Channeling Race: Television and Race in America

Our era has been called both "post-televisual" and "post-racial," yet images that define and are defined by (mis)understandings of race fill our screens (whether on TV sets or other means for disseminating television). Formations of television and race not only remain pressing concerns but are intertwined, mutually constructing one another. This course explores how notions of race have been mediated and how media have figured race. Topics include: stereotype analysis (and beyond); televising Civil Rights; intersections of gender and sexuality; consumerism and commodification; crisis and scandal; racial representation across TV genres (comedy, drama, sports, reality TV), and new media possibilities.