This course is designed to expand your knowledge of American television, from the 1940's to the present. While television programs will be surveyed in terms of genre (sitcoms, dramas, etc.), this course also endeavors to examine them as cultural artifacts and industrial products that reflect and refract issues of class, consumerism, gender, desire, race, and national identity. This course prioritizes critical thinking and the establishment of a thoughtful intellectual community of learners in all aspects of the course (in-class, at screenings). All students in this course are required to participate in discussion.

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