Providence College - PSC 327

Students investigate the American electoral process, with a focus on how candidates compete to construct political messages that can mobilize winning coalitions.

Providence College- PSC 101

This course provides a broad introduction to the major concepts, theories, and issues relevant to the study of politics. Students read classic works of political thought and contemporary social scientific research, considering the nature of politics itself, as well as the structures, relationships, and institutions that shape different societies.

In the process, they're also introduced to the major subfields, considering how different scholars approach the challenges of studying politics in informed and critical ways.

Ultimately, students are prepared to act as better citizens, as they learn to approach the political questions that interest them most with greater knowledge and insight.

Providence- PSC 343

This class introduces students to some of the most influential authors and political ideas of the last century. The central focus is on definitions of and challenges to liberalism, especially in respect to democracy and its role in a capitalist society.

Authors discussed include: Karl Marx, Friedrich Hayek, Karl Polanyi, Michel Foucault, John Rawls, Daniel Bell, Pierre Bourdieu, Chantal Mouffe, Wendy Brown, and Francis Fukuyama, among others.

Providence College- PSC 326

Students study the development of media technologies from the printing press to Twitter (or “X”). The focus of the course is on how technological change— alongside economic, legal, and social transformations— affected the role of media in politics. We not only analyze the emergence of the modern press (in its print, TV, and digital forms) but also related sectors in entertainment and advertising, studying their relationship to ideological trends in popular consciousness. This includes discussions of how capitalism, race, gender, and climate change have been shaped by media narratives, and continue to be into the present. We also investigate the effects of social media on ideological polarization and cultural identity in the digital era.

Providence College- COM 301

Students explore the history of technologies, distribution platforms, and business models that have shaped mass media and culture. They do this while reading works of theory that analyze the social effects of media on identity, community, and the shared meaning made possible by our media experiences.

The course focuses on four mediums and their respective industries: film/cinema, television, video games, and user-generated digital content.

By the end, students are taught to watch/listen/play more consciously, and have a greater understanding of the importance of media in everyday life.

Providence College- “Senior Research Seminar” - PSC 488

Students trace the development of American generations from the middle of the 20th Century to the present, considering the relationship between technology, memory, culture, and politics.

To explore these issues, we read works of recent scholarship on generations and on the major political developments in the US since the 1940s. At the same time, we also immerse ourselves in these periods through cultural texts (music, films, and television shows) to help capture the consciousness of specific generations, and their change over time.

Providence College- COM 480

This special topics, research seminar introduces students to major theoretical perspectives in the study of culture, society, and mass media. It is an interdisciplinary course that (in addition to media studies) incorporates authors working in fields as varied as psychology, sociology, literary studies, and anthropology.

The course is divided into three different, thematic units:

1. Myth and Meaning:
In which we analyze the uses of narrative and symbolism in human storytelling and the formation of social identity.

2. Taste, Culture, and Class:
In which we discuss the social role of manners, habits, and aesthetic judgement in creating or maintaining class differences.

3. Memory and Technology:
In which we consider how different technology-media systems shape generational experience, and with what implications for culture in the present or future.

Authors discussed include: Joseph Campbell, Maurice Halbwachs, Bruce Lincoln, Roland Barthes, Thorstein Veblen, and Norbert Elias, among others.

Providence College- COM 100

Students explore how various forms of media are used to send or receive ideas, with a focus on identifying how ‘form’ affects ‘content’. We analyze the aesthetic properties of comics, novels, films, and games, exploring how the ‘medium’ shapes ‘the message’

Virginia Tech- PSCI 1024

This course provides students a broad introduction to major concepts, theories and issues relevant to the study of comparative politics.

Students consider the nature of ‘politics’ itself, as well as the structures, relationships, or institutions that shape different societies, and our world overall. In the process, they learn how different political systems (affected by a myriad of historical, cultural, and other factors) function, and how comparisons between these contexts can help provide solutions to major political challenges facing states in the 21st century.

Semesters taught: Fall 2021, Spring 2022

Virginia Tech - “Intro to Arts and Humanities” - HUM 1604

What are genres? Where do they come from? How do they inform or reflect shared values, or help us make sense of our lives? In this course, students try to answer these questions by exploring a few of the most significant genres from film history and contemporary popular culture.

As they do, they consider:

• The genres’ stylistic, thematic, and narrative conventions/variations.

• The history of specific genres and how they are situated in social, political, economic, and cultural contexts.

• The genres’ relevance to broader discussions or questions surrounding film, popular culture, and narrative-art’s significance in our lives.

Virginia Tech - “The Social History of Film” - HIST 3744

Virginia Tech- “Theories of Popular Culture” - HUM 3034

Students watch iconic works of “Blaxploitation,” Wuxia (Chinese martial arts films), queer cinema, and other genres of ‘cult’ media.
As they do, they explore the ways cult films and their audiences have shaped American culture, analyzing how social values, political beliefs, taste, and representation relate to broader power structures, on the basis of class, race, gender, and sexuality.

We also discuss how changes in the culture industry itself—legally, technologically, and financially— affected these ‘cult’ moments, making it possible for new sorts of films to be made and sold, while transforming how audiences formed community around specific films (whether via in-person screenings, video stores, or on YouTube).

Virginia Tech - “The Modern World” - HUM 1324

Students examine the history of modernism in American culture through the history of popular film—the dominant form of ‘mass culture’ in the 20th Century. In the process, we study what it means to be ‘modern’ by analyzing how the disruptions, opportunities, and anxieties of industrial and post-industrial life have been explored in popular art. To do so, we consider recurring attempts to frame or negotiate these aspects of modernity in science fiction, anime, westerns, and horror films.

Virginia Tech- HIST 1026

This course provides a broad survey of European history from the late Seventeenth Century to the present, with a focus on the origins of ‘modern’ politics and economics.

Students not only explore the stories of people, groups, institutions, and events that make up this history, but also key philosophical and theoretical texts from each time period.

In the process, students are asked to wrestle with questions about what forces guide human behavior, as well as how and why power is distributed between and within societies.