TV Shows and the Contemporary Society

Course Objectives:

“TV Shows and Contemporary Society” will introduce students to the most common themes of the modern world through major and influential TV shows from the past two decades. Each TV show corresponds with discussion of at least one important political, cultural, or social issue. Analyzing the plots and major characters, together with ideas they represent, students will be asked to formulate their own opinions on topics such as gender discrimination, consumerism, desensitization to violence, rigidity of social classes, influence of American culture, and many other issues that define the contemporary world. The course will encourage students to formulate and support their arguments through group discussion, short writing tasks, and at least one multimedia/multimodal project.

Course Content:

This course focuses on popular TV shows from the past two decades, aiming to explain the connection between their major themes and important issues in contemporary societies. Through reading and critical analysis of the assigned texts, personal reflection, and discussions, the students will be asked to examine a variety of topics in TV shows such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, Mad Men, and The Sopranos. We will analyze how contemporary television influences our views of gender/ethnicity/class, how it refers to current political debates, how it deals with violence, how it responds to consumerism, and how it reflects rigid social stratification. Students will read texts and watch excerpts from relevant TV shows with the aim of understanding the main ideas and applying them to contemporary society.