Course Schedule

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  • Please note that the above contents may be adjusted based on students’ learning and the instructor’s needs. Major changes will be announced in class.
  
  
  • A Webex online meeting will be arranged in week 16 should the instructor need to speak with you.
  
  
  
  

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Course Requirements

1. Punctuality. The roll call will start at 13:10 sharp, so please come to class on time. Each tardiness will deduct 5 points from your final grade. Being late twice equals one absence. Each unjustified absence will reduce 10 points from your final grade. After three absences in total, you will fail the course.


2. Participation and Assignments. Weekly short reading assignment is mandatory. Please finish reading the assigned article before coming to the class. Read the assigned materials carefully and join the class activities vigorously.


3. Group Presentation. A leading team of three or four members should choose a topic from the syllabus to create a 25-minute PowerPoint presentation and provide the audience with food for thought.


4. Midterm in-class Writing. The instructor will email the midterm in-class writing questions to the class in Week 7, a week before the midterm exam. You are encouraged to prepare your answers in advance. However, the use of any electronic devices during the exam is strictly prohibited.


5. Final Presentation. A group of three or four members should choose any social events related to the media and make a 25-minute presentation. In your final presentation, please include an introduction, reasons why you choose this topic, interesting passages/quotes, real-life examples, personal thoughts, and finally, a conclusion. N.B. To assist you with a well-organized final presentation, a group supervision will be arranged in Week 14. The instructor will email you a link for the online meeting. Please join the meeting as a group at the scheduled time.


6. Course Packet. There will be a course packet covering all the reading materials for this course. Please get it from the NCCU photocopying center in the basement of the Student Club Center (樂活館). N.B. To facilitate your learning and allow me to observe your reading progress, it is essential that you secure a copy of the course packet.


7. Use of AI. You may use AI tools (such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, etc.) for advice and information gathering. However, relying on it to generate your entire presentation and reading it verbatim from an electronic device will not be tolerated.

References

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      1. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. BBC and Penguin Books, 1972.
      
      
      2. Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.
      
      
      3. De Botton, Alain. The News: A User’s Manual. Pantheon Books, 2014.
      
      
      4. Deresiewicz, William. Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. Free Press, 2015.
      
      
      5. Dines, Gail. Porland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality. Beacon Press, 2009.
      
      
      6. Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Penguin Press, 2024.
      
      
      7. Kilbourne, Jean. Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive Power of Advertising. Free Press, 1999.
      
      
      8. Obama, Michelle. Becoming. Crown, 2018.
      
      
      9. Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin Books, 1985.
      
      
      10. Raised the Red Lantern. Directed by Zhang Yimou, Era International / China Film Group Corporation, 1991.
      
      
      11. Spears, Britney. The Woman in Me. Gallery Books, 2023.