Senior Seminar (History of Media) 54

SILS, Waseda University -- Graham Law -- Academic Year 2022 Fall Term

Senior Seminar (History) 54:
History of Media / Popular Culture

Course Description

Taught entirely in English, this seminar is open to those wishing to center their final semesters at SILS on study in the areas of the MASS MEDIA and/or POPULAR CULTURE.
In the initial fall semester, the seminar will begin with sessions on the seminar theme led by the professor and on job-hunting led by senior students; then senior students will give their final presentations to assist new members in choosing their research areas; finally, the new members will give their own guided presentations as they begin to plan their own projects. By the spring term, students should have decided their own research projects, and the classes will be given over to work-in-progress presentations by seminar members. In the second fall semester, contact with the professor will be principally in the form of individual consultations to support the process of researching and drafting the graduation thesis.
My own research interests are specifically in the British popular literature and media of the Victorian period, but I am happy to supervise students with considerably wider interests. I am especially keen to encourage those adopting historical, comparative or interdisciplinary approaches.

Syllabus

Week 1: 10/1: INTRODUCTIONS: **DOWNLOAD** Opening Class Memo

Weeks 2-4: Sessions on Research themes/methods led by the instructor

	Digital/Social Media &	Reading	Research Method	Worksheet
W2	Marketing	Economist1	Library Catalogues	ResearchMethods1
W3	Politics	Economist2	Library Databases	ResearchMethods2
W4	Mental Health	Economist3	Web Resources	ResearchMethods3

** 8th semester students focus mainly on the readings, 7th semester students on the worksheets

Week 5: 10/29: Instructor Presentation: Being Alone --
Experiences of Isolation in the Imaginary Worlds of "His Dark Materials" Article Presentation

Weeks 6-15: Student presentations (senior students should chose earlier sessions)

	Presenter 1	Presenter 2
W6
W7
W8
W9
W10
W11
W12
W13
W14
W15

Textbook

No formal textbook. Prints can be downloaded from the links on this page.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2012-13 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2013-14 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2014-15 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2015-16 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2016-17 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2017-18 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2018-19 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2019-20 in PDF format.
Click HERE for collected graduation dissertations of the class of 2020-21 in PDF format.

Click HERE for Basic Graduation Dissertations rules
Click HERE for Brief Academic Writing Checklist
***Please note that many of the files are located in a LOCAL folder. This means that they can only be accessed from within the Waseda system (i.e. you must download them EITHER from a computer at the university OR while connected to the university network via VPN). Otherwise, you will receive a message something like this: "FORBIDDEN You don't have permission to access this URL on this server".***

Further Reading & Reference

To be announced week by week

Grading Method

In the Fall 2022 term, all junior students must give an oral presentation AND complete a 2000 word essay on a topic relating to their chosen research project (deadline: Wed. 25 Jan., 2023). The same deadline and presentation conditions apply for senior students submitting their graduation dissertations, thought there is also a completed draft deadline for the dissertation on Wed. Dec. 14, 2022.

Contact
Office Hours: Tuesday Period 3 / Thursday Period 3
Office No: 11-1455
Reports and other communications can be submitted to me either in class, or by mail to:
Post : G Law, Minami-cho 3-9-18, Nishitokyo City, Tokyo 188-0012
E-mail : [email protected]

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