Class History of the Media

This course proposes a unique approach to the history of media through cinema itself. Starting from the principle that cinema is simultaneously a means of communication and a reflective device on other media, students will explore the evolution of the press, radio, television, photography, the telephone, and digital media through films that problematize them or incorporate them into their narrative and aesthetics.

Not applicable

The press and mass communication Investigative journalism and power Radio, propaganda, and disinformation Photography, testimony, archive, and the construction of reality Television vs. Spectacle The telephone and the new possibilities of smartphones Satellites and long-distance communications Video as an artistic and cinematic tool Social networks and the transformation of public space Surveillance vs. Privacy Communication and new technologies Disinformation, algorithms, and post-truth Virtual reality and augmented reality as ways of expanding the world.

The course prioritizes the complete viewing of cinematographic works as a primary source of study, complemented by theoretical frameworks and historical contextualization. This methodology allows film students to understand not only what the media were and are, but also how cinema represents, critiques, and transforms them, developing reflective skills for critical and creative writing and analysis.

Briggs, A., & Burke, P. (2020). A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet (4.ª ed.). Polity Press. Elsaesser, T., & Hagener, M. (2015). Film Theory: An Introduction through the Senses (2.ª ed.). Routledge. Gitlin, T. (2003). The Whole World Is Watching: Mass Media in the Making and Unmaking of the New Left (2.ª ed.). University of California Press. McLuhan, Marshall (2008). Compreender os Meios de Comunicação - Extensões do Homem. Lisboa: Relógio D'Água. Postman, N. (2005). Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (20th Anniversary Edition). Penguin. Sontag, S. (2008). On Photography. Penguin Modern Classics.