This course introduced ways of analyzing the social, cultural, economic, and political contexts in which people produce and consume media, especially television. Surveying foundational scholarship in television and media studies, the class examined a range of critical approaches, including aesthetic/formal analysis, narrative criticism, ideological analysis, political economy, and audience reception. Different approaches to examine issues of style, form, ideology, and identity in a range of historical and contemporary television shows, commercials, and online videos.