current media landscape. Moving through three modules, students will examine the industrial history, storytelling strategies, and cultural politics that define the category.
Students will:
- explore the commercial and industrial considerations underpinning reality TV as a genre.
- examine the way these industrial considerations determine how narratives are constructed for the audience.
- critically analyze the cultural politics of these narratives.
- engage in critical discussion and writing about complex ideas.