SemesterSpring Semester, 2020
DepartmentInternational Master's Program in International Communication Studies, First Year International Master's Program in International Communication Studies, Second Year
Course NameMedia Entertainment
Instructor
Credit3.0
Course TypeElective
Prerequisite
Course Objective
Course Description
Course Schedule

NOTE: Readings are subject to change, with ample notice.



















































































































Week



Topic



Readings



Special Notes



Week 1

(25 February)



Course Introductions



 




  • Course syllabus

  • Course-based social media (optional)



Open discussion about course structure and culture, and an introduction to the Fulbright program



Week 2



(3 March)



Lecture: Prehistory of Media



 




  • Eden, Bowman, & Grizzard (2018), Ch1, Ch3

  • Zillmann (2000), Ch1



 



Week 3

(10 March)



Lecture: Milestones and moral panics of (early) media entertainment research




  • Bowman (2015), CH1

  • Bowman (2018), Ch17

  • Davidson et al (working paper)



 



Week 4

(17 March)



Blog Assignment 1



“Moral panics in Taiwanese media”



Students will identify one example from Taiwanese popular press (news reports, entertainment media, etc.) that exemplifies a “moral panic” and write a brief description of the example



Week 5

(24 March)



Lecture: Media Entertainment: More than Hedonism?




  • Oliver and Raney (2011)

  • Oliver et al (2015)

  • Oliver et al (IEME, 2017a)

  • Oliver et al (2018)



 



Week 6

(31 March)



Lecture: Intervening Variables and Individual Differences




  • Bowman (2017)



[OTHERS TBD]



End of month idea check. =)



Week 7

(7 April)



Lecture: Media Selection




  • Katz et al (1973)

  • Larose (2010)

  • Sundar & Limperos (2013)



 



Week 8



(14 April)



Lecture: Emotions and Moods




  • Bowman (IEME, 2017)

  • Bartsch et al (2008)

  • Hemenover and Bowman (2018)



 



Week 9

(21 April)



Mid-term Examinations



One-on-one examinations with Dr. Bowman



(NOTE: Can be scheduled outside of normal class time, subject to availability)



Week 10

(28 April)



Lecture: The (Mediated) Psychology of Well-Being




  • Deci & Ryan (self-determination theory; TBD)

  • Tamborini et al (2010)

  • Reinecke (2009)



End of month idea check. =)



Week 11

(5 May)



Lecture: Narratives and Characters




  • Banks & Bowman (2016)

  • Dibble et al (2016)

  • Raney (2013)



 



Week 12



(12 May)



Methods Refresher: Experimental Design (Public Lecture)



 




  • Bowman (SAGE, 2017)

  • Shadish, Cook, and Campbell (2002), Ch1, Ch8



Assignment: Rough Outline of Final Paper (Literature Review + Methods; due by EOD on 25 May)



Week 13

(19 May)



Blog Assignment 2



“Taking #ICA20 back to Taiwan”



Students will be invited to (a) read select papers from #ICA20 and (b) follow the conference online through various social media accounts, and then (c) connect content from #ICA20 to at least one course concept from our in-class discussions (due by EOD on 25 May).



Week 14

(26 May)



Peer Problem-Solving




  • Each other’s outlines. =)



Assignment: First Draft of Final Paper



(Due by EOD on 7 June)



Week 15

(2 June)



Blog Assignment 3



“Taiwanese Interactive Media Industry”



We will arrange for a field trip to the offices of local Taiwanese media technology developers, where students will (a) take note of Taiwanese-led innovations and (b) connect at least one of those innovations back to a course concept (due by EOD on 10 June).



Week 16

(9 June)



Advancing Entertainment Media: VR/XR/MR and beyond

OR



Guest Speakers: Developing Entertainment in Taiwan




  • TBD



TBD



Week 17



(16 June)



Presentation tips and other closing thoughts




  • Bowman and Keene, 2018

  • Sample posters from Bowman



Assignment: Final Draft of Final Paper; Final Draft of Poster (Due by start of class on 23 June)



Week 18

(23 June)



Final Poster Presentations



OPTIONAL



(TBD)



Final Spring 2020 Fulbright Student Public Poster Presentations



Date and Time TBD; presented in tandem with “Interactive Media” course




 


Teaching Methods
Teaching Assistant
Requirement/Grading

Of the total 100 points possible in this course, they are broken up as follows (details provided, in class):





  • Attendance (10 points). Attending all scheduled course session is critical to maintaining a vibrant learning environment in which we can learn from each other. Students are required to attend all scheduled courses. Absences should be negotiated either immediately before or (in emergencies) immediately after, and failure to do so will result in a 10-point reduction; students missing more than one course may fail the course, subject to NCCU procedures.




  • Blog assignments (5 points total, or 15 points each). Throughout the semester, students will be asked to write informal blog posts (~500 words) applying key course topics to their own experiences. Select blogs will be shared via social media, with the student’s permission.




  • Mid-term meeting and oral exam (25 points). During the Spring 2020 NCCU mid-term examination period,




  • Final research proposal (50 points). Inspired by the above assignment, students will propose a replication and extension of extant interactivity research to a uniquely Taiwanese setting:





    • 10 points, initial first outline, for sharing a manuscript outline via OneDrive.




    • 5 points, peer problem-solving, for providing in-class feedback to colleagues’ outlines.




    • 25 points, final paper, including a complete literature review, proposed method, and statistical analysis plan (estimated length of about 4000 words)







10 points, oral poster presentation, which summarizes the final paper in a presentation format (with accompanying visual poster); these presentations will be about five minutes in length.



Students’ grades are based on a 100-point system, following the standards of the National Chengchi University as follows:



































































Letter Grades



GPA equivalent



Raw Score Range



A+



4.3



90-100



A



4.0



85-89



A-



3.7



80-84



B+



3.3



77-79



B



3.0



73-76



B- (minimum passing grade for graduate students)



2.7



70-72



C+



2.3



67-69





C



2.0



63-66



C- (minimum passing grade for undergraduate students)



1.7



60-62





F



0



Below 59



X



0



0



Textbook & Reference

All readings for this course are posted to a OneDrive folder, accessible at: https://texastechuniversity-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/nick_bowman_ttu_edu/Eny0jSTrXuhHtyZg23zRR8EBPSze-kgpnvwQATDQaMphMA?e=prFEf4


Urls about Course
Attachment