M: Noon to Two, MW 140 Professor: TA: Clayton Childress Diana Miller [email protected] diana.miller@utoronto.

ca Office Hours: Wed 1-2 PM Location TBA

Why is it so hard to figure out how much something costs in an art gallery? How is Katy Perry so famous if shes just an okay singer? Why are the U.S. and Canadian book publishing industries so similar? If your movie is titled Rumble in the Bronx, why in the world would you film it in Vancouver? Is the music industry really dead? This is a course about the creation, production, and distribution of media. While youre probably familiar with analyzing and evaluating media content as texts (e.g. was that a good book? Was this movie better or worse than that movie?), in this course we will be focusing on the contexts (i.e. the social, cultural, and economic relations) in which mediated texts are created distributed. Your active and full participation is expected and required.

SOCC44H3: Media & Society

Required Texts * All required readings are available on our course Blackboard page. * Every week before class listen to the most recent episode of The Business, a 30 minute weekly podcast on the entertainment industry from the public radio station KCRW in Los Angeles. New episodes are uploaded on Mondays, meaning well be one week behind. Weekly episodes can be streamed or downloaded here: http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb Goals and Objectives *Students will be able to display comprehension of the intersection of the sociology of culture, economic sociology, and organizational sociology as they relate to the creation and production of culture. *Students will be able to apply theories from these subfields to real-world settings and examples. *Students will leave the course with an analytic tool-kit for studying creative industries and their related markets. Student Expectations Students will attend all scheduled meetings on time and prepared. Students will not falsify illness or injury to themselves, family, or friends if attendance is missed. Students will complete the readings assigned before class and to a level in which they would feel comfortable leading a group discussion. Students will not skip the reading, skim the reading, or give up on the reading if they find it initially confusing. Students will respect each other, and our collaborative learning environment in the course. Students will not plagiarize.

Assignments and Grade Breakdown: Class Attendance and Participation: You are expected to be in class every day and be an active and vocal member of our community. You need to be here to participate, and you need to be prepared to participate well. Attendance will be taken at either the start or end of class each day.

Reading Quizzes: Over the term there will be five surprise reading quizzes. These will consist of two to three short

questions. Quiz questions may be about the readings or the The Business podcast. Be prepared. We will be dropping your lowest quiz score.

Mid-Term Exam: This will be a mix of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer questions. Some will involve
definitions and others will involve paragraph-style answers that ask you to demonstrate understanding of the material. We will spend time preparing for the exam in class, and well go over sample questions along the way to make sure you understand its format.

Final Exam: The final exam will have a similar format to the mid-term. We will spend time during our last lecture
preparing for the final exam. You must bring your University of Toronto student ID card to all tests and to the final exam. You must take the test in the section in which you are registered! Final grades will be broken down into the following categories: Class Attendance and Participation Reading Quizzes Midterm Exam Final Exam Total 15% 15% 30% 40% 100%

University of Toronto: What Grades Mean All grading in this course abides by the University of Torontos grading policy found at: http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/general/grading-policy Grade Letter Point Percentage Grade Value Grade Definition 90-100 85-89 80-84 77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62 57-59 53-56 50-52 0-49 A+ A AB+ B BC+ C CD+ D DF 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.3 3.0 2.7 2.3 2.0 1.7 1.3 1.0 0.7 0.0 Inadequate Little evidence of even superficial understanding of subject matter; weakness in critical and analytic skills; limited or irrelevant use of literature. Marginal Adequate Good Excellent Strong evidence of original thinking; good organization; capacity to analyze and synthesize; superior grasp of subject matter with sound critical evaluations; evidence of extensive knowledge base. Evidence of grasp of subject matter, some evidence of critical capacity and analytic ability; reasonable understanding of relevant issues; evidence of familiarity with literature Student who is profiting from the university experience; understanding of the subject matter and ability to develop solutions to simple problems in the material. Some evidence of familiarity with the subject matter and some evidence that critical and analytic skills have been developed.

Late Work Policy If you miss a reading quiz you will get a zero score for that days quiz. Your lowest reading quiz score is dropped. If you miss the midterm or final and have to take it at a later date your score will automatically be dropped one letter grade. Assorted Policies having to do with Email Email Diana Miller at diana.miller.utoronto.ca with questions about the course. Questions that are answered in the syllabus should not be asked over email. Make sure your question is not answered in the syllabus. Substantive questions about the course material will not be answered over email. Emails will be responded to within 48 hours. If your question has not been responded to in 48 hours, please forward it to me after that period. Do not expect a response outside of normal business hours (e.g. a question emailed on Friday night will be responded to by the end of the working day on Tuesday). Cellphones and Laptops in Class Assuming you get eight hours of sleep per night, you are spending less than 2% of the time you spend awake each week in this class. Really be here for it. Multi-tasking or not being an active participant will negatively affect your final grade. What Participation Means Participation can be either positive or negative. Being attentive, engaged, and asking and answering questions about the course material are examples of positive participation. If you're not comfortable speaking in front of the class, I encourage you to use this space to practice, but I also accept that this may be an issue for you. If so, make sure youre engaging in the other forms of positive participation, and not engaging in any forms of negative participation. Negative participation includes zoning out, coming late, leaving early, not paying attention, sleeping, or distracting other students. If you are participating negatively and I or someone else finds it distracting, Ill politely ask you to leave, and I strongly suggest you do so. Simply put, if youre too tired or not ready to learn Id rather you not come to class than sleep through it or distract other students. Feedback on our Course I value and seek your feedback on our course. To that end, I will distribute a mid-term evaluation near the halfway point of the course to hear from you anonymously. This assists me in making any necessary adjustments in my teaching practice for the rest of our time together. Possible Changes to the Syllabus Every class is a bit different. As a result unforeseen problems may emerge and we may have to make adjustments to the syllabus as we go. Over the term the syllabus may change. Make sure you are staying up to date on our Blackboard site. Academic Integrity The University of Toronto is committed to academic integrity and academic dishonesty will be penalized. All of your assignments should be your own work that has not been submitted to any other class. In addition, you should cite using any appropriate citation styleany information or idea that you obtain from any source. For further citation information see: Using Quotations (University College Writing Centre): http://www.utoronto.ca/ucwriting/quotations.html Citation Guide (UTSC Writing Centre): http://ctl.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/citations For a full description of U of Ts academic integrity definitions and procedures see: http://www.utoronto.ca/academicintegrity/academicoffenses.html Academic Services at UTSC I encourage students to make good use of the academic resources available on campus. For instance, the Writing Centre provides online and individual support for getting started, writing, research, reading, revising, citation guidelines, and English language development. You can view there services here: http://ctl.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/. Check for writing workshops, clinics, drop-in hours, individual appointments, and online help. And did you know there is a Sociology librarian at UTSC? Everyone is encouraged to contact Sarah Fedko for research help. [email protected]

AccessAbility Services Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you have a disability/health consideration that may require accommodations, please approach Access Ability Services as soon as possible and keep me in the know about how this develops. AccessAbility Services staff (located in Rm SW302, Science Wing) are available by appointment to assess specific needs, provide referrals and arrange appropriate accommodations at 416-287-7560 416 or email [email protected]. The sooner you let them know your needs, the quicker you can obtain help in achieving your learning goals in this course. The AccessAbility website is http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~ability/.

COURSE OUTLINE & READING ASSIGNMENTS

Date

Topics

Reading/Listening Assignments Come to class with assigned readings & viewings complete each day
An introduction to the issues and theoretical approaches well be engaging with during the term. 1) Corse, Sarah M. 1995 Nations and Novels: Cultural Politics and Literary Use. Social Forces 73(4):1279-1308 2) Greenberg, Steve. 2012. Michael Jacksons Thriller at 30: How One Album Changed the World Billboard.com, Nov. 12. 3) The Business podcast, 9/9 episode. 1) Bielby, William T. and Denise D. Bielby. 1994. All Hits Are Flukes: Institutionalized Decision Making and the Rhetoric of Network Prime-Time Program Development." American Journal of Sociology, 99(5):1287-1313. 2) Bunting, Glenn F. 2007. $78 Million of Red Ink? April 15, 2007, The Los Angeles Times. 3) The Business podcast, 16/9 episode. 1) Starkman, Dean. 2011. Confidence Game: The Limited Vision of the New Gurus. Columbia Journalism Review. November 8, 2011. 2) Lowery, David. Meet the New Boss, Worse than the Old Boss? Thetrichordist.com. April 15, 2012. 3) Timberg. Scott. The Creative Class is a Lie Salon.com, Oct. 1, 2011. 4)Listen to the February 24, 2013 episode of The Business, VFX Industry in Trouble; Won an OscarNow What?, available here: http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb/tb130225vfx_industry_in_trou 1) Becker, Howard S. 1974. Art as Collective Action. American Sociological Review 39(6): 767776. 2) Matson, Andrew. This Beat's For You: The Making Of Drake's 'Furthest Thing' NPRs The Record. Oct. 2, 2013. 3) The Business podcast, 30/9 episode. 1) Hesmondhalgh, D., & Baker, S. 2010. A very complicated version of freedom: Conditions and experiences of creative labour in three cultural industries. Poetics, 38(1), 4-20. 2) Palone, Gavin. 2012. The Unglamorous, Punishing Hours of Working on a Hollywood Set. May 23, 2012. Vulture.com 3) Listen to the April 15, 2013 episode of The Business, How to Fund a Gritty Indie Film; The Hollywood Power Lunch, available here: http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb/tb130415how_to_fund_a_gritty Review for Midterm, In-Class Film Screening, Midterm Time TBA

Day 1 Welcome to the course 9/9 Day 2 The Commerce 16/9 of Art, The Art
of Commerce

Day 3 What To Do 23/9 When Nobody

Knows Anything

Day 4 The Ups and 30/9 Downs (and

Down, and Downs, and Downs) of Being An Artist

Day 5 A Birds-Eye 7/10 View: Creative

Work and The Cultural Economy Day 6 A Worms-Eye 21/10 View: Creative Work and The Cultural Economy

Day 7 Taking Stock 28/10

Day 8 Judges & Juries: 1) Anand, N, and Brittany C. Jones. 2008. Tournament Rituals, Category Dynamics, and Field Configuration: The Case of the Booker Prize. Journal of 4/11 The Role of
Critics and Prizes

Day 9 Collecting $200 11/11 & Passing Go:

Monopolies, Cartels, and Conglomeration Day 10 Mass Producing 18/11 Authenticity?

Day 11 Pricing the 25/11 Priceless

Day 12 Why Nobody 2/12 Knows

Anything, And Other Intractable Problems For Which We Can Be Thankful

Management Studies 45(6): 10361060. 2) Shaw, David. He Sips and Spits and the World Listens. The Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1999. 3) The Business podcast, 28/10 episode. 1) Selections from Rossman, Gabriel. 2012. Climbing The Charts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2) Palone, Gavin. The False Circular Logic Behind Hollywoods Resistance to Black Entertainment. Vulture.com. February 22, 2012. 3) The Business podcast, 4/11 episode. 1) Selection from Peterson, Richard A. 1999. Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 2) The Business podcast, 11/11 episode 1) Mears, Ashley. 2011. Pricing Looks: Circuits of Value in Fashion Modeling Markets, in Aspers & Beckerts The Worth of Goods: Oxford University Press. 2) Thompson, Derek. Why Do All Movie Tickets Cost the Same? The Atlantic Magazine. January 3, 2012. 3) Instead of The Business this week, listen to NPRs Planet Money episode Kid Rock Takes on the Scalpers at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/06/27/196277836/kid-rock-takeson the-scalpers 1) Salganik, Matthew J, and Duncan J Watts. 2008. Leading the Herd Astray: An Experimental Study of Self-fulfilling Prophecies in an Artificial Cultural Market. Social Psychology Quarterly 71(4): 338-355. 2) Watts, Duncan J. 2007. Is Justin Timberlake a Product of Cumulative Advantage? The New York Times Magazine. April 15, 2007. 3) The Business podcast, 25/11 episode

FINAL EXAM DURING FINALS WEEK, TBA