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Course21L.4326 lectures6 h 7 min

Understanding Television

Prof. David Thorburn · Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Start with lecture 1 At MIT OpenCourseWare

About

The subtitle of this course for the spring 2003 term is “American Television: A Cultural History.” The class takes a cultural approach to television’s evolution as a technology and system of representation, considering television as a system of storytelling and myth-making, and as a cultural practice, studied from anthropological, literary, and cinematic perspectives. The course focuses on prime-time commercial broadcasting, the medium’s technological and economic history, and theoretical perspectives. There is much required viewing as well as readings in media theory and cultural interpretation.

Lectures

Video

  1. Class 1: Introduction: Television and Cultural Study 1 h 7 min · Video
  2. Class 3: Television As A Cultural Form 46 min · Video
  3. Class 5: The Broadcast Era 1 h 12 min · Video
  4. Class 10: TV Genres 48 min · Video
  5. Class 16: TV Genres 1 h 11 min · Video
  6. Class 18: TV Genres 1 h 4 min · Video

Syllabus and materials

At MIT OpenCourseWare, as the course publishes them.

Credits and licence

Institution
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department
Literature
Teacher
Prof. David Thorburn
Term
Spring 2003
Level
Undergraduate
Language
English
Subjects
Society and politics, Literature and writing, Art, architecture and design
Source
MIT OpenCourseWare
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, as MIT OpenCourseWare states it. Non-commercial use only. MIT OpenCourseWare's terms
Attribution
Prof. David Thorburn. Understanding Television. Spring 2003. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu/. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.
Who can watch
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