Film & Television Studies: History of Television

Introduction to basic television history, theory and analysis. An historical overview of television from its invention to the present.

Asynchronous online

The class will study the history of television from its origins in radio broadcasting to the latest transformations in digital television. We will focus on television as a communications and cultural medium by analyzing the structure of the television industry, television’s role within American society, and television as a site of cultural production. The class will also consider fundamental theoretical issues in television studies. The primary objective of this class is to provide the basic analytic skills necessary to use television history as a way to understand America’s social and cultural history and identity. At the end of this course, you should be able to… • Describe and analyze how television shapes, and is shaped by, American culture at key historical moments • Learn the terminology and skills necessary to analyze television technology, industry, formal representations and texts, and audiences and their receptions in their historical contexts • Learn foundational concepts in television and how to apply those concepts to specific examples • Connect broadcasting history to contemporary media • Analyze how social and cultural identity (e.g. gender, race, class, sexuality) are implicated in television historically and how those histories implicate contemporary television • Explore the dominant methodological approaches utilized in the study of television and television history This course fulfills the Catamount Core Arts & Literature (AH1) requirement, including the following objectives: • Learn to recognize selected forms, genres, and traditions of artistic work • Practice the creation of artistic works and/or the analysis of creative works, in each case using methods appropriate to the form • Develop critical thinking skills needed to examine artistic works as they relate to social formations, practices, and/or problems

Assignment Percentage of Final Grade Yellowdig Discussion Prompt Responses 15% Activities 20% Exam 35% Screening Notes 10% Creative Project—Reboot Pitch --Proposal and storyboard (10%) --First Draft (5%) --Peer Review (5%) --Project (80%) 20%