Introduction to Media Studies
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this introductory survey of media broadly defined, covering oral, print, performance, photographic, broadcast, cinematic, and digital forms. The course traces the history of media transformations and the institutions shaping media's role in society, using a comparative and interdisciplinary lens. This iteration focuses on network culture and media convergence, examining intellectual property, peer-to-peer authoring, blogging, and game modification as case studies. Materials include the full syllabus, readings, and assignments as published on MIT OCW, letting students work through lecture topics and writing exercises at their own pace. No certificate is offered, consistent with MIT's open courseware model, but all course materials are freely downloadable under a Creative Commons license.