Global Media Seminar with James Der Derian, John Santos, and chihuahuas


The 2007 Global Media class prepares for its psycho-geographic drift to the Providence Mall to see The 300


John Phillip Santos, James Der Derian and Eugene Jarecki with the inaugural 2006 Global Media class (and Che T-shirts)

International Relations 1800N
James Der Derian and John Phillip Santos
WIIS 863-1814/7425
Senior Seminar Spring 2008

Global Media: History/Theory/Production

This course will explore the historical and contemporary roles of media in international affairs, both as a source of information and, increasingly, as an important medium of war and diplomacy. The seminar is composed of three tracks. The first is historical, focusing on the dual development of colonial and media empires from early days of print media to the Internet. The second is theoretical, using classical IR and critical theory to examine media as product and instrument of cultural, economic and political struggles. The third is practical, using biweekly 'Global Media Labs' in which guest media practitioners teamed with media theorists will present master classes in a variety of media, including print, photography, radio, cinema, television, and online convergences . Combining history, theory, critical viewing, film screenings, and media production, and based on a retrospective study of news media, documentaries, and critical media theory, the course will map the complex contemporary global media environment where the Internet and satellite broadcasting, among other recent technologies, have created a new panorama of messages, meanings and stratagems directly affecting international politics

Course Requirements

Each student will be responsible for: 1) a literature, film, or documentary review from weekly sections (20%); 2) a thematic essay or videoblog of guest speaker from a different weekly section (30%); and 3) group participation in the production of a pitch packet, based on project development work from the GlobalMediaLabs (50%). The literature/documentary reviews (3-5 pages), thematic essays (4-6 pages), and videoblogs will be presented in the seminar and made available to all students on the GlobalMediaBlog. Students will form project-development teams to produce Global Media pitch packets that will be based on dialogues among media-makers, IR experts, and class members acting as focus groups. The pitch packets will be in industry standard format, i.e., consisting of both a written treatment and short-form, digital-media materials designed as a blueprint for the production of longer-form pieces for broadcast, theatrical exhibition, or other public display. These pitch packets will be shared with the larger Watson/Brown community in a final GlobalMediaForum consisting of screenings and group project presentations. Students will also attend weekly evening screenings of films and documeataries that will also be made available online.

Readings

Required books are available at the Brown Bookstore and on reserve at the library. Additional photocopies of articles and online sources will be made available. Films will be shown weekly.

Required:

Eric Barnouw Tube of Plenty: A History of Television
Guy Debord Society of the Spectacle
Ronald Deibert Parchment, Printing and Hypermedia
James Der Derian Virtuous War (and hand-outs)
P. Gourevitch and E. Morris Standard Operating Procedure (April)
Phillip Knightley The First Casualty
Robert McChesney, et al The Future of Media
Susan Sontag Regarding the Pain of Others
Peter Steven Global Media
Paul Virilio War and Cinema
Cynthia Weber International Relations Theory: Critical Introduction

Recommended:

Eric Barnouw Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film
Roland Barthes Camera Lucida and 'Writers, Intellectual, Teachers'
Benedict Anderson Imagined Communities
Kristina Borjesson Feet to the Fire: The Media After 9/11
Hedley Bull Anarchical Society
Scott Burchill et al Theories of International Relations
J. Derrida and J. Habermas Philosophy in a Time of Terror
A. Galloway and E. Thacker The Exploit
David Goldsmith The Documentary Makers
Stephanie Hemelryk The Penguin Atlas of Media and Information
Barry Hampe Making Documentary Films and Reality Videos
Werner Herzog Herzog on Herzog
Thomas Keenan Fables of Responsibility
Thomas Levin CTRL[SPACE]: Rhetorics of Surveillance
Marc Lynch Voices of the New Arab Public
Friedrich Kittler Literature, Media, Information Systems
Marshall McLuhan War and Peace in the Global Village
Hardt and Negri Empire
Michael Massing Now They Tell Us: The American Press and Iraq
Larry Minear et al The News Media, Civil War, Humanitarian Action
John Merrill Global Journalism, Fourth Edition
Hugh Miles Al-Jazeera: The Inside Story
Lisa Parks Cultures in Orbit: Satellites and the Televisual
Jacques Ranciere Film Fables
Anya Schiffrin et al Covering Globalization
Philip Seib Beyond the Front Lines
Liz Stubbs Documentary Filmmakers Speak
Paul Starr The Creation of the Media
Paul Virilio Paul Virilio Reader
Evelyn Waugh Scoop
Gabriel Weimann Terror on the Internet
Lawrence Wright The Looming Tower
Thomas de Zengotita Mediated
J. Zulaika and W. Douglas Terror and Taboo

Screenings (others to be added, based on student recommendations)

James Der Derian et al After 9/11 and The Culture of War
Charles Ferguson No End in Sight
Gary Hustwit Helvetica
Eugene Jarecki Why We Fight
Sandra Kogut Mutum
Barry Levinson Wag the Dog
Chris Marker A Grin without a Cat
Errol Morris S.O.P.
Brian Palmer Full Disclosure: A Reporter's Journey Toward Truth
David O. Russell Three Kings
Sydney Pollack Three Days of the Condor
John Phillip Santos Late City
Deborah Scranton The War Tapes
Morgan Spurlock Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

Course Topics and Schedule

1 Introduction to Global Media (January 23)

'Writers, Intellectuals, Teachers' (Handout)
Entry screening and blogging assignment

2 Classical and Critical Theories of War and Peace (January 30)

International Relations Theory Chapters 1-4

Theories of International Relations Chapters 2-4
Anarchical Society

Film: The 300

3 GlobalMediaLab 1: Multimedia Workshop (February 6)

Global Media

Documentary Filmmakers Speak
Documentary Makers

Film: VY2K and After 9/11
Guests: David and Michael Udris, Amedia Productions

VBlog:
Thematic Essay:
Lit. Review:
Film Review:

4 History of War and Media (February 13)

International Relations Theory Chapters 5-9
The First Casualty Chapters 1-13

Imagined Communities
Scoop

Film: Wag the Dog

Thematic Essay:
Lit. Review:
Film Review: Julia Hellman

5 GlobalMediaLab 2 Print and Press (February 20)

Parchment, Printing and Hypermedia Part 1

The Creation of the Media Part 1
War and Peace in the Global Village

Film: Helvetica

VBlog: Megan Billman, Megan Goetsch, Michael Schub
Thematic Essay: Will van Lancker
Lit. Review: Megan Loucks
Film Review: Maria Mahler-Haug

6 Cold War Media: Spies, Speed, & Terror: (February 27)

'The (S)pace of International Relations: Simulation, Surveillance and Speed'

Empire
War and Peace in the Global Village

Film: Three Days of the Condor

Thematic Essay: Alan Johnson
Lit. Review: Veronica Cortez
Film Review: Albert Huber

7 GlobalMediaLab 3 Photography and Cinema (March 5)

War and Cinema

Camera Lucida
Herzog on Herzog

Film: Mutum

VBlog: Ben Mishkin, William Leader, Julia Hellman
Thematic Essay: Kathleen Fleming, Amy Tan
Lit. Review: Alejandra Piers-Torres, Sarah Kay (CL)
Film Review: Rosalinda Pascual

8 Critical Theories/Practices of Media (March 12)

Parchment, Printing and Hypermedia Part 2
Society of the Spectacle

Theories of International Relations Chapters 5-10
CTRL[SPACE]: Rhetorics of Surveillance

Film: Grin without a Cat

Thematic Essay: Megan Goetsch
Lit. Review: Alan Johnson
Film Review: Meaghan Casey

9 GlobalMediaLab 4 Radio and Television (March 19)

The First Casualty Chapters 14-18
Tube of Plenty

http://www.radioopensource.org
The Penguin Atlas of Media and Information

Film: The Truman Show

VBlog: Rosalinda Pascual, Anne Krapu
Thematic Essay: Michael Schub
Lit. Review: Joe Braidwood (TP), Marielle Segarra (FC)
Film Review: Marie-Claude Hamel

10 The Gulf War and the CNN-Effect (April 2)

The First Casualty Chapter 19-20
Virtuous War Chapters 1-4

The News Media, Civil War, Humanitarian Action
Fables of Responsibility

Film: Three Kings

VBlog: Julia Stern, Amy Tan, Michael Dupuis, Chantal Berman, Kathleen Fleming
Thematic Essay: Josh Sargent
Lit. Review: Megan Goetsch (VW), William Leader (VW), Michael Schub (FC)
Film Review: Will van Lancker

11 GlobalMediaLab 5 Satellite and Video (April 9)

Virtuous War Chapters 5-9

Cultures in Orbit: Satellites and the Televisual
Literature, Media, Information Systems

VBlog: Joe Braidwood, Emma Clippinger, Megan Loucks
Thematic Essay: Megan Billman
Lit. Review: Josh Sargent
Film Review: Ben Mishkin

12 9/11, Iraq and the Al Jazeera-Effect: (April 16)

The First Casualty Chapter 21
Regarding the Pain of Others

Philosophy in a Time of Terror
Voices of the New Arab Public

Film: Full Disclosure: A Reporter's Journey Toward Truth

VBlog: Albert Huber, Maria Mahler-Haug, Alan Johnson, Josh Sargent
Thematic Essay: Veronica Cortez
Lit. Review: Amy Tan (RPO), Julia Stern (FC)
Film Review: Chantal Berman

13 GlobalMediaLab 6 Convergence (April 23)

Standard Operating Procedure
http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/

Mediated
Now They Tell Us

VBlog: Jessica Kerry, Marielle Segarra, Meaghan Casey, Alejandra Piers-Torres
Thematic Essay: Julia Hellman
Lit. Review: Michael Dupuis, Emma Clippinger, Anne Krapu
Film Review: Megan Billman

14 The 'YouTube-Effect': Making Media in the Terror Dome (April 30)

The Future of Media
Handouts

Feet to the Fire: The Media After 9/11
The Exploit

VBlog: Marie-Claude Hamel
Thematic Essay: Chantal Berman
Lit. Review: Jessica Kerry
Film Review: Megan Loucks

GlobalMediaForum(May 14)