Topic: Advertising: The Magic System

Appropriate for First Year students.

TimeDaysLocationInstructorGERCreditOPUS Class NumberSyllabus (Tentative)
5:30pm-8:00pm
W
Ignatius Few Building_131
Roberto Franzosi. FSEM. 412835 TBA.

January 13, 2010- April 26, 2010

Crosslisted: LING190-000

Catalog Description: A small class on topics of sociological concern that fosters a highly interactive and a mutually collaborative learning environment, both among students and between the students and the teachers. Examples of seminars include: Making Sense of Globalization, Sociology of Film, Race and Ethnicity in the United States, and Introduction to General Sociology.

Semester Details: This course aims to provide an introduction to the study of advertising. While tracing the historical development of advertising, the course deals with modern societies, focusing on both the creative and business sides of advertising (both in paper and in television, cinema, and, increasingly, on the web). Students will learn how advertisements are produced, how much they cost. They will also learn how to “read” advertisements. We will highlight the rhetorical and narrative structure of each advertisement. The course is based on students’ presentations based on the analysis of advertisements and a final research project.

Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources

  1. Ewen, Stuart. Captains of Consciousness Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture.
    ISBN: 9780465021550.
  2. Cook, Guy. The Discourse of Advertising.
    ISBN: 9780415234559.
  3. Lears, Jackson T. Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America.
    ISBN: 9780465090754.

The schedule of courses on O.P.U.S. is the official listing of courses, including days and times they meet and the General Education Requirements they satisfy. Students should use course descriptions as general guidelines. Course requirements, grading details, book lists, and syllabi are subject to change.