MEDIA AUDIENCE CULTURES
Explore the complexities of what it means to be a media audience. Consider how audiences engage media thoughtfully and actively. Approach audiences both qualitatively and theoretically, focusing on how audiencehood becomes more than just a position of watching, listening, and downloading the intended message. Study audiencehood as a site of voice, agency, identity construction, play, activism, and meaning-making across various media audience types - fans, haters, casual viewers; television, film, social media, games, and other media consumers; watchers, listeners, readers, gamers, and users; networked communities and isolated individuals. Analyze the different worlds, affective positions, practices, and socialities that make up "the audience."
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: COM ARTS 250 or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Humanities & Arts Breadth - Humanities Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Spring 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Analyze the cultures that surround media consumption Audience: Undergraduate 2. Analyze and interpret a wide variety of modes and styles of media reception Audience: Undergraduate 3. Critically examine methods and strategies for, and the ethics of, studying audiences Audience: Undergraduate 4. Conduct qualitative research into media audiences Audience: Undergraduate 5. Develop an awareness of the rich history of the cultural studies tradition of audience and reception research Audience: Graduate 6. Write critically about audiences, balancing theory and empirical research Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Analyze the cultures that surround media consumption Audience: Undergraduate 2. Analyze and interpret a wide variety of modes and styles of media reception Audience: Undergraduate 3. Critically examine methods and strategies for, and the ethics of, studying audiences Audience: Undergraduate 4. Conduct qualitative research into media audiences Audience: Undergraduate 5. Develop an awareness of the rich history of the cultural studies tradition of audience and reception research Audience: Graduate 6. Write critically about audiences, balancing theory and empirical research Audience: Graduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027