ANNENBERG 520

GLOBAL COMMUNICATION AND DEVELOPMENT

University of Southern California

Summer 1999: June 30 through August 10

Professor: Majid Tehranian
Email: majid@hawaii.edu
Website: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~majid
Listserv: ace-l@hawaii.edu
Office: Annenberg School, Room 226; Tel.: 213-740-3951
Office Hours: Mondays 9-11:50 or by appointment
Class Meetings: TWTh 9:00-11:50 am, Room 201

This course examines the role of the media in national and international development. Following a general study of global communication and world development, the course focuses on four major functions of the media in the development processes of accumulation, legitimation, socialization, and signification. Our explorations thus follow the five themes of economic, political, social, and cultural development, each of which rests on a required text. The books are provocative and informative, and also illustrate ways to study social roles of mass communication. Site visits to such places as Museum of Radio and Television, Los Angeles Times, Fox or Paramount Studios, and Getty Museum may be arranged as time and opportunity permits.

You are required (1) to write short reviews of the five books, (2) to orally present a case study focusing on the developmental roles of the media in a society of your choice, and (3) to actively participate in class discussions. Evaluation is based on the book reviews (20% each), case study (10%), and class participation (10%). Papers that are submitted late without a legitimate excuse will receive a maximum of half credit. The letter grades will be given according to the following schedule: 96-100 A+, 91-95 A, 86-90 A-, 81-85 B+, 76-80 B, 71-75 B-, 61-70 C, 0-60 D.

TEXTS

Majid Tehranian, Global Communication and World Politics: Domination, Development, and Discourse. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999. ISBN: 1-5587-708-7

Edward A. Comor, Ed. The Global Political Economy of Communication: Hegemony, Telecommunication and the Information Economy. New York: The Free Press, 1994. ISBN: 0-312-16287-1

Jan Servaes, Thomas L. Jacobson, Shirley A. White, Eds. Participatory Communication for Social Change. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1996. ISBN: 0-839-9296-3

John B. Thompson, The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995. ISBN: 0-8047-2679-5

Hamid Naficy, The Making of Exile Cultures: Iranian Television in Los Angeles. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. ISBN: 0816620873

SCHEDULE

DATES, TOPICS, READINGS, VIDEOS

Jun 30 - Introduction

PART I. GLOBAL COMMUNICATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Jul 1 Communication and Globalization Tehranian, chs. 1-4

Jul 6 - Communication and Modernization Tehranian, chs. 5-8

Jul 7 - Student Presentations: First Book Review Due

PART II. MEDIA AND CAPITAL ACCUMULATION

Jul 8 - Communication Infostructure and Economic Accumulation Comor, chs. 1-4

Jul 13 - Cultural, Media, and Information Industries Comor, chs. 5-9

Jul 14 - Student Presentations: Second Book Review Due

PART III. MEDIA AND POLITICAL LEGITIMATION

Jul 15 - Media Monopoly, Hegemony, and Ideology Servaes et al., chs. 1-9

Jul 20 - Media Pluralism, Democratization, and Public Discourse Servaes et al., chs. 10-15

Jul 21 - Student Presentations: Third Book Review Due

PART IV. MEDIA AND SOCIALIZATION

Jul 22 - Tradition and Modernity in a Mediated World Thompson, chs. 1-4

Jul 27 - Mediation, Globality, Locality, and Socialization Thompson, chs. 5-8

Jul 28 - Student Presentations: Fourth Book Review Due

PART V. MEDIA AND SIGNIFICATION

Jul 29 - Media, Language, and Signifying Practices Naficy, chs. 1-4

Aug 3 - Media and Social Negotiations of Identity Naficy, chs. 5-8

Aug 5 - Student Presentations: Fifth Book Review Due

Aug 10 - Student Presentations: Case Studies Due

REFERENCES

Guides to Writing

Strunk and White, Elements of Style

William Zinsser, On Writing Well. New York: Harper Resources, 1999.

Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations.

Scholarly Journals

Journal of International Communication; InterMedia; Telecommunications Policy; Journal of Communication; Media Asia; Third World Quarterly; Alternatives; Media Development; Third Channel; Asian Journal of Communication; European Journal of Communication; Culture, Media and Society; Communication Theory; Broadcasting and Electronic Media, The Information Society; Journal of Communication Inquiry, etc.

Radio and TV

National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" as well as the Lehrer Report are recommended. Monitoring of foreign broadcasting, e. g. BBC World Service, Voice of America, CNN International, and CNN World Report

Surveys, Yearbooks, Encyclopedias, UN Commission Reports, and Bibliographies

Anon. " A Survey of Technology and Entertainment," The Economist, November 21, 1998

Anon., "A Survey of the Internet," The Economist, July 1, 1995.

Anon., "Survey of Telecommunications," The Economist, September 30, 1995

Center for the Study of Communication and Culture. Communication Research Trends. A quarterly devoted to literature reviews of communication and cultural issues.

Commission On Global Governance, Our Global Neighborhood. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Statistical Yearbook

International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The Missing Link: The Report of the Independent Commission for Worldwide Telecommunications Development. Geneva: International Telecommunication Union, 1985.

INTELSAT. Bridging the Gap III: A Guide to Telecommunications and Development. Washington, DC: INTELSAT, 1987.

International Foundation for Development Alternatives. IFDA Dossier, bimonthly, includes news and views on alternative development strategies and projects.

The International Encyclopedia of Communications. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990

Kumar, Keval J. "Annotated Bibliography on Communication Development," Media Development, 1985.

Lent, John. "Media in the Developing World: An Annotated Bibliography," Media Information Australia, No. 23, February 1982.

Pacific Telecommunications Council. PTC Conference Proceedings, annual since 1979.

UNESCO Communication Policy Series: Nigeria, Kenya, Colombia, Ireland, Sweden, Hungary, Germany, Yugoslavia, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea, Zaire, Peru, Costa Rica.

UNESCO Communication and Society Series: India, Venezuela, Czechoslovakia, Iran, Austria, Egypt, Communication Indicators, and Latin America.

UNESCO Reports and Papers on Mass Communication.

UNESCO Communication Order Series.

UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook.

UNESCO, List of Documents and Publications in the Field of Mass Communication.

Paris: UNESCO, annual since 1974.

UNESCO, World Communications Report, 1990.

UNESCO, Many Voices, One World. Paris: UNESCO, 1980

UNESCO. A Documentary History of a New World Information and Communication Order Seen as an

Evolving and Continuous Process, 1975-1986. Paris: UNESCO, Communication and Society Series, #19,

UNDP, Human Development Report, annual since 1990.

World Bank. World Development Report, annual.

Relevant Web Sites

http://www.usc.edu/dept/annenberg

http://www.toda.org

http://www.nytimes.com

http://interactive.wsj.com

http://www.yahoo.com

http://altavista.digital.com

http://www.excite.com

http://www.economist.com

http://www.medihistory.com

http://www.cnn.com