Activist Media
MFJS3150/EDP3725/ EDPX4725
4:00-5:50 Tuesdays and Thursdays, Shwayder Art Building 118
Professor: Adrienne Russell, adrienne.russell@du.edu
Office hours T 1-2 or by appointment
This course focuses on media activism over the past half-century, with an emphasis its contemporary forms and practices. We’ll examine how strategies are changing with an emphasis the use of new and old media in efforts at social change.
The objectives of this course are two-fold: 1) to become familiar with the various debates surrounding the relationship between media and cultural, economic, and political change; 2) develop analytical and theoretical tools to examine specific contemporary movements for change and their use and development of emergent communication tools and practices.
Classes will combine lectures, guest talks, student presentations and discussion. We'll conduct discussions both within the traditional classroom setting and on a course blog. Please remember that discussion is a way of helping you to see different sides of issues and to evaluate different arguments. It is essential in the development of your thinking that you participate in discussions and that you work to express your thoughts effectively.
REQUIRED BOOKS AND OTHER READING
Beautiful Trouble edited by Andrew Boyd
Networked of Outrage and Hope by Manuel Castells
Graduate Students
This is an Uprising by Mark Engler and Paul Engler
Other reading will be posted in the schedule.
ASSIGNMENTS/EXAM
Blog
You will receive an invitation via email to join our blog group. Please follow the directions in the email. This is not an extended discussion format as much as it is a graffiti wall and an ongoing exercise in collaborative linking. At least 2 times over the course of the quarter you should contribute to our blog a link and a short review (1 paragraph) of a site, article, example of activist media, art project, news story, or other resource relevant to the reading assignments. Please make it good! And please read and comment on the posts by your classmates.
Exams
There will be a midterm and a final essay exam.
Final Project Beautiful Trouble entry
For your final project, please choose media activist who has not yet been featured in Beautiful Trouble to interview.
Once you have conducted your interview you will:
- Create a "case study" of your subject/subject’s work for inclusion in Beautiful Trouble
- Devise a new "principle" (not yet included in that book) based on your subject's experience (review it/them with your interviewee to see whether it reflects their sentiments!)
- Connect your new case study to at least 3 principles or tactics already included in BT by which the activist (or action) operates.
All of these components will be combined into one streamlined BT entry, just like the ones in the book. Ultimate inclusion in Beautiful Trouble is not guaranteed, but we'll workshop entries to give them the best shot they can have.
Timeline (note: the due dates may shift upon discussion, depending on practical work):
- 4/6: Choice of interview subject due
- 4/11: Bring draft questions to class (on your computer)
- Schedule interview between 4/11 and 5/9!
- 5/16 Draft of Case Due in class: Workshop drafts of BT entries in class.
- 6/1: A final draft of your main Beautiful Trouble entry (case study, related principles, new principle, etc.) is due.
Suggestions/guidelines for conducting Beautiful Trouble interviews
Before you actually interview your subject, you should already have a hypothesis about what you're going to find; the interview is the evidence that will support or disprove your hypothesis. In other words, the interview should enhance and enrich your entry, not determine it. Here are some guidelines:
- Start by reading about your subject, including if possible some interviews; get familiar with what's already been figured out by others. Your subject will love you for not asking the same old questions. (You should theoretically be able to write the entry without actually interviewing your subject!)
- Before the interview, make a list of some of the BT principles you think your subject's experience might demonstrate. Also, think of a brand-new principle (not yet listed in BT) you think it might demonstrate.
If, towards the end of your interview, you're still not sure whether the principles you've found make sense, collaborate with your subject in figuring it out. Maybe say things like: "Do you think what you did is an example of escalating strategically?" or "I think your story really demonstrates that you just can't be too precious about the way you go about things. Does that make sense?"
Note: you may find out, when you interview your subject, that everything you thought about them was wrong and that your entry has to be rethought from the ground up.
This article has some good interview tips.
ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS FOR GRADUATE CREDIT
Graduate students will have slightly different requirement for the final projects, to be specified on a case-by-case basis.
All graduate students will be asked to read This is an Uprising, meet to discuss it, and submit a book review linking it to the current political landscape by the end of the quarter. The discussion meeting times are TBA.
EVALUATION
Attendance/Participation 200 points (including possible occasional reading quizzes)
Midterm 100 points
Final 100 points
Beautiful Trouble Entry 100 points
Blog participation 50 points
Book discussion and review for Grad Students 100 points.
PERSONAL STANDARDS
Please note that 200 out of 550 (650 for grad students) possible points in this class have to do with you showing up and engaging with the class material. If you do not come to class or you come unprepared you will not do well in this class.
We will occasionally do in-class assignments that involve use of computers but for the most part I will ask that you keep your computers closed and your phones in your bags.
If you are having trouble understanding expectations, assignments or course material, please speak up. It’s important to me not to leave anybody behind.
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