Children and Media Seminar

(Cross-listed with FMS 164 and CVS 147) Children have long been considered a "special" audience by broadcasters, advertisers, politicians, educators and researchers. This course will introduce you to the logic behind this designation, through a careful and critical examination of the theory and research on children's media use, and the effects of media on children. We will explore the relationship between media use and developmental issues, discuss patterns of children's media consumption, and look at both the content and context of children's media, including television, films/videos, advertising, games, podcast and social media. We will examine the empirical evidence that has attempted to assess the media's effects on children in a variety of areas, including gender and ethnic stereotyping, explicitly sexual and violent content in both entertainment and news, and also the educational or "pro-social" effects of media. We'll talk about the wall-to-wall advertising to which children are exposed and look at the claims that advertising and media use have led to an increase in childhood obesity. For each topic we cover, we will be looking both at the theoretical issues that undergird them, and also at the empirical ones that have attempted to assess, test or analyze them. Student projects on media and assessment, research critique and development of an original research proposal.