Course Syllabus

Course Information：

Year-Semester Course Number Course Name Phase Credits Hours Required/Elective Instructor Class Student NO. Withdraw Note

Fall Semester
Year 2025 357784 Media and Society 1 2.0 2 △ Hsin-Ju Yang Courses for International Students
4IDI2 30 0 Liberal Education

Year-Semester	Course Number	Course Name	Phase	Credits	Hours	Required/Elective	Instructor	Class	Student NO.	Withdraw	Note
Fall Semester Year 2025	357784	Media and Society	1	2.0	2	△	Hsin-Ju Yang	Courses for International Students 4IDI2	30	0	Liberal Education

Course Plan：

Instructor Hsin-Ju Yang

Email yanghsins@gmail.com

Last Updated 2025-11-02 09:59:15

Course Objective This course aims to explore how media influence our lives, culture, and social structures, while guiding students to reflect on their own roles within the media environment. The course is divided into four major sections, moving from the external to the internal dimensions of media—beginning with media consumption, then moving through media texts, and finally media production—to gradually build an understanding of how media operate. We will start by examining the role of the audience: how individuals consume, engage with, or even resist media. Next, we will analyze media texts—including, but not limited to, television, film, advertising, and magazines—to investigate how they “represent” (or distort) different aspects of our lives. We will then turn to the operations of media industries, considering how underlying economic and political structures shape media content. Finally, the course will extend to today’s new media landscape, focusing on the transformations and challenges brought about in the digital age. By integrating theory with case studies, this course encourages students to critically view, analyze, and engage with contemporary media culture, cultivating both media sensitivity and media literacy.

Course Schedule - **Week 1. Course Introduction:** Media and Everyday Life; Media Production, Products, and Consumption. **Part I. Media Consumption: Audience or Agent** - Week 2. The Audience: Couch Potatoes or Active Viewers - Week 3. Participatory Culture in the Internet Age - Week 4. Holiday - Week 5. Holiday - Week 6. Social media not only for social - Week 7. Algorithm and filter world: Who Gets Promoted? Who Gets Canceled ? **Part II. Media Products: Texts and Culture** - Week 8.Representation: Encoding and Decoding - Week 9. Representation: Objective Reality vs. Media Reality - Week 10.Film, Television and Advertising: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class - Week 11. News and the Fourth Estate: Gatekeeping and Fake News **Part III. Media Production: Media Industries and Economic Structures** - Week 12. The Economic Features of Media: The Dual Product Market and Product Placement - Week 13. The Political Economy of Communication: Who Owns the Media? - Week 14. Alternative of Production: Public Media **Part IV. New Media and Governance ** - Week 15. Media Governance : Digital Empire - Week 16. Returning to Consumption: From Audience to User - Week 17. Final Presentations - Week 18. Final Presentations

Evaluation and grading policy Attendance and Participation (30%) - Attendance will be taken weekly as part of the grade over 3 absents. (Zuvio) - Active participation in class discussions will be rewarded with extra credit. Midterm essay *4 (20%) - Provide a summary and your critical comments on each major topic. (100-300 words) Final Presentation (30%) - Observe the media environment around you, and analyze a current media phenomenon which touches you the most. - The project should include description, theoretical analysis, interpretation, and critical reflection. Include your observation on Taiwan’s media landscape. (5-8M) Final Paper (20%) - Convert the presentation into a text and image version in outline mode, within 1,000 words.

Materials All right reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Foreign-language textbooks:No
Reference: Hodkinson, P. (2024). Media, culture and society: An introduction (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications. McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. McGraw-Hill. Williams, R. (1974). Television: Technology and cultural form. Fontana. Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. Viking Penguin. Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York University Press. Macdonald, H. (2018). Truth: How the many sides to every story shape our reality. Little, Brown Spark.

The access to curricular consultation Line Group

Expanding teaching and resources

The course corresponds to the SDGs SDG4：優質教育（Quality Education）
SDG5：性別平等（Gender Equality）
SDG10：減少不平等（Reduced Inequalities）
SDG12：負責任的消費與生產（Responsible Consumption and Production）
SDG16：和平正義與有力的制度（Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions）

Does the course incorporate AI ● 鼓勵學生使用生成式AI工具（Encourage students to use generative AI tools）

Note
　

Instructor	Hsin-Ju Yang
Email	yanghsins@gmail.com
Last Updated	2025-11-02 09:59:15
Course Objective	This course aims to explore how media influence our lives, culture, and social structures, while guiding students to reflect on their own roles within the media environment. The course is divided into four major sections, moving from the external to the internal dimensions of media—beginning with media consumption, then moving through media texts, and finally media production—to gradually build an understanding of how media operate. We will start by examining the role of the audience: how individuals consume, engage with, or even resist media. Next, we will analyze media texts—including, but not limited to, television, film, advertising, and magazines—to investigate how they “represent” (or distort) different aspects of our lives. We will then turn to the operations of media industries, considering how underlying economic and political structures shape media content. Finally, the course will extend to today’s new media landscape, focusing on the transformations and challenges brought about in the digital age. By integrating theory with case studies, this course encourages students to critically view, analyze, and engage with contemporary media culture, cultivating both media sensitivity and media literacy.
Course Schedule	- Week 1. Course Introduction: Media and Everyday Life; Media Production, Products, and Consumption. Part I. Media Consumption: Audience or Agent - Week 2. The Audience: Couch Potatoes or Active Viewers - Week 3. Participatory Culture in the Internet Age - Week 4. Holiday - Week 5. Holiday - Week 6. Social media not only for social - Week 7. Algorithm and filter world: Who Gets Promoted? Who Gets Canceled ? Part II. Media Products: Texts and Culture - Week 8.Representation: Encoding and Decoding - Week 9. Representation: Objective Reality vs. Media Reality - Week 10.Film, Television and Advertising: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class - Week 11. News and the Fourth Estate: Gatekeeping and Fake News Part III. Media Production: Media Industries and Economic Structures - Week 12. The Economic Features of Media: The Dual Product Market and Product Placement - Week 13. The Political Economy of Communication: Who Owns the Media? - Week 14. Alternative of Production: Public Media Part IV. New Media and Governance - Week 15. Media Governance : Digital Empire - Week 16. Returning to Consumption: From Audience to User - Week 17. Final Presentations - Week 18. Final Presentations
Evaluation and grading policy	Attendance and Participation (30%) - Attendance will be taken weekly as part of the grade over 3 absents. (Zuvio) - Active participation in class discussions will be rewarded with extra credit. Midterm essay *4 (20%) - Provide a summary and your critical comments on each major topic. (100-300 words) Final Presentation (30%) - Observe the media environment around you, and analyze a current media phenomenon which touches you the most. - The project should include description, theoretical analysis, interpretation, and critical reflection. Include your observation on Taiwan’s media landscape. (5-8M) Final Paper (20%) - Convert the presentation into a text and image version in outline mode, within 1,000 words.
Materials	All right reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Foreign-language textbooks:No Reference: Hodkinson, P. (2024). Media, culture and society: An introduction (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications. McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. McGraw-Hill. Williams, R. (1974). Television: Technology and cultural form. Fontana. Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. Viking Penguin. Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York University Press. Macdonald, H. (2018). Truth: How the many sides to every story shape our reality. Little, Brown Spark.
The access to curricular consultation	Line Group
Expanding teaching and resources
The course corresponds to the SDGs	SDG4：優質教育（Quality Education） SDG5：性別平等（Gender Equality） SDG10：減少不平等（Reduced Inequalities） SDG12：負責任的消費與生產（Responsible Consumption and Production） SDG16：和平正義與有力的制度（Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions）
Does the course incorporate AI	● 鼓勵學生使用生成式AI工具（Encourage students to use generative AI tools）
Note