106-012 Television Cultures

Formerly available as 106-207/307. Students who have completed 106-207 or 106-307 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

50 points of first-year arts including at least 25 points from a specified list of subject areas, see Prerequisites.

Television is central to contemporary culture. It saturates our everyday lives and plays a vital role in the construction and circulation of our social realities. This subject aims to encourage students to think seriously and critically about television and its place in contemporary culture. In particular, it offers an introduction to and grounding in the theoretical traditions and methodologies of television studies. The subject enables students to understand television as a dynamic and complex cultural form that is articulated and experienced across a range of social, historical and textual discourses. Topics addressed in the subject include the cultural invention of TV; TV textuality; TV audiences; TV in local/national/global contexts; and TV and social reproduction.