Assignment Sequences with Some Readings
Cultural Politics and Public Discourse

Assignment

Work

Writing

Assignment 1) Common Areas

observation of place of social interactions

(observing)

an account of social interactions from observations with attention to ethical constraints.

Assignment 2) Music and the Media
Koza

investigate another musical genre or movement, or track media’s portrayal of rap to update Koza’s work (working with texts – music; content analysis)

respond to Koza by using your research to consider music as a “cultural artifact”

Assignment 3) Manipulated Images
Lowe

test Lowe’s work by conducting a focus group interview using another famous person as the topic

(interviewing – focus groups)

present results and compare to Lowe’s to account for differences or similarities in how the group responded

Assignment 4) Blurring Boundaries
Jones

analysis/comparison of television coverage

(working with texts – speech; rhetorical analysis)

present results as response to Jones and to consider both the topic and the media’s responses to that topic

Assignment 5) Mediated Difference
Len-Ríos

test or extend Len-Ríos’ work with other newspapers or by considering another category

(working with texts -- content analysis; working with numbers)

present data and discuss most significant patterns

Assignment 6) Public Discourse Revisited

draw from previous work to analyze impact public speech has on individuals and culture

revision, synthesis

Assignment 7) Reflection

reflection on one’s own writing

describe, analyze and make argument about one’s own writing