COMM347

New Television Criticism explores the narrative approaches used in a wide variety of contemporary television genres. Students will leave this course understanding the deeper layers of narrative structure and meaning in the TV shows created in the last 15 years. We will specifically explore the role television plays in shifting our notions of morality through shows like THE WALKING DEAD, BREAKING BAD, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, and DOCTOR WHO. Students will identify how TV narrative is used by audiences to provide greater understanding of the human condition through it's use of timeless themes and conflicts. Through writings by Aristotle, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Roland Barthes, Heidegger, Kant, and contemporary TV criticism writers, students will examine the repeating motifs in television narrative.