SOCIOL M176
Sociology of Mass Communication
Description: (Same as Communication M147.) Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Studies in relationship between mass communication and social organization. Topics include history and organization of major media institutions, social forces that shape production of mass media news and entertainment, selected studies in media content, and effects of media on society. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
1 of 1
AD
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - This was my absolute FAVORITE comms class (it's double listed) I've ever taken, even though it was taught asynchronously. The professor talks about the origins and structure of the music, movie, and radio industries, how getting popular in each of these industries works, how something becomes culturally important, etc etc. The course heavily relies on your understanding of the weekly readings and lectures. Prof will check your understanding by asking you to write five 1200 word memos throughout the quarter with your impressions of that week's content. I recommend to do these early to save your future self some stress. There are 3 exams with 2-3 multiple choice and 2-3 free response. The free response focus on the lectures while the MCQ focus on the readings. These exams are easy if you've just watched the lecture once, but be warned that because the exam is shorter, small mistakes like missing one MCQ will cause your overall grade to face a pretty sizable penalty. To my knowledge, no extra credit is offered. Office hours are extremely helpful. Professor has a lot of interesting stories to tell if you want to know a little more about lecture topics or if you are confused about how to prepare for exams. Overall, in my opinion Professor Rossman is one of the best comm/soc professors at UCLA!
Winter 2024 - This was my absolute FAVORITE comms class (it's double listed) I've ever taken, even though it was taught asynchronously. The professor talks about the origins and structure of the music, movie, and radio industries, how getting popular in each of these industries works, how something becomes culturally important, etc etc. The course heavily relies on your understanding of the weekly readings and lectures. Prof will check your understanding by asking you to write five 1200 word memos throughout the quarter with your impressions of that week's content. I recommend to do these early to save your future self some stress. There are 3 exams with 2-3 multiple choice and 2-3 free response. The free response focus on the lectures while the MCQ focus on the readings. These exams are easy if you've just watched the lecture once, but be warned that because the exam is shorter, small mistakes like missing one MCQ will cause your overall grade to face a pretty sizable penalty. To my knowledge, no extra credit is offered. Office hours are extremely helpful. Professor has a lot of interesting stories to tell if you want to know a little more about lecture topics or if you are confused about how to prepare for exams. Overall, in my opinion Professor Rossman is one of the best comm/soc professors at UCLA!
Most Helpful Review
Steve is a wonderful professor and he teaches a fascinating class. He is one of the few professors I have had who bothers to learn the names of his students. (Which is no small task because there are about 150 of them in his classes.) His classes are enjoyable and he is all about letting the students take away from the class what is most important to them. I found papers for his class very difficult to write but I always got an 'A.' This being said, I do not think he is an easy professor, you have to work hard, do and understand the readings, show up for the classes AND participate. If you do all of these you will do just fine and have a great time.
Steve is a wonderful professor and he teaches a fascinating class. He is one of the few professors I have had who bothers to learn the names of his students. (Which is no small task because there are about 150 of them in his classes.) His classes are enjoyable and he is all about letting the students take away from the class what is most important to them. I found papers for his class very difficult to write but I always got an 'A.' This being said, I do not think he is an easy professor, you have to work hard, do and understand the readings, show up for the classes AND participate. If you do all of these you will do just fine and have a great time.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Professor Stein is a wonderful professor who is truly passionate about what she teaches. She is extremely knowledgable and personable and this shows in her teaching. She makes lectures more enjoyable by including music, videos, and films that are contemporary, informative, and intesting. Discussion is optional in this class and her exams are well balanced and fair with a variety of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. Her class also includes a research paper, but it is on relevant and contemporary topics. Overall, this class is highly recommened to those who want to study the sociology of mass communications from a passionate expert.
Professor Stein is a wonderful professor who is truly passionate about what she teaches. She is extremely knowledgable and personable and this shows in her teaching. She makes lectures more enjoyable by including music, videos, and films that are contemporary, informative, and intesting. Discussion is optional in this class and her exams are well balanced and fair with a variety of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. Her class also includes a research paper, but it is on relevant and contemporary topics. Overall, this class is highly recommened to those who want to study the sociology of mass communications from a passionate expert.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Insufferable professor and class. So boring, so dry, very tough to do well. Lots of very dense, boring, very long reading (around two 50-page readings a week sometimes). Not a lot of care put into the slides. Classes were remote because he said he needed a break, but he still held the tests in person because he wanted to make sure the class was still "rigorous". He gave the lectures back to back on Mondays so he could just get it done for himself it seemed, making for one long, dense lecture video a week. Even two separate recordings would have helped. Doesn't know how to engage a class, constantly asked for questions but never asked the class questions. When he was asked a question, he used the word "surely" in his answer like it was obvious, not encouraging more. 3 tests, each a third of the way through the class. Half multiple choice, half blue book essay (2 1.5 page essays, your hand will hurt). Watch out, on the first test he will unexpectedly ask about what methods were used in each reading, not just about the content. He said this was to make sure everyone was doing the readings and not just reading a summary. I did the readings, but I still didn't really remember because you expect to be tested on the content, not the methods. He'll have you pass your blue book away at the beginning so everyone gets a random one. Pretty paranoid about cheating or students not doing their work. Likes to hear himself talk, good at saying simple things in a very complicated way. Seemed to be one of those professors who take out their unhappiness in life by being too tough on their class. Don't take unless you have to.
Spring 2024 - Insufferable professor and class. So boring, so dry, very tough to do well. Lots of very dense, boring, very long reading (around two 50-page readings a week sometimes). Not a lot of care put into the slides. Classes were remote because he said he needed a break, but he still held the tests in person because he wanted to make sure the class was still "rigorous". He gave the lectures back to back on Mondays so he could just get it done for himself it seemed, making for one long, dense lecture video a week. Even two separate recordings would have helped. Doesn't know how to engage a class, constantly asked for questions but never asked the class questions. When he was asked a question, he used the word "surely" in his answer like it was obvious, not encouraging more. 3 tests, each a third of the way through the class. Half multiple choice, half blue book essay (2 1.5 page essays, your hand will hurt). Watch out, on the first test he will unexpectedly ask about what methods were used in each reading, not just about the content. He said this was to make sure everyone was doing the readings and not just reading a summary. I did the readings, but I still didn't really remember because you expect to be tested on the content, not the methods. He'll have you pass your blue book away at the beginning so everyone gets a random one. Pretty paranoid about cheating or students not doing their work. Likes to hear himself talk, good at saying simple things in a very complicated way. Seemed to be one of those professors who take out their unhappiness in life by being too tough on their class. Don't take unless you have to.
AD
1 of 1
