Culture Industries (330-0-20)

Instructors

Jacob Smith

Meeting Info

Louis Hall 119: Mon, Wed 1:00PM - 2:20PM

Overview of class

We tend to think of creative works in aesthetic or artistic terms: the way they tell us stories, present us with larger-than-life performers, fill our daily lives with music, or inform us about the world. However, the films, television shows, videogames, and popular recordings that we enjoy are produced, distributed, and marketed using the techniques and strategies of modern industry: that is, show business is just as much about the business as it is the show. This combination of art and industry has long sparked debate about the status of the culture or creative industries, and the ways in which they intermingle art and commerce. What is distinctive about the creative industries as industries? What makes an "authentic" expression within this context? Where does the creativity lie in the complex and collaborative productions of the creative industries? What role do advertising and market research play in shaping creative products? To what degree can audiences take an active role in their experience of creative works? How have technological or regulatory developments influenced the way in which creative products are produced, distributed and consumed? What is the culture of labor in the creative industries, and how can it be made to be more diverse and inclusive? How can media texts be made so that they cross cultural or national boundaries?

This course will address these and other questions through an engagement with scholarship on a range of media industries including film, television, popular music, radio and podcasting, advertising, animation, and digital gaming. The course is designed to provide a historical and theoretical introduction to media industries and to allow students to apply that knowledge to a range of industrial contexts.

Our investigation will highlight several business-oriented career paths that RTVF majors might follow after graduation and will be enriched by conversations with Northwestern alums currently working in those areas.

Class Materials (Required)

Required book: Amanda Lotz and Timothy Havens, Media Industries in the Digital Age (2025)

Class Attributes

SoC Humanities and Fine Arts Distro
SoC Individual and Social Behavior Distro