Schedule Update

INTRODUCTION

WEEK 1. Introduction (1/9)

Wed 1/11—Introduction to the Course

In Class

  • Introductions!
  • Intro to the course – and our questions
  • Practical questions: Moodle, Voices, etc.
  • Assignment for Thursday (yes, tomorrow)
  • Discuss (if time). What is news? how do you get your news?

After Class

Thurs 1/12 at the end of the night—Due: Weekly Assignment #1

  • In a letter from 1807, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.” Explain and comment in two (or, maximum, three) well-constructed paragraphs
  • Due by midnight before class (Thursday night, Friday morning)
  • No research is necessary, you can simply comment on the quotation as you take it. If you do find yourself drawing upon outside sources, include a note or citation as necessary. Don’t worry about format for this first writing assignment, but double space your text and use citations for quotations or paraphrases
  • Upload to Moodle in pdf format

Fri 1/13—Introduction to History

Before Class:

  • Follow all of the links – and read details under Syllabus Details
  • Read Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, skim preface and read introduction, “Why Study History” – available in Moodle Readings Folder – you should also have your own copy

In class:

  • Questions on syllabus and policies?
  • What is news? (exercise and discussion)
  • Why study history?
  • Some terms: historia, sources, historiography
  • What is good writing? (if time)

PART 1—A HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK

WEEK 2—History and Communications (1/16)

Mon 1/16—MLK Jr. Day

  • No class. Please participate in some of the MLK Jr. Day events and come tell us about them on Wednesday

Wed 1/18—The Print Revolution 1

One More Assignment:

  • Come see your professor at office hours in the next couple weeks. No preparation necessary. Just a chance to get to know each other better. Details on office hours on our Contact page.

Before class:

  • Make sure you have a devoted notebook for this class for your reading notes and class notes and paper preparation notes. This is a key to success. By the way, I’ll typically let you use your notes if I quiz you on the reading…
  • Read Kovarik, “Part 1: The Printing Revolution,” read pp. 17-18 – but just skim pp. 18-26 (the intro to this part of the book)
  • Read Kovarik, “Chap. 1: The Divine Art,” pp. 27-45 (the first half of the chapter)

In class:

  • Kovarik on Print Revolution
    • Note: beware technological determinism
      • What were the sources of this “revolution”
        • What was its impact?
  • Explain Assn. #2 – Annotated Bibliography

Thurs by midnight—Due: Weekly Assignment #2

  • Write an initial annotated bibliography, divided into secondary sources and primary sources. The bibliography should include: for secondary source, the Kovarik text, and for the primary sources, three news items from between 1500 and 1860 from any context but drawn from one of our research databases (see the LInks for Historical Research under Resources). Primary sources might include an article, a newsbook, an illustration, or some other account or commentary on events. Just be sure to use one of our research databases to find them.
  • Write a correct bibliographical citation for all sources (in Chicago citation style, following the models in Rampolla).
  • In two or three sentences write an initial annotation for each source. That typically includes: background on the source, background on the author (if known), the subject of the source, and anything else that is important.
  • See a model Annotated Bibliography – from a Senior IS – linked on our Handouts page
  • See the copyright page for Kovarik – linked here – for the details for the bibliographical citation. Actually, I’ll make this easier for you and provide the correct citation. Note that we allow leaving off the place of publication for contemporary publishers. And note that bibliographical citation looks different from a footnote citation.
    • Kovarik, Bill. Revolutions in Communication: Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age. 2nd ed. Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
  • Due by midnight before class (Thursday night, Friday morning)
  • Upload to Moodle in pdf format.

Fri 1/20—The Print Revolution 2

Before class:

  • Read Kovarik, “The Divine Art,” pp. 46-66
  • Read Rampolla, “Working With Sources”
  • Bring your laptop to class

In class:

  • How to Talk/Think Like a Historian
  • Press and Politics in 17th and 18th c.
    • English Civil War & pamphlets
    • American Revolution
    • French Revolution
    • And beyond

WEEK 3—History and Communication in the 19th c. (1/23)

Mon 1/23—The Nineteenth Century 1

Before class:

  • Read Kovarik, “Commercial and Industrial Revolution” 1, pp. 67-88

In class:

  • Annotations
  • The 19th c. Revolution in News
    • The Penny Press Revolution, 1830s and beyond, US, Britain, France, Germany, examples of editors and newspapers, more than a technological revolution!
    • Key Themes & Examples
  • Five Minute Paper
  • Intro to Thursday Night Assignment

Wed 1/25—The Nineteenth Century 2

Before class:

  • Read “How to Read a Primary Source” – on Handouts page
  • Read Kovarik, “Commercial and Industrial Revolution” 1, pp. 89-104
  • Read Selections from Nineteenth-Century News Items – available in Moodle Readings Folder

In class:

  • Intro to Thursday Night Assigment (and Paper #1)
  • Paper Writing!
  • The 19th c. Press Revolution
    • industrialization, commercialization, sensationalism and reform
  • Key examples
    • WT Stead, Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, Nellie Bly, Yellow Kid, War in Cuba
  • 19th c. News Styles
    • emotional styles
    • telegraphic styles

For Fun:

  • Watch Citizen Kane (1941) – Orson Welles as a William Randolph Hearst figure – on how to run a newspaper – here on Youtube

Thurs by midnight—Due: Weekly Assignment #3

  • Present a primary source.
  • Read the short excerpts, “Stanley Finds Livingstone, 1871” and “Through the Dark Continent with Henry M. Stanley, 1877” – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • Warning! These texts include racist language and characterizations
  • Both were adapted from Stanley’s reporting for the New York Herald. Do some initial research on Stanley and his reporting in the reference sources highlighted on our research links page – go beyond Wikipedia
  • Look to the questions on “How to Read a Primary Source” and in Rampolla on evaluating a primary source
  • Write two full paragraphs to present this primary source (the excerpts from H.M. Stanley). The first paragraph should explain the context (when was it written, where was it published, who was the author, etc.). The second paragraph should explain the subject and style of the text
  • Include short citations of some kind (footnotes or parenthetical citations) to show us the source of your information
  • Don’t make this too complicated or too hard. I suggest 40 minutes to read and take notes, 40 minutes to research author and context, and 40 minutes to write two paragraphs. The result is not a final paper but a starting draft
  • Due by midnight before class (Thursday night, Friday morning)
  • Upload to Moodle in pdf format

Fri 1/27—Stanley & Twentieth C. Examples

Before class:

  • Prepare to discuss: “Stanley Finds Livingstone,” H.M. Stanley from the New York Herald, 1871 – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • Read Paper #1 Assignment

In Class:

  • More on the 19th c. Press
  • Content Warning!
  • Paper #1 Assignment
  • Footnotes/Notes
  • Discuss context and text for H.M. Stanley report
    • Start paper planning in our Paper #1 for History 201 Folder

WEEK 4—News in the 20th c. (1/30)

Mon 1/30—Stanley Paper / The Twentieth Century – part 1

Before class:

  • Read Paper #1 Assignment
  • Come to class with notes for the paper in electronic form (so you can easily share them with others. Keep these in categories:
    • 1. Context notes
    • 2. Primary source notes (on Stanley’s reporting)
    • 3. Brainstorming ideas (ideas for the argument of our paper)
    • Please include a short citation so that we can use these notes in our paper (Snyder, 244)
  • Take 15 minutes to skim Kovarik, “Print Media in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries,” pp. 105-122 (first part of chapter). I’ll tell you some take away ideas in class
  • Bring laptop to class

In class:

  • Kovarik on 20th c. News – Key Themes & Examples
  • Arguments for history paper
  • Work on argument & outline for our paper

Wed 2/1—Stanley Paper / The Twentieth Century – part 2

Before class:

  • Take 15 minutes to skim Kovarik, “Print Media in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries,” pp. 123-138 (second half of chapter) – available in Moodle Readings Folder. I’ll explain some take away points in class
  • Read “Plagiarism” at UNC Chapel Hill – online here – and on our Handouts page
  • Look over handout, “Tips for Writing Short College Papers” on the Handouts Page – on our Handouts page
  • Draft some part of your paper
  • I suggest: draft an introduction to draw your reader into the paper, draft a paragraph of context that will follow the introduction, draft one paragraph in which you present evidence and analysis to deliver our thesis.
  • Bring laptop to class if you can

In class:

  • Briefly – Kovarik on 20th c. News – Key Themes & Examples
  • Talk Plagiarism
  • Review outline for our paper – work on intros and examples

Fri 2/3—Writing Workshop

Before class:

In class:

  • Workshop our papers together!

Sat 2/4—Paper #1 Due

  • Paper #1 due Saturday 2/4 by midnight in pdf format uploaded to Moodle
  • Primary source analysis paper. See assignment for details

PART 2—THEORIES OF NEWS

WEEK 5—History, Theory, Critique (2/6)

Mon 2/6—Does News Matter?

Before class:

  • From Michael Schudson, The Sociology of News
    • Read Introduction, “Making News” – available in Moodle Readings Folder
    • Read Ch. 2, “Does News Matter? (Media Effects, Part 1)” – in Moodle Readings

In class:

  • First: Sign up for presentations
  • Writing Without Drama and Shitty First Drafts
  • Michael Schudson and Sociology of News
  • Media Effects – What is the Impact of News?

For Fun:

  • Try your hand at this online game to edit the news and build a loyal readership – Republia Times

Wed 2/8—The Public Sphere

Before class:

  • Read Jürgen Habermas, “The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article” (1964) – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • Note: this is a dense and complicated text from an influential German philosopher and social theorist! Take some time to read with care. Look for the larger point and don’t sweat the details. Come ready to explain his ideas as best you can
  • Skim or read Jürgen Habermas, “Introduction,” The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962) – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • You might also want to read the Wikipedia entry for The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere

In class:

  • Presentation on Jürgen Habermas and the Public Sphere
  • Discuss public sphere

Thurs by midnight—Due: Weekly Assignment #4

  • Summarize an argument.
  • Summarize the argument of Jürgen Habermas on the public sphere, based on the class reading for Wednesday.
  • Or, summarize the argument of Michael Schudson on media bias, based on the class reading for Friday.
  • Or, summarize the argument of one of the other media theorists we are discussing this week and next.
  • Write one paragraph to present an overview of the argument. Make sure you have a topic sentence and a clear organization. Don’t try to fit everything in to this paragraph! It is an overview that lays out the main lines of the author’s thinking. You might want to include one or two short quotations from the source.
  • Cite all of your your sources with Chicago-style footnote format. No bibliography is necessary. Some details:
    • Put the footnote at the end of the sentence, after the period or quotation marks. See Rampolla for details.
    • For a first footnote, for the encyclopedia article, Jürgen Habermas, “The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article (1964),” trans. Sara Lennox and Frank Lennox, New German Critique (1974), 49-55.
    • A short footnote would look like: Habermas, “Encyclopedia,” 49.
  • Due by midnight before class (Thursday night, Friday morning)
  • Upload to Moodle in pdf format.

Fri 2/10—What is The Power of the Press?

Before class:

  • From Michael Schudson, The Sociology of News
    • Rd. Schudson, chap. 3, “Media Bias (Media Effects, Part 2)” – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • “New Research Explores How Conservative Media Misinformation May Have Intensified the Severity of the Pandemic,” Washington Post, June 25, 2020 – online here –  available in Moodle Readings Folder
    • See links to research articles within this news piece

In Class:

  • Presentation on Media Effects
  • Discuss media effects

WEEK 6—More Theories of News (2/13)

Mon 2/13—The Manufacture of Consent?

Before class:

  • Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent (1988) (selection) –  available in Moodle Readings Folder

IN class:

  • Presentation: Auna C., Molly S., Sam P.
  • In class: clips from Bill Moyers Journal: Buying the War (2007) – see movie online at Vimeo

Wed 2/15—Moral Panic & Social Control

Before class:

  • Stuart Hall, et al, Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order (1978) (selections) – in Moodle Readings
  • Take a brief look at the Wikipedia entry: “Moral Panic”
    • This is an idea much associated with Stuart Hall and his collaborators. It has wide and powerful usage in the story of media
  • Paper preparation
    • Prepare one-page outline of your Paper #2. Include: tentative title, thesis, and an outline that describes the point of each paragraph
    • Bring to class

In Class:

  • Presentation: Annabelle T., Eleanor B., Jada F.
  • Workshop paper outlines

Fri 2/17—Imagined Communities

Before class:

  • Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (1983) (selections) – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • Paper preparation
    • Draft introduction to your paper
    • Bring your introduction to class

In Class:

  • Media Effects
  • Workshop paper intros

Sat 2/18—Paper #2 Due

  • Paper #2 due by Saturday 2/18 at 12:00noon. Upload to Moodle in pdf format
  • Present and examine a theory of news. See assignment for details

WEEK 7—From Theory to Case Studies – of Victorian Journalism (2/20)

Mon 2/20—Lauren Berlant and the Intimate Public Sphere

Before class:

  • Read Lauren Berlant, “Intimacy: A Special Issue,” Critical Inquiry (Winter, 1998) – available in Moodle Readings Folder
    • Berlant can be dense, but they have had a powerful impact on American studies and literary studies, especially on the importance of emotion to the public sphere and with the concept of the intimate public sphere. To understand their work more fully you might take a look at The New Yorker piece (from 2019, in our Moodle Readings) or read the Wikipedia page on them

In class:

  • Introduction to Research Databases – and Handout Assignment for Thursday
  • Research in History
  • Presentation: Don R., Natalie M., Samantha J.

PART 3—CASE STUDIES

Wed 2/22—Victorian Journalism in Practice 1

Before class:

  • Read through research assignment for Thursday night – bring any questions you have
  • W.T. Stead, “The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon,” The Pall Mall Gazette (1885) – available in Moodle Readings Folder
    • The document is twenty pages long. Please read the first four or five pages and the last three pages. That should be well enough to understand what Stead is up to
    • Warning: Stead’s reporting includes vivid descriptions of sexual violence and child abuse. This will be challenging to read and discuss. If you need an alternative come talk to me.
  • For more on Stead, you could take a look at the W.T. Stead Resource Site at: http://www.attackingthedevil.co.uk/
  • Some questions to consider:
    • Who is Stead? And what did he aim to do with his journalism?
    • What is the “maiden tribute”?  What does Stead describe? How does he tell this story?
    • Who is the audience?
    • How does this kind of journalism compare to some of the other examples we have discussed (say Stanley, or Waggles, or Woodward/Bernstein, or the Moon Hoax)?

IN class:

  • Questions About Research Assignment for Thursday?
  • Introduction to Victorian London and its press
  • Presentation: Eva B., Jack F., Tarsha S.

Thurs at midnight—Due: Weekly Assignment #5 – Using Library Resources and Historical Databases

  • An exercise in using library resources and historical databases. This is a chance to master – or if you already know it, demonstrate – the use of library databases and the advanced search function.
  • See Research Assignment for Week 7 – here in Word format
  • Due by midnight before class (Thursday night, Friday morning)
  • Upload to Moodle in pdf format.

Fri 2/24—Scandal and Journalism

Before class:

  • Read Gretchen Soderlund, Sex Trafficking, Scandal, and the Transformation of Journalism, 1885-1917 (2013) (selections) – available in Moodle Readings Folder
    • I give you just the Preface. Read it to understand Soerlund’s framing of the topic and her larger argument.

IN class:

  • Research in History
  • The Historical Monograph and you
  • Presentation: Alex C., Bill H., Noah C-M.

WEEK 8—Scandals in the Late 19th and Early 20th c. British Press (2/27)

Mon 2/27—The Whitechapel Murders and Social Reform

Before Class

  • Read Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, October 14, 1888 – online in our Moodle Readings Folder
  • Bring computer to class (if you see this) – we’ll have time to work on research assignment

IN class:

  • Intro Research Assignment for Thursday
  • Presentation: Alexis N., Andrew B., Colin S.
  • Discussion
  • Work on research assignment

Wed 3/1—Jack the Ripper and Feminist History

Before class:

  • Read Research Assignment for Thursday – bring any questions you may have
  • Read Judith Walkowitz, “Jack the Ripper and the Myth of Male Violence,” Feminist Studies, (1982) – available in Moodle Readings Folder

IN class:

  • Questions About Research Assignment for Thursday?
  • Reading a historical article
  • Presentation: Abby F., Beth G., Grace P.

Thurs at midnight—Due: Weekly Assignment #6 – Building a Corpus of Primary Sources

  • An exercise in finding primary sources that might serve as the basis for a future research paper
  • Using our research databases, build a bibliography that includes two sets of primary sources. Label each set (or corpus) with a title. And give a description in one or two sentences to explain the principle of selection of your corpus
  • By a “set” or “corpus” of sources, I mean a collection of primary sources on a single topic that might be the starting point for a strong research paper. What does this entail? Well, for the research paper itself, you will need something equivalent to about 25-50 pages, something like a ten short news articles or broadcasts or three long news reports or one or two long magazine articles. For this assignment, I’m happy if you include a smaller number of sources for each set or corpus, such as three newspaper articles or three radio or tv broadcasts or two magazine articles or one pamphlet
  • All news sources must have been published or broadcast before 2013. I’d suggest you try include some sources from before 1900 and some non-print sources
  • Please use more than one database
  • Extra credit for using your foreign language skills
  • List your sources in bibliographical format. Follow the models from Mary Lynn Rampolla. Simplify capitalization. Use stable URL’s or database names to indicate the database you’ve used, rather than pasting in a long and messy (and unstable) URL. You don’t need a long annotation for each source. This is about building your corpus. For example:
    • “Spring to See Greatest Migration in History.” The Chicago Defender. February 21, 1925: 9. In Proquest: Historical Newspapers.
    • “Birth Control Pill.” CBS Evening News. September 4, 1969. 3:00. At Vanderbilt Television News Archive.
  • Double space throughout
  • Note: This assignment prepares the way for your third paper, which will be a primary source analysis, and your final research paper. If you can find a set of sources that you want to write about, you are well along your way!
  • Due by midnight before class (Thursday night, Friday morning)
  • Upload to Moodle in pdf format.

Fri 3/3—Women’s Activism in Early Twentieth c. Britain

Before class:

  • Read the first edition of The Suffragette, October 18, 1912 – online in our Moodle Readings Folder
    • Read Christabel Pankhurst, “The Policy of the W.P.S.U.”
    • Spend a half hour reading in this paper. You are not responsible for reading the entire edition. But you should be able to answer: Who is it written by? And who is it written for? What kinds of subject matter does it include? What are its politics?

In class:

  • Feminist press in Edwardian England
  • Research in history

WEEK 9—The Critical Tradition of Muckraking (3/6)

Mon 3/6—The Critical Tradition – Muckraking in the Progressive Era

Before class:

  • Read Research Paper Assignment (due Exam Week) and Paper #3 Assignment (due at the end of next week)
  • Read S.S. McClure, “Concerning Three Articles in this Number of McClure’s,” McClure’s Magazine (January 1903) – at the end of the “Steffens-Minneapolis” pdf – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • Work on your research assignment for Thursday night
  • And note: today is a work day! No requirement to come in to class, but do work to advance your research assignment. I will see you in class on Wednesday!

In class:

  • No Class!
  • Work on your own

Wed 3/8—The Critical Tradition – Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching

Before class:

  • Read Ida B. Wells, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1892)  – available in Moodle Readings Folder
    • This reading requires a couple content warnings
      • It includes many references to episodes of rape and sexual assault, and to false accusations of rape
      • It includes deeply offensive racist language quoted from the white press
      • Note that Wells refers to African Americans as “Negros.” The term is anachronistic, and in some contexts, derogatory. We can quote the term in its historical context. When she was writing, and up to the 1970s, the word was a polite term for African Americans embraced by Black writers such as Wells and W.E.B. Dubois.
    • What is Wells’ story? And how does she tell it?
    • Question for discussion: what should be the role of the press in changing – not merely reporting – the world?

In class:

  • Questions about paper assignments?
  • The Black Press in US History
  • Ida B. Wells

For More:

Thurs at midnight—Due: Week 9 Research Assignment—Initial Bibliography for your Research Paper

  • The assignment for this week is to present an initial bibliography for your research paper. It should include:
    • a working title that defines the topic
    • a sentence or two to explain the question you are going to explore
    • a set of initial primary sources on your topic (a set of news sources that will be the basis for your primary source research)
    • a set of relevant and important secondary sources (the historiography on your topic, including monographs, surveys, peer-reviewed journal articles, and theoretical works)
    • All sources should be in correct bibliographical format per Mary Lynn Rampolla
    • No annotations are necessary
  • For this assignment, I’d expect you to have:
    • for primary sources: at least three long sources (say, magazine articles) or six short sources (news reports)
    • three secondary sources (books or articles by historians on your topic). You can also include encyclopedia articles from our reference databases for background. You will need more than this for your research paper!
  • Upload by Thursday night midnight to Moodle.

Fri 3/10—Muckraking: Still Relevant?

Before class:

In class:

  • Thinking Like a Historian – and Researching
  • Muckraking today
  • Questions about Paper #3 and Research Papers

*** SPRING BREAK!! *** 3/11 to 3/26 ***

WEEK 10—Research and Writing (3/27)

We will meet in small groups this week in our regular classroom. See the date that you are scheduled for and show up to class on that day. On the two other class days you can work on your own. For each day of class you should read in primary sources, add to your bibliography, and write some piece of your paper.

Mon 3/27—Small group meeting

For ALl – Your Monday Assignment

  • Read “Research Paper Assignment” – on our handouts page
  • Read “Paper #3 Assignment” – on our handouts page
  • Read “How to Talk Like a Historian” – on our handouts page
  • Revise your initial bibliography. Be sure you can answer yes to the following question:
    • Do you have a strong corpus of primary sources?
  • Start writing your Paper #2. Answer the following questions and then start outlining and writing:
    • What historical question are you asking?
    • What is your argument? (That is, what do you have to say about these primary sources? What is your answer to this historical question?)
    • Why does it matter?

Before we meet

  • Bring to meeting:
    • Your updated initial bibliography
    • Outline and/or draft of Paper #3

Small group to come to class

  • Abby Frock
  • Alex Chavez
  • Andrew Bell
  • Annabelle Tarter
  • Bill Holtzer
  • Grace Pryor
  • Sam Pepper

Wed 3/29—Small group meeting

Before we meet

  • Read in primary sources, add to your bibliography, and write some piece of your paper
  • Bring to meeting:
    • Your updated initial bibliography
    • Outline and/or draft of Paper #3

Small group to come to class

  • Alexis Neal
  • Auna Campbell
  • Beth Gornall
  • Jack Fleming
  • Molly Sugar
  • Noah Cohen-Mitchell
  • Tarsha Swami

Fri 3/31—Small group meeting

Before we meet

  • Read in primary sources, add to your bibliography, and write some piece of your paper
  • Bring to meeting:
    • Your updated initial bibliography
    • Outline and/or draft of Paper #3

Small group to come to class

  • Colin Stoner
  • Don Reeves
  • Eleanor Boomhower
  • Eva Bauman
  • Jada Frost
  • Natalie Miller
  • Samantha Jones

Sat 4/1—Paper #3 Due

  • Paper #3 Due. Paper due Saturday April 1 by 11:59pm – extended to Monday
  • Primary source analysis. See assignment for details

WEEK 11—Broadcast News (4/3)

Mon 4/3—Radio News, True and False

Before Class

  • Kovarik, Part III, “The Electronic Revolution,” pp. 249-253
  • Kovarik, Ch. 8, “The New World of Radio,” pp. 275-307
    • See esp. sections 5 (1920s), 6 (Licensing), 7 (Golden Age), 8 (Radio and the News), 9 (Hate Speech), 10 (WW II), 13 (Talk Radio)
    • This is a long chapter. You don’t need to read it closely. Don’t get bogged down in the detail of the technology or the many examples. Understand the main idea and a half dozen key examples. Note: the case of the Orson Welles broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” (1938) is overblown. Folks who have looked at it closely have seen no evidence of mass panic, certainly not of hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes.
  • Listen to at least one of the following radio clips. Bring your notes and be prepared to explain to class.

IN Class

  • Introduction to Era of Broadcast News
  • History of Radio
  • Mass Culture

Wed 4/5—Television News

Before Class

  • Kovarik, Ch. 9, “Television: A New Window on the World,” pp. 309-341
    • See esp. sections 3 (FCC), 4 (Murrow & McCarthy), 6 (TV Culture), 7 (Presidency), 8 (Vietnam), 9 (Civil Rights)
    • A lot of detail here. You don’t need to read closely. Spend an hour with this to understand the main shape of the historical trajectory Kovarik paints and to fathom some essential turning points, but don’t sweat the details.
  • Watch excerpts from any of the following television clips. Bring your notes and be prepared to explain to class:

Fri 4/7—What Was Wrong With Mass Culture?

Before Class

  • Read Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death (2005, orig. 1985), “In 1985” and “Foreword” pp. xix-xx – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • Read the cartoon version of Postman’s intro by Stuart McMillen (2009) – available in Moodle Readings Folder
  • Also… develop your historiography – find three secondary sources that you can use in your Research Paper and write a brief description of these works
    • More than encyclopedia articles
    • These might include:
      • Journal articles/chapters/introductions by historians on your precise topic (eg, Walter Cronkite’s reporting of the Tet Offensive of 1968)
      • Journal articles/chapters/introductions by historians on the context that your are exploring (eg, television in the late ’60s)
      • Excerpts from important works in media history that could help frame your discussion (Hall, Habermas, Schudson, etc.)
    • Bring citations and brief annotations to class – ready to discuss
  • Optional: If you want to read more I also give you Postman, Chap. 11, “The Huxleyan Warning” – available in Moodle Readings Folder

PART 4—FINAL PAPERS AND MORE

WEEK 12—Research Papers & Social Media (4/10)

Mon 4/10—Research Papers

Before Class

  • Read, research, take notes on your paper topic
  • Update your bibliography in an annotated bibliography
  • Prepare a first draft of “Project Notes” for your final paper
    • See the example – on our Handouts page
    • Project Notes provide a short (2 pp.) overview of your paper. They include:
      • Working title
      • Statement of Topic and Historical Question (and eventually, Argument). What precisely are you investigating? What is your research question? What do you hope to show?
      • Historiography. Brief description of the historiography that you will use to frame your paper. How will you contribute to the conversation?
      • Context. What do we need to know about your subject?
      • Primary Sources and Methods. Describe your corpus. How do you define it? How will you analyze it?
      • Significance. Why does this research matter? What can it tell us? (Material you can use in the conclusion)
      • Outline of paper. Briefly, how will you organize your paper?
  • Put your Project Notes and Annotated Bibliography in one pdf and submit on Moodle before class
  • Come to class ready to talk about your research paper
  • Bring your computer to class

In Class

  • Discuss Research and Writing
  • Workshop papers

Wed 4/12—Social Media and News Media in the U.S. Today

Before Class

  • Read “How Americans Navigated the News in 2020: A Tumultuous Year in Review” Pew Research Center (2021)
    • Read introduction and overview – online here
    • Skim (read the takeaways) Chap 1 on “echo chambers” – online here
    • Read Chap 4 on social media and news – online here

In Class

  • Discuss news and social media
  • Feedback on research papers

More

  • “Journalist Matt Taibbi On the Need for Change in American Media,” News Nation Now (2021) – online on Youtube

Fri 4/14—Research Paper Workshop

Before class

  • Review the Research Paper Assignment
  • Review the Sample Research Paper
  • Review the Model Outline of Research Paper
  • Work on the initial draft of your paper
    • Write! Build out your paper from your Project Notes and brief Outline – write something outside of what you’ve already done for Paper #3
    • Write – and submit to Moodle assignment before class
    • Your draft should include a rough introduction – perhaps in 2 or 3 ¶s? – culminating in a clear statement of your thesis. Draw in your reader, announce your topic, lay out the question your paper will examine, tell us how you’ll answer that question, and present a statement of your thesis.
    • If you want to go beyond this, you might write context or historiography
    • Feel free to write a sh%#y first draft
    • Bring your draft to class (either in hard copy or on your computer)
    • Bring your computer to class

In class

  • Visit from Gillian Lee in the Writing Center
  • Talk writing strategies
  • Workshop introductions

WEEK 13—Conclusions (4/17)

Mon 4/17—Freedom of the Press Across the World

Before Class

In Class

  • World Press Freedom – in Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Reporters Without Borders

Wed 4/19—A Look Back on Where We’ve Been!

Before Class

  • Read John Maxwell Hamilton and Heidi J. S. Tworek, “Why the History of News Explains its Future” The Conversation (2016) – online here
  • Optional:
    • “Media and Democracy: Our American History” from The Report of the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy (2019) – online here

In Class

  • Conclusions / Reflections

Fri 4/21—I.S. Symposium

No classes

  • No classes. But I require you to attend the I.S. Symposium. Listen to a talk – or visit a poster session – for at least two history seniors and the seniors from our class. Ask them about some of the following questions:
    • What was their historical question?
    • What does the historiography look like?
    • What primary sources did they use?
    • What did they find?
    • So what – why is this work significant?
    • Be ready to talk about what you’ve seen on Monday.

WEEK 14—Presentations (4/24)

Mon 4/24—Presentation Preparation

Before Class

  • Continue working on your papers! See all of the previous comments, handouts, discussions. A research paper requires time and effort. Keep putting in the time. Hone your historiography. Take your ideas/outline/draft/whatever you are working on to the Writing Center. Read your paper aloud…
  • Prepare materials for your poster presentation per Guidelines for Poster Session on the Handouts Page. You may also want to look at the Poster Session Examples. Bring your pages in physical copy

In Class

  • Discuss principles of presentations
  • Work on our poster presentation materials
  • Prepare posters

Wed 4/26—Presentations

Presenters

GROUP A

  1. Eva Bauman
  2. Andrew Bell
  3. Eleanor Boomhower
  4. Alex Chavez
  5. Noah Cohen-Mitchell

GROUP B

  1. Jack Fleming
  2. Beth Gornall
  3. Bill Holtzer
  4. Natalie Miller
  5. Alexis Neal
  6. Colin Stoner

Fri 4/28—Presentations

Presenters

GROUP C

  1. Auna Campbell
  2. Abby Frock
  3. Jada Frost
  4. Samantha Jones
  5. Sam Peppers

GROUP D

  1. Grace Pryor
  2. Don Reeves
  3. Molly Sugar
  4. Tarsha Swami
  5. Annabelle Tarter

WEEK 15—Last Day (5/1)

Mon 5/1—Last Day of Class

Before Class

  • Bring final questions about research paper
  • Bring laptops for course evals

In Class

  • Course evals at start of class
  • Take stock of where we’ve been
  • Celebrate the end of classes!

EXAM WEEK

Mon 5/8—Final Paper Due