Department of English

This course will provide a history of form and genre on American television. We will examine the development and transformation of genres like the sitcom, cable drama, late night talk show, reality series, and most recently, “the reboot.” The course will also address what has happened to television after “New Media”? What does digitization afford and what is lost as television and cinema become digitized? As lots of things around us turn digital, have we started telling stories, sharing experiences, and replaying memories differently? How have television audiences been transformed by algorithmic cultures of Netflix and Hulu? Course assignments will consist of response papers and a final project that could take the form of either a critical essay or media project.