Communication Studies Research Seminar (394-0-21)
Topic
Reshaping the World Through Stories: Entertainment
Instructors
John Jennings Brooks
Meeting Info
Frances Searle Building 3417: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
The potency of a good story has been understood since long before there was empirical evidence to support this contention: storytelling is a convention shared across cultures, borders, and seemingly throughout human history. Stories function as microcosms of human existence, conveying understanding of something yet-to-be-experienced by the listener. Much like how children learn from observing their parents, our capacity for imagination can help us to learn from the experiences characters in a story. In this course, we will investigate the mechanisms that give narratives such power through an exploration of the history, research, and practice of storytelling to enact change—also known as entertainment-education (E-E). Using the course material as a launching point, students will develop an original research proposal for an E-E intervention to address a social issue of their choice. This project will evidence your capacity to reflect on your values and select a topic of personal significance, conduct independent research, and produce a thoughtful argument for how you might use storytelling to effect change in the world. During the course, our exploration of entertainment-education will begin with its historical and theoretical origins before turning to real-world illustrations of how it is developed and implemented. We will next take a global perspective, investigating how questions of location, culture, and population influence the design of interventions, before examining the unique ways in which the US media environment can facilitate (or hinder) the implementation of E-E. Additionally, as a junior writing seminar, this course should help you cultivate strong research and writing abilities. To that end, our discussions of content will be paired with scholarly activities designed to improve one's ability to reflect on one's writing, provide and receive feedback, conduct independent research, and synthesize ideas from varied sources, among others. These exercises should not only help you to develop scholarly skills, but build rapport with your fellow students and confidence in your ability to express your thoughts in writing. In sum, this course will help you to think cogently about your priorities as a global citizen and develop skills that will set you up for future success.
Class Attributes
Department Majors Only
Juniors Only
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Communication Studies Juniors and Seniors.