AMS 1300 - PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS AND POLITICAL MEDIA

credits: 3.0
Crosslisted/Same As: ENG 1300
AMS 1300-ENG 1300. Presidential elections were transformed in the era following World War II by new media technologies and by New Journalism. Newspaper, magazines, and television networks devoted more attention and resources to presidential hopefuls, and the campaign season expanded. Meanwhile, literary journalists, comedians, and other celebrities joined professional political correspondents on the trail, and their commentary often superseded traditional reporting. Will read works by Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Didion, and Ta-Nehisi Coates which launched and ended candidacies. Also will use critical and documentarian works to analyze the impact of publications like Rolling Stone, cable networks like CNN, programs like The Daily Show, and sites like POLITICO. Objectives: A) Summarize U.S. political history from 1960-2020 with particular attention to the impact of media technology; B) Deploy the disciplinary vocabulary of Cultural and Media Studies; C) Deconstruct a series of tropes and tactics commonly used by campaigns and those who cover them. Method of Instruction: Discussion, Curation, and Lecture. Method of Evaluation: Short Written Assignments, Quizzes, and Research Tasks. Meets *WEP Distribution Requirement.