Media Studies 200: An Introduction to Media Studies
Intended for 72 undergraduate students
Spring 2024 at the University of Victoria
lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ territories
M and Th, 10 - 11:20am
Taught by Jentery Sayers (he / him)
Office hours: Th, 11:30am - 12:30pm, in CLE D331
jentery@uvic.ca
Portfolio
This portfolio covers all material from MDIA 200. Your response is due via Brightspace by Thursday, April 18th at 10am.
The portfolio is open-book, meaning you are allowed to use assigned primary sources, handouts, the course website, my slides, your notes, the library, and the internet to address the prompt.
This open-book assignment contains one prompt, and you may respond to it in one of two ways:
- Option 1: text plus images and/or audio, using no more than 1000 words
- Option 2: 3-5 minutes of video
Your response is worth 100 points and 25% of your final grade.
The Prompt
Tell someone you know what you learned in this course by sharing samples of your work, demonstrating your knowledge of media, and communicating your primary interests in Media Studies.
- Identify someone you know who is interested in what you’re learning. This person cannot be me. They could be a friend, family member, partner, (potential) employer, UVic student or instructor, elder, (potential) collaborator . . . The choice is yours, as long as you compose for one interlocutor. Indeed, your response to this prompt is an interpersonal communication.
- Select four answers you composed in response to prompts from Worksheets 1-4. You needn’t select one answer from each of the four worksheets; however, your four selections should address the course’s three main topics of study: communication, media, and critical approaches to media and communication. I recommend selecting four answers that taught you a lot about yourself and the course topics. I also recommend demonstrating a range of learning (over time, across topics, through various media).
- Share your work by including samples of all four answers. Include parts of the answers themselves and point your interlocutor to aspects of them. Showcase what you did and what you learned. Use your work to spark conversation with your interlocutor. You might even ask them questions.
- Demonstrate your knowledge of media by using terminology, techniques, and practices from MDIA 200 in ways your interlocutor would understand. Meet them where they are and decode things for them if need be.
- Communicate your primary interests in Media Studies by selecting one critical approach from Appendix A that appeals most to you. Explain that approach and its appeal but also convey their relevance to work you might do in the future. Give your interlocutor a palpable sense of how and where you could apply what you learned in MDIA 200.
Your response to this prompt should be synthetic. Avoid lists and point form. Construct a narrative or theme that brings the material together in a way that would engage your interlocutor on an interpersonal, one-to-one level. The response should be more about you and your learning than the course itself, and it should sound like part of a dialogue rather than an advertisement for MDIA 200.
You needn’t name or describe your interlocutor; however, I should be able to infer who they are to you based on how you communicate with them in response to this prompt. Use references and language that make that relationship clear.
Assessment
I will use the following criteria and UVic’s official grading system to assess your response.
The degree to which your response:
- Addresses the prompt.
- Applies course terminology, techniques, and practices to demonstrate what you know and what you learned.
- Contains a variety of media (such as text, images, audio, video, and interfaces) that demonstrate what you know and what you learned.
- Communicates what you learned from media practice.
- Communicates what you learned from media analysis.
- Synthesizes what you learned.
- Demonstrates an awareness of your interlocutor and how you’re communicating with them.
- Demonstrates and communicates how you might apply what you learned.
- Makes compelling use of concrete examples across a range of what’s available (over time, across topics, through various media).
What to Submit
Please submit a DOCX, ODT, PAGES, PDF, MP4, or MOV file containing your response.
Do not use a platform other than Brightspace to submit, store, or share your materials.
When to Submit It
Your portfolio is due by 10am on Thursday, April 18th.
I will deduct five points for every business day (excluding holidays and weekends) that I receive your portfolio after Thursday, April 18th at 5pm. I will close this submission portal at 10am on Thursday, April 25th and cannot accept any submissions after the portal is closed. Thank you for understanding.
Appendix A
Approaches to Media Studies that we engaged in this course:
- Media Effects
- Ownership Effects
- Representation and Intersectionality
- Access and Trust
- Dramaturgy and Impressions Management
- Narratology and Storytelling
- Ludology and Play
- Rhetoric
- Preservation