TV SHOWS AND THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

Course Objectives:

TV Shows and the Contemporary Society will introduce students to the most common themes of the modern world through major TV shows in the last two decades. Each TV show corresponds with at least one important issue. Analyzing the plots and major characters, together with ideas they represent, students will be asked to formulate their own opinion on the topics such as gender discrimination, consumerism, desensitization to violence, rigidity of social classes, abuse of religion, and many other issues that define the contemporary world. The course will enable students to express their opinions in a process-based essay and several in-class assignments. Students will also have a group discussion on a topic they choose.

Course Content:

This course focuses on popular TV shows in the last two decades, aiming to explain the connection between their major ideas and important issues in contemporary societies. Through reading and critical analysis of the proposed texts, personal reflection, and discussions, the students will be asked to examine a variety of topics in TV shows such as The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Handmaid’s Tale, Westworld, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Black Mirror, and Squid Game. We will analyze how contemporary television influences our views of gender, 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 the contemporary society.