36:064 Media, Advertising and Society

Prerequisite: 36:001

Description

As a criticism course, this class teaches students how to analyze media advertising. The course introduces students to a range of critical approaches to advertising, including historical analysis, institutional analysis, semiotic analysis, rhetorical analysis and content analysis. Students will examine critical studies of advertising and apply critical methods of analysis to primary advertising texts.

Objectives

At the end of the semester, students should be able to do the following:

• Understand the concepts and vocabulary used in the critical analysis of advertising
• Identify and discriminate between different types of critical approaches to advertising
• Apply a range of critical methods to the interpretation of advertising texts

Possible Texts

Dyer, G Advertising as Communication (1996)

Jhally, S The Codes of Advertising(1990)

Jones, John Phillip International Advertising (2000)

Myers, G Adworlds(2000)

Nava, M et al, Buy This Book (1998)

Schudson, M Advertising: The Uneasy Persuasion (1984)

Manca, L & A Ed. Gender & utopia in advertising: a critical reader (1994)

Assignments

• Exams to test for concepts, vocabulary and discrimination between approaches
• Small group criticism projects
• advertising bibliography and article analysis
• Final advertising criticism project

Workload

45 pages of textbook reading per week; outside reading for advertising criticism projects

Other resources:

Advertising Resources compiled by Karla Tonella http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/resources/advertising.html

The ScreenSite Syllabus Collection: http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite/teach/syl/#misc

E-Mail the Department of Communication Studies: commstudies-inquiry@uiowa.edu - Page updated March 29, 2006
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