SOC316 CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIA TEXTS
| Course Code: | 2320316 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 6.0 |
| Department: | Sociology |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Prof.Dr. AYŞE İDİL AYBARS |
| Offered Semester: | Fall or Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
The aim of the course is to develop a critical perspective toward the cultural representations of media texts across different platforms and contexts. Media texts do not simply reflect reality; they actively shape cultural meanings, values, and identities. The ways in which individuals, groups, and events are represented or left out, reveal deeper dynamics of power, ideology, and social inequality.
In media studies, representations of gender, race, class, nation, and other social categories are not neutral but constructed within specific cultural, historical, and political frameworks. For example, the portrayal of masculinity in advertising, the framing of migration in news discourse, or the visibility of marginalized groups on social media all point to broader cultural struggles. Media texts simultaneously reproduce dominant ideologies and open spaces for resistance and counter-narratives.
Course Structure
The course is divided into three parts:
Theoretical Foundations
We will focus on key debates in media and cultural theory, including representation, discourse, ideology, framing, post-structuralism, and visuality. These discussions will provide conceptual tools for analyzing media texts. Applications and Case Studies
Building on the theoretical frameworks, we will examine how media texts represent issues such as gender, race, nationalism, populism, and digital cultures. Examples will be drawn from film, news, advertising, and social media. Contemporary Directions
In the final part, we will discuss emerging themes such as platformization, algorithmic visibility, surveillance aesthetics, and post-truth media. These topics will help us assess the cultural and political implications of media in the 21st century.
Pedagogy
The course will be taught in an interactive seminar format. Students are expected to engage with readings, actively participate in discussions, and carry out critical analyses of media texts using the theoretical perspectives introduced in class.
P.S: You can freely use A.I. technologies for creating your essay and your presentations but remember to mention how you used them!
Course Content
Critical discussion of different approaches to the content of mass media messages. Methods and techniques involved in the analysis of content. Assessment of classical and current exemplary research with regard to their theoretical efficacy and practical usages.
Course Learning Outcomes
This course also takes a critical stance toward conventional approaches that treat media texts as transparent mirrors of reality. Instead, we analyze them as discursive constructions structured by language, images, technologies, and power relations. Concepts such as discourse, episteme, text, deconstruction, framing, and post-truth will guide our analyses.
Throughout the semester, we will emphasize that “media text” is not limited to film, television, or news, but also includes digital platforms, algorithms, memes, advertising, and visual culture. By engaging with diverse examples, students will learn to question how cultural representations shape public opinion, political debates, and everyday practices.
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | To correlate sociology and other social sciences | ✔ | |||
| 2 | To interpret knowledge produced by society from a sociological perspective | ✔ | |||
| 3 | To renew and improve their accumulation by following up-to-date publications and research programs in their fields | ✔ | |||
| 4 | To be open to occupational novelties in order to understand social change | ✔ | |||
| 5 | To produce original solutions within and outside the discipline and in interdisciplinary levels | ✔ | |||
| 6 | To know and implement the ethics of sociological research | ✔ | |||
| 7 | To be aware of social, environmental, and economic effects in the areas where sociological approaches are appropriated | ✔ | |||
| 8 | To use and transfer the accumulation of sociological knowledge in an interdisciplinary way | ✔ | |||
| 9 | To understand social structures and dynamics by correlating the past, the present and the future | ✔ | |||
| 10 | To connect social theories of knowledge and social practices | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution