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Newer Version Available
Cover of Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication v1.0
Published: 
March 2012
Page Count: 
452
ISBN (Digital): 
978-1-4533-2918-4

Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication

Version 1.0
By Jack Lule

Included Supplements

Key Features

Teach Introduction to Mass Communication? Flat World gives faculty the open license and tools to easily personalize textbooks online. Change words, move chapters -- now a textbook by expert authors precisely fits your syllabus, all at a fair price for your students.

Students

Online Access Price:  $32.95 Color Printed Textbook with Online Access Price:  $57.95
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According to Jack Lule, the world did not need another introductory text in mass communication. But the world did need another kind of introductory text in mass communication, and that is how Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication was birthed.


The only question was: What would be the purpose of another introductory mass communication text?

Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication was written to squarely emphasize media technology. Jack believes that an introduction to mass communication text should be a compelling, historical narrative sketching the *ongoing evolution* of media technology and how that technology shapes and is shaped by culture — and that is what he set out to deliver with his new textbook.

 

Today’s students are immersed in media technology. They live in a world of cell phones, smart phones, video games, iPods, laptops, Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, and more. They fully expect that new technology will be developed tomorrow. Yet students often lack an historical perspective on media technology. They lack knowledge of the social, political and economic forces that shape media technology. This is not knowledge for knowledge’s sake. It is knowledge that can help them understand, comprehend, appreciate, anticipate, shape and control media technology.

 

With this focus, Understanding Media and Culture becomes an appropriate title. Indeed, the title has particular significance. Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media is a key text in media studies. Written in the 1960s, Understanding Media was the subject of intense debates that continue to this day. Its central message was that the technology of media — not their content — was their most important feature. In a typically pithy phrase, McLuhan said, ”The medium is the message.“ The title, Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, situates the introductory text in a large, engrossing theoretical conversation.

 

The goal is to adopt a textbook that will support and complement your teaching of this course. Jack Lule’s, Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, will support an engaging and interesting course experience for students that will not only show them the powerful social, political and economic forces will affect the future of media technology, but will challenge students to do their part in shaping that future.

Instructor’s Manual

Instructor’s Manual

The Instructor’s Manual guides you through the main concepts of each chapter and important elements such as learning objectives, key terms, and key takeaways. Can include answers to chapter exercises, group activity suggestions, and discussion questions.

Instructor’s Manual

PowerPoint Lecture Notes

PowerPoint Lecture Notes

A PowerPoint presentation highlighting key learning objectives and the main concepts for each chapter are available for you to use in your classroom. You can either cut and paste sections or use the presentation as a whole.

PowerPoint Lecture Notes

Test Item File

Test Item File

Need assistance in supplementing your quizzes and tests? Our test-item files (in Word format) contain many multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short-answer questions.

At FlatWorld, we take pride in providing a range of high-quality supplements alongside our titles, to help instructors teach effectively. Supplements are available for instructors who have registered their adoption with us. If you need to review or preview something specific, please contact us.


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Jack Lule Lehigh University

Jack Lule (PhD University of Georgia) is the Iacocca Endowed Professor of Journalism and Communication and Professor of Global Studies at Lehigh University. His research interests include globalization and media, international communication, international news reporting, cultural and critical studies of news, online journalism, and teaching with technology. Jack is the author of the award-winning Daily News, Eternal Stories: The Mythological Role of Journalism, published by Guilford Press. Called “a landmark book in the sociology of news,” the book argues that ancient myths can be found daily in current news pages. He is also the author of Globalization and Media: Global Village of Babel, now in its 4th edition. Jack has written more than 50 scholarly articles and book chapters; contributed to numerous newspapers and periodicals including The Philadelphia Inquirer, and has served as a commentator about the news on National Public Radio, the BBC, and other media outlets. Jack is a member of the editorial board of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism and Communication Monographs, and Critical Studies in Media Communication. He has been awarded grants from The New York Times Company Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and others, and he has received four Lehigh teaching awards.

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