Review and reflect on the readings and film issues. Consider these questions and post your responses in the discussion forum. Remember to respond to classmates posts as well. There are two parts to this discussion forum.

• What is the value of multicultural knowledge development?
• Are these painful stories of our US human history important to share?
• What are the benefits and challenges of exploring painful history?
• How can media shape our understanding or misunderstanding of cultures?
• What three research method areas, defined by Kellner, help the study of media culture?
• What is a quantitative research method? How does it help us learn?
• What is a qualitative research method? How does it help us learn?

One of the first tasks in the study of multicultural media issues and theoretical approaches to media analysis, is to write a description of your own cultural identity and perspective. Use this question to help frame a description of your culture.

• What cultural influences help define your identity and characterize your personal culture?

Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, and Media Culture Reading Notes

Read Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, and Media Culture, available in eReserves.

cultural Studies Approach and Critical Cultural Media Analysis is

multidisciplinary and can include history, literature, sociology,

psychology, philosophy, economics and other knowledge areas.

Critical Cultural Media Analysis examines the: “communications chain

from production to consumption” and considers ideology (ideas) and

hegemony (condition of domination & subordination) in the

examination of:

Production process and political economy of culture to identify the rationale of industry decisions.

Cultural texts to analyze media texts as cultural products, forms

of discourse, coded with ideology, utilizing narrative strategy and

engaged in social reality construction including ideas about gender and

diversity.

Audience reception to identify media effects on audiences and to

study how audiences interpret media and incorporate meaning into life.

Communications Research includes Communication Science and Qualitative Communications Research 

• Quantitative Research uses scientific method to help identify

  relationship between an independent variable, usually media and a

  dependent variable, usually human behavioral effects. It also includes

  measures.

Qualitative Research can include critical analysis of media content

and can help identify patterns of representation and meaning making.

Ethnographic analysis of media representations and the meaning or

significance of messages in human experience and understanding.

Critical Analysis of Media involves creative engagement with the

elements of media and can help develop critical thinking skills and

media literacy as well as concepts of media responsibility in a

democracy and media ethics in a diverse social context.

Normative Communication Values are encoded in the 

• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) code of ethics,

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) code of ethics,US Constitution First Amendment, and theUnited Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article

19, which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and

expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without

interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas

through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

Reference

Kellner, D. (1995). Cultural studies, multiculturalism, and media culture. In G. Hines & J. Humez (Eds.), Gender, race, and class in media: A critical reader. (9-19). New York, NY: Sage. (Heading)

Watch Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

dramatic reenactments of experiences of African Americans who had

lived under the system of forced enslavement in the US. Stories were

recorded by Federal workers in the 1930’s and collected in volumes for

the Library of Congress.

Reference

Bell, E. (2002). Unchained memories: Readings from the slave narratives. [Motion picture]. United States: HBO.