About This Course
Course Description
The course seeks to introduce students to the concept of cultural and social diversity and analyze the role that media/journalists can play in the social construction, representation and understanding of difference and diversity. It focuses on issues of migration, race and ethnicity, faith and religion, gender, sexuality, age and disability and the way these issues are portrayed by traditional and new media. It also equips the students with practical skills that will enable them to produce a media product (a blog) on a topic related to social and cultural diversity.
Course Objectives
- Analyze the concept of cultural and social diversity.
- Approach issues of migration, race and ethnicity, faith and religion, gender, sexuality, age and disability.
- Examine the role that media/journalists can play in the social construction and representation of diversity.
- Equip the students with practical skills that will enable them to produce a media product (a blog) on a topic related to social and cultural diversity.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Define the core concepts of cultural and social diversity
- Critically understand the social and media structures and journalistic practices that impact upon issues of diversity
- Understand how media/journalism can contribute to combat negative stereotypes
- Offer alternative approaches to negative stereotypes through reporting
- Acquire the practical skills to engage in responsible media coverage of diversity.
Class/Learning activities
Lectures, workshops, in-class presentations, literature study, written assignments.
Workload
| Type of work | Description | Hours |
| Lectures | Thirteen 3-hours lectures | 39 |
| Independent study | Study of compulsory and optional literature | 61 |
| Research | Online research | 30 |
| Workshops | Exercises in the classroom | 50 |
| Written assignments-Presentations |
Written assignments a. five short assignments (500 words) b. essay (1.500-2000 words) c. in-class presentations |
120 |
| Total workload | 300 | |
Assessment
| Type of assessment | Learning outcome | Impact on final grade | Date of assessment |
| Participation in group work and discussion | 1-2 | 20% | Regularly |
| Presentation of group work | 1-2, 5 | 20% | 13th week |
| Written assignments (short) | 3-4 | 30% | 4th-13th week |
| Written assignment (essay) | 1-5 | 30% | -13th week |
Required Reading
Bibliography
- Aldrich, Leigh Stephens. Covering the Community: A Diversity Handbook for Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1999.
- Biagi, Shirley and Marilyn Kern-Foxworth. Facing Difference: Race, Gender, and Mass Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1997.
- Bradley, Patricia and Gail Collins. Women and the Press: the Struggle for Equality. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2005.
- Broussard, Jinx Coleman. Giving a Voice to the Voiceless: Four Pioneering Black Women Journalists. New York: Routledge, 2004.
- Cropp, Fritz, Cynthia M. Frisby and Dean Mills. Journalism Across Cultures. Ames: Iowa States Press, 2003.
- Dijk, Teun Adrianus Van. Racism and the Press. New York: Routledge, 1991.
- Gutierrez, Felix, Clint Wilson and Lena Chao. Racism, Sexism, and the Media: The Rise of Class Communication in Multicultural America. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003.
- Keever, Bevery Ann Deepe, et al., eds. U.S. News Coverage of Racial Minorities. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
- Morgan, Arlene Notoro, Keith Woods and Alice Irene Pifer. The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.
- Roberts, Gene and Hank Klibanoff. The Race Beat: the Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation. New York: Knopf, 2006.
- Toth, Elizabeth L. and Linda Aldorry, eds. The Gender Challenge to Media: Diverse Voices from the Field. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2001.
- Van Dijk, Teun A. Racism and the Press. New York: Routledge, 1991.