COMM 2240U – Television

Television is one of the world’s defining contemporary media. Far from being outmoded by the Internet and digital media, television, as an industry, technology, art form, means of storytelling, and cultural practice, remains as significant today as ever, but it has been transformed in fundamental ways. This course explores the origins, industries, policies, uses, technologies, genres, social implications and cultural impacts of television in a time of change wrought by new ways of producing, exhibiting and watching TV, from (OTT) streamers to tablets and smartphones. Students also learn key approaches in Television Studies, such as political economy, narrative theory, genre theory, feminist criticism, critical race studies, and digital media studies, and use these to understand television’s past, present, and future.