SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

NEW COURSE PROPOSAL

Calendar Information:

Course Number: CMNS 443

Course Title: Comparative Asian Media Systems

Course Description (for Calendar). Attach a course outline to this proposal.

Offers a basis for understanding different Asian media systems in concrete historical, political and socio-economic contexts. Introduces students to a range of epistemological and theoretical issues in media systems in a vast and extremely diverse region that is undergoing a period of rapid political, economic, social and cultural transformation. Provides an overview of issues relating to different media systems and case studies of media and politics in specific countries in the region.

Prerequisite(s): 75 credit hours including one of CMNS 230 or 240, and one of CMNS 261 or 262.

Co-requisite(s) (if any): None

Special Instructions (if any): None

Course(s) to be dropped if this course is approved (if any): None

Rationale for Introduction of this Course: Will this be a required or elective course in the curriculum? Probable enrolment when offered?

This is an elective course in the curriculum. CMNS Majors need to take seven CMNS upper division courses, including two 400-levels.

Scheduling and Registration Information. Indicate semester and year this course would be first offered and planned frequency of offering thereafter.

First to be offered in Fall 2007 (Prof. Jin); every 3-4 semesters thereafter.

Which of your present CFL faculty have the expertise to offer this course? Will the course be taught by sessional or limited-term instructors?

Dal Yong Jin, Yuezhi Zhao, Pat Howard, Bob Anderson.

Are there any proposed student fees associated with this course other than tuition fees?

Does this course duplicate the content of a previously approved course to such an extent that students should not receive credit for both courses? If so, please specify.

Resource Implications:

Note: Senate has approved (S.93-11) that no new course should be approved by Senate until funding has been committed for necessary library materials. Each new course proposal must be accompanied by a library report and, if appropriate, confirmation that funding arrangements have been addressed.

Provide details on how existing instructional resources will be redistributed to accommodate this new course. For instance, will another course be eliminated or will the frequency of offering of other courses be reduced; are there changes in pedagogical style or class sizes that allow for this additional course offering.

SFU library will need to order some more journal subscriptions and books related to Asian media studies. CMNS Library rep is Prof. Jin (who will be a teacher of this course). He will co-ordinate with the Library (S.Roberts) to indicate what is needed. Some readings are available via the Internet, and by custom courseware c/o Prof. Jin.

Does this course require specialized space or equipment not readily available in the department or university, and if so, how will these resources be provided?

Not applicable.

Does this course require computing resources? (e.g. hardware, software, network wiring, use of computer laboratory space) and if so, describe how they will be provided.

Not applicable.

This course offers a basis for understanding different Asian media systems in concrete historical, political and socio-economic contexts. It introduces students to a range of epistemological and theoretical issues in studying media systems in a vast and extremely diverse region that is undergoing a period of rapid political, economic, social, and cultural transformation. It will provide both an overview of issues relating to different media systems and case studies of media and politics in specific countries in the region.

Students will learn to respond to real Asian problems, identify the forces shaping the Asian information and entertainment systems and master key conceptual frameworks drawn from the humanities and social sciences.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Discuss the complexity and diversity of media systems in the region and describe the media systems in a number of Asian countries.

• Acquire a greater appreciation of the range of media/state relationships in Asia and develop an initial understanding of the relationship between Asian media, society, and culture.

• Understand the complicated ways in which the media intersect with processes of political democratization and commercialization in different countries.

The class is participation-intensive: class members will take part in a group project (3-4 people) that will bring in and discuss a media example related to the topic of the session. The presenters will tell us about the media example, who was involved in its production, what its audience is and how it circulates amongst its audiences (in the country of origin as well as possibly internationally). The presenters will also locate the media object in the context of the readings for the day and our ongoing conversation over the course of the quarter; the presenters will summarize their presentation (3-5 pages) and distribute these summaries to the class following their presentation. In addition to the group presentation, regular class participation, a term paper (details to follow), a midterm and a take-home final exam are required.

Course Readings:

A courseware reading package is available from the SFU bookstore. Other materials will be placed on reserve and/or made available via the Internet.

GRADING:

Attendance/ Participation 10%

Seminar Presentation and Participation 20%

In-Class Mid-term Exam 25%

Take Home Final Exam 25%

Final Paper 20%

CMNS 443-4, page 2

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1 Course Introduction and Overview

Week 2 The Many Meanings of Asia

Read: 1. Arif Durlik, “Asia Pacific Studies in an Age of Global Modernity.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 6.2 (2005): 158-170.

2. Ashis Nandy, “A New Cosmopolitanism: Towards a Dialogue of Asian Civilizations.” Trajectories: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. Kuan-Hsing Chen, ed. New York: Routledge, 1998. 142-149.

3. Stuart Hall, “The West and the Rest.” Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies. Stuart Hall, David Held and Kenneth Thompson, eds. Malden: Blackwell, 1996. 185-227.

Week 3 Media Systems in Asia

Read: 1. Eric Kit-Wai Ma, “Rethinking Media Studies: The Case of China.” De-Westernizing Media Studies. James Curran and Myung-Jin Park, eds. New York: Routledge, 2000. 21-34.

2. Koichi Iwabuchi, “Discrepant Intimacy: Popular Culture Flows in East Asia.” Asian Media Studies. John Nguyet Erni and Siew Keng Chua, eds. Malden: Blackwell, 2005. 19-36.

3.Myung-Jin Park, Chang-Nam Kim and Byung-Woo Sohn, “Modernization, Globalization, and the Powerful State: The Korean Media. De-Westernizing Media Studies. James Curran and Myung-Jin Park, eds. New York: Routledge, 2000. 111-123

4. Ravi Sundaram, “Media Globalization: An Indian Perspective.” Global Media and Communication 1.1 (2005): 55-58.

Week 4 The Globalization of Asian Cinema

Read: 1. Doobo Shim, “Hybridity and the Rise of Korean Popular Culture in Asia.” Media, Culture & Society 28.1 (2006): 25-44.

2. Dal Yong Jin, “Cultural Politics in Korea’s Contemporary Films under Neoliberal Globalization,” Media, Culture & Society 28(1): 6-23.

3. Manjunath Pendakur, “In the Throes of Change: Exhibition, Production and Distribution.” Indian Popular Cinema: Industry, Ideology and Consciousness. Cresskill: Hampton Press, Press, 2003. 15-58.

Week 5

Television Systems in Asia

Read: 1. Michael Curtin, “Murdoch’s Dilemma, or ‘What’s the Price of TV in China?’” Media, Culture & Society 27.2 (2005): 155-175.

2. Vamsee Juluri, “The Whole World is Watching Us: Music Television Audiences in India,” Asian Media Studies. John Nguyet Erni and Siew Keng Chua, eds. Malden: Blackwell, 2005. 161-182.

3. R. Anderson Sutton, “Local, Global, or National? Popular Music on Indonesian Television,” Planet TV. Lisa Parkts and Shantim Kumar, eds. New York: New York University Press. 2003.320-340.

CMNS 443-4, page 3

Week 6 The Politics of the Asian Press

Read: 1. Myung-koo Kang, “The Struggle for Press Freedom and Emergence of “Unelected” Media Power in South Korea.” Asian Media Studies. John Nguyet Erni and Siew Keng Chua, eds. Malden: Blackwell, 2005. 75-90.

2. Prasun Sonwalker, “‘Murdochization’ of the Indian Press: From By-line to Bottom-line.” Media, Culture and Society 24.6 (2002): 821-834.

Week 7 The Birth of Asia: Regionalizalion of Asian Culture and Media

Read: 1. Misa Matsuda, ‘Discourses of Keitai in Japan.” Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life. Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe and Misa Matsuda, eds. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005. 19-39.

2. Dong-Hoo Lee and Dal Yong Jin (2007). “The Birth of East Asia: Cultural Regionalization through Co-production Strategies,” Spectator 27 (2):

3. Hsiao-hung Chang, “Fake Logos, Fake Theory, Fake Globalization.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 5.2 (2004): 222-236.

Week 8 – Proposal Due

Mid-term Exam (In class)

Week 9 The Rise of the Asian Internet

Read: 1. K.C. Ho et. al., “Asia Encounters the Internet” and Tim Beal, “The State of Internet Use in Asia.” Asia.com: Asia Encounters the Internet. K.C. Ho, Randolph Kluver and Kenneth C.C. Yang, eds. New York, Routledge 2003. 1-20; 23-43.

2. Yuezhi Zhao, “Between a World Summit and a Chinese Movie: Visions of the ‘Information Society.” Gazette 66.3-4 (2004): 275-280.

3. Dan Schiller, “Poles of Market Growth: Open Questions about China, Information and the World Economy.” Global Media and Communication 1.1 (2005): 79-103

Week 10 Asia Goes Wireless

Read: Madanmohan Rao, “The Wireless Tsunami: An Asia-Pacific Panorama.” Asia Unplugged: The Wireless and Mobile Media Boom in the Asia-Pacific. Madanmohan Rao and Lunita Mendoza, eds. New Delhi: Response Books, 2005. 21-68.

CMNS 443-4, page 4

Week 11 Information Economy in Asia

Read: 1. Tim Bell, “The State of Internet use in Asia,” Asia.com. Randolph Kluver and Kenneth Yang, eds. London: Routledge Curzon. 23-43.

2. Raka Shome, “Thinking Through the Diaspora: Call Centers, India, and a New Politics of Hybridity.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 9.1 (March 2006): 105-124.

3. Jeffrey L. Funk, “The Mobile Phone Industry: a microcosm of deregulation, globalization and technological change in the Japanese economy,” Japanese Telecommunications, Ruth Taplin and Masako Wakui, eds. London: Routledge. 2006. 65-86.

Week 12 Asia, Modernity and the Fake

Read: 1.Hsiao-hung Chang, “Fake Logos, Fake Theory, Fake Globalization.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 5.2 (2004): 222-236.

2.Ziauddin Sardar, “On the Political Economy of the Fake.” Internationalizing Cultural Studies: An Anthology. Ackbar Abbas and John Nguyet Erni, eds. Malden: Blackwell, 2005. 658-662.

Week 13 Asia Beyond Asia

Read: Hiram Perez, “How to Rehabilitate a Mulatto: The Iconography of Tiger Woods.” East Main Street: Asian American Popular Culture. Shilpa Davé, LeiLani Nishime, and Tasha Oren. New York: New York University Press, 2005. 222-245.