International Images and Global Communication

Autumn 2016

Course objectives

This course aims to examine how images are constructed, received, and utilized in an international context. Upon completing the course, students will be familiar with theories of images, stereotypes, and constructed reality. They will also be trained to apply such theories to concrete cases in various scenarios, including businesses, social enterprises, and governments at all levels.

Course description

Part I of this course offers an in-depth discussion of theories of images and constructed reality. Part II examines theories in an international context. It highlights the cases of China and Islam and examines/problematizes their images in the Western world. Part III discusses the ways in which theories of international image construction could be utilized in urban, regional, and national development. It includes two case studies where branding nations, regions, and cities become central in promoting tourism and wider economic advancement.

1. / 9/16 / National Holiday
2. / 9/23 / Introduction / No readings
Part I: Theorizing images
3. / 9/30 / A constructivist approach: images as stereotypes / Pickering, Michael. 2001. Stereotyping: The Politics of Representation. New York: Palgrave. (Chapter 1,2)
4. / 10/7 / A constructivist approach: images as stereotypes / Pickering, Michael. 2001. Stereotyping: The Politics of Representation. New York: Palgrave. (Chapter 3,4)
5. / 10/14 / Orientalism / Said, Edward W. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Penguin Paperbacks. (Chapter 1: I,II,III)
6. / 10/21 / Occidentalism / Buruma, Ian and Margalit, Avishai. 2004. Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies. London: Penguin.
(Chapter 1,2,3)
7. / 10/28 / Presentation of proposal
Part II: Contextualizing images
8. / 11/4 / Arab in Western imagination / Ben-Shaul, Nitzan (2006) A Violent World: TV News Images of Middle Eastern Terror and War. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
(Chapter 3,4,5,6)
9. / 11/11 / China in Western imagination/the West in Chinese imagination / 1.  Jacques, M. (2009) When China rules the world: the end of the western world and the birth of the new global order, London: Penguin Books (Chapter 1,2,3,7).
*also available in Chinese
2. Zhang, Longxi (1988) “The myth of the other: China in the eyes of the West”, Critical Inquiry 15(1): 108-131.
10. / 11/18 / Inter-racial image construction: a gender perspective / 1.  Knowles, Caroline and Alexander, Claire, eds.2005.Making Race Matter: Bodies, Space and Identity. London: Palgrave Macmillan.(Chapter2, 8)
2.  Darling-Wolf, Fabienne (2003) “Media, class, and Western influence in Japanese women’s conceptions of attractiveness”, Feminist Media Studies 3(2): 153-172.
3.  Darling-Wolf, Fabienne (2004) “Sites of attractiveness: Japanese women and westernized representations of feminine beauty”, Critical Studies in Media Communication 21(4): 325-345.
Part III: Utilizing images
11. / 11/25 / Branding cities, regions, and nations / Anholt, Simon. 2007. Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions. [Electronic resource] Houndmills, Basingtoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.(Chapter 1,2,3,4)
12. / 12/2 / Branding cities, regions, and nations / Anholt, Simon. 2007. Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions. [Electronic resource] Houndmills, Basingtoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.(Chapter 5,6)
13. / 12/9 / Case study: UNESCO Creative Cities / 1.  Evans, G. (2009) “Creative cities, creative spaces and urban policy”, Urban Studies 46(5-6): 1003-1040.
2.  Bolognani, Marta (2012) “Good culture, bad culture……no culture! The implications of culture in urban regeneration in Bradford, UK”, Critical Social Policy 32(4): 618-635.
14. / 12/16 / Case study: sports, nations and regions / 1.  Cho, Younghan. "Unfolding sporting nationalism in South Korean media representations of the 1968, 1984 and 2000 Olympics."Media, culture & society31.3 (2009): 347-364.
2.  Heinz Housel, Teresa. "Australian nationalism and globalization: Narratives of the nation in the 2000 Sydney Olympics’ opening ceremony."Critical Studies in Media Communication24.5 (2007): 446-461.
15. / 12/23 / End of term presentation
16. / 12/30 / End of term presentation
17. / 1/6 / Write-up and submission

Assessments:

Presentations 30%

Class participation 20%

Term paper 50%

Course requirements

1.  Reading presentation

Each student is required to choose ONE week when s/he will outline and present to the class the assigned reading of the week.

2.  Summary, critiques, and images

Every week, students are expected to bring to the class their own critiques of the reading and some images or examples of the topic. This could be in the form of short written works or you could just speak up and tell us what you think during class discussion.

3.  Term project

Choose one country, people, or international event and base your term paper on the image(s) of it. It could be based on empirical data you collect. It could also be an argument emerging from the synthesis and critiques of wider readings. You will need to present your preliminary ideas and final results to the class.