Course description and objectives

This is a course about media subversives: people working outside of mainstream media institutions who nonetheless find creative and provocative ways to use the media as a space for cultural, political, and/or economic critique and resistance. Over the course of the semester, we will examine a range of "alternative" media phenomena, including:

Our goal will not be to simply romanticize these "outlaws" as latter day Robin Hoods, nor will we merely condemn them as criminals or troublemakers. Instead, we will study how and why such figures struggle against the global "media monopoly" so that we might come to a richer understanding of (a) the nature of the media's considerable political and cultural power, and (b) the ways that ordinary people can engage with powerful cultural institutions, not as passive consumers, but as active participants and creators.

Few (if any) of the issues we'll address this semester have easy or predictable solutions. How well you do in this course will depend on (1) your ability to think critically about issues of media, culture, politics, and resistance and (2) your ability to argue your position(s) on those issues persuasively, rather than your ability to memorize and repeat the "right" answers.

Permanent course rules

1-001. Applicability of rules.

All rules listed in the original syllabus are in effect when the semester begins and remain in effect until and unless they are officially changed.

1-002. Rule types.

There are three types of course rules:

• (a) Permanent course rules. These rules can only be created, changed, amended, or repealed by the professor, who will only do so under emergency circumstances. They are numbered with a "1-" prefix.
• (b) Major course rules. These rules require at least a supermajority vote (i.e., greater than 66.66% of eligible voters) to be created, changed, amended, or repealed. They are numbered with a "2-" prefix.
• (c) Minor course rules. These rules require at least a majority vote (i.e., greater than 50% of eligible voters) to be created, changed, amended, or repealed. They are numbered with a "3-" prefix.

1-003. Hierarchy of rules.

In the event of conflicts between two or more rules, major rules take precedent over minor rules, and permanent rules take precedent over both major and minor rules. If conflicting rules are in the same level of the hierarchy, the rule with the lowest number takes precedent (e.g., a rule numbered #3-152 would take precedence over a rule numbered #3-155).

1-004. Class participants.

There are four categories of class participants:

• (a) Professor. The professor (Gil Rodman) is the final arbiter and enforcer of all course rules, and the only person authorized to determine and/or assign final course grades. He is also authorized to determine and/or assign grades for individual assignments (or portions thereof).
• (b) Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). The GTA (Amy Pason) is authorized to determine and/or assign grades for individual assignments (or portions thereof) as delegated to do so by the professor. The GTA is not authorized to determine and/or assign grades for graduate students.
• (c) Graduate students. This category includes all enrolled students formally designated by the University as graduate students and any other student who, by mutual agreement with the professor, intends to fulfill the graduate level requirements for this course.
• (d) Undergraduate students. This category includes all students formally recognized by the professor as grade-earning participants in the course who do not fit the description of "graduate students" given above.

1-005. Eligible voters.

All students included in #1-004(c) and #1-004(d) above have the right to propose new rules and/or rule changes, and to vote on official ballots. Proposals and/or ballots that only apply to one category of students can only be proposed and/or voted upon by students who belong to the affected category (e.g., graduate students cannot create or change rules that only apply to undergraduates, and vice versa). In any voting situation, each student has exactly one vote. In the event of a tie vote, the GTA is empowered to cast the deciding vote. Should the GTA choose not to resolve the deadlock, the professor will cast the deciding vote. Otherwise, the professor and the GTA are non-voting participants.

1-006. Quorum.

Any ballot that fails to achieve a quorum of at least 50% of all eligible voters will be null and void, regardless of the final outcome of the vote.

1-007. Passed ballot grade points.

When a ballot passes, the student who formally proposed that ballot will have one (1) point added to their final course grade.

1-008. Timekeeping.

For purposes of all course rules, a "course week" begins at 4:00:00 pm CT every Tuesday and lasts until 3:59:59 pm CT on the following Tuesday.

1-009. Grade queries.

Questions about specific grades should be directed to the assignment's original grader. In the event of a dispute over a GTA-assigned grade, the student in question must make every reasonable effort to resolve that dispute with the GTA before the professor will intervene. Should the professor intervene in such a dispute, he will regrade the assignment in question, and the resulting grade -- which may be higher than, the same as, or lower than the original grade -- will become the official grade of record for the assignment. The GTA is not empowered to change grades assigned by the professor.

1-010. Higher law.

No course rules can be created, changed, or amended in such a way as to violate (a) federal, state, or local law; (b) official UMN regulations; and/or (c) Communication Studies department policies.

Major course rules

2-001. Books.

The following required books are available at the University Bookstore in Coffman Union:

• Ben H. Bagdikian, The New Media Monopoly
• Stephen Duncombe (ed.), The Cultural Resistance Reader
• Tim Jordan, Hacking
• Laura Kipnis, Bound and Gagged
• Lawrence Lessig, Remix
• Kembrew McLeod, Freedom of Expression
• Negativland, Fair Use
• Eric S. Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar [revised edition]
• The Yes Men, The Yes Men

Please note that earlier editions exist for the Bagdikian, McLeod, and Raymond books. Students who opt to acquire their books from alternate sources should do their best to acquire the editions listed above. The actual differences between these versions varies considerably (for McLeod, it's minimal; for Bagdikian, it's significant), but students who choose to use an older edition of one (or more) of these books do so at their own risk.

Students who choose the major research project option (see #2-011 below) are strongly encouraged to use the following recommended book (which is also available at the University Bookstore in Coffman Union) as a helpful guide for how to conceive, plan, research, and write their final papers:

• Wayne C. Booth et al., The Craft of Research [third edition]

2-002. Course blog.

All students on the official course roster as of 19 Jan have been given posting privileges for the course blog. The principal uses for the blog will be for:

• proposing and discussing all changes to the official course rules,
• ongoing discussions of issues raised by the assigned readings and/or in class,
• occasional "virtual lectures" designed to stimulate (additional) online discussion, and
• course-related business announcements.

2-003. Yoga mat.

All students are required to locate and purchase a molded rubber yoga mat (in UMN maroon and/or gold only; minimum length of 120 inches) that they will bring to every class meeting from 10 Feb until the end of the semester. Students who come to class without their yoga mats will have their course grade docked one (1) point for each and every such infraction.

2-004. Graduate students.

All of the original course rules apply to graduate students except as follows:

• Graduate students are required to meet with the professor every 3-4 weeks (places, dates, and times to be determined) to discuss additional graduate-level readings (also to be determined).
• Graduate students are required to fulfill the "major research project" assignment. The resulting paper must be (a) 6250-7500 words long and (b) suitable for submission to a scholarly conference and/or journal. Graduate students are expected to submit a proposed paper topic by 17 Feb and a final version of their paper by 12 May, but they are not required to submit "verification pages" or to meet any of the other intermediate paper deadlines/requirements.
• Graduate students are required to do all the assigned readings listed in #2-018, but are not required to complete the "reading responses" assignment.
• Final course grades for graduate students will be based entirely on the major research project with potential adjustments (as necessary) in accordance with the requirements specified above.

2-005. Grades.

Final course grades for undergraduates will be calculated using the following schedule:

Final grade point totals will translate to letter grades as follows:

• "S/N" grades will only be given to students who have registered for the course on an S/N basis.
• "I" grades will only be given under extraordinary circumstances (i.e., major life emergencies).

2-006. Attendance/participation.

Class meetings will be structured around discussions rather than lectures. The professor will assume that all students present on any given day are suitably prepared to contribute to those discussions: i.e., they will have done the assigned reading carefully enough to offer productive comments and questions about it. In this context, "being prepared" does not require a full mastery of the assigned readings. It does, however, require the sort of good faith effort that can be demonstrated with a thoughtful question and/or a clear explanation of at least some meaningful portion of the reading. Vague, superficial, and/or generic contributions (e.g., "I just didn't get it," "I liked this essay," "What does [word found in the reading] mean?") will not count as evidence of adequate preparation.

2-007. March Madness.

All students are required to predict the winners of both the men's and women's 2009 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournaments, and to submit their predictions to the professor in writing by the start of class on 12 Mar. Students who fail to submit such predictions or who fail to predict both tournament winners correctly will have three (3) points deducted from their final course grade.

2-008. Written assignments -- general rules.

(a) Where/how to submit assignments. With the exception of the reading responses (which are to be submitted only in digital form), all written work must be submitted in both printed and digital versions, and the text of each version must be identical.

• Printed versions should be double-spaced and stapled (do not use plastic covers/binders).
• Digital versions should be emailed to rodman@umn.edu.
• Acceptable digital formats are OpenOffice, WordPerfect, Word, RTF, PDF, HTML, and plaintext.
• Neither the professor nor the GTA will print out hard copies from digital submissions, and so students will not receive written feedback unless they submit both versions.
• Students submitting printed versions of assignments outside of the normal class period should either hand such work directly to the professor or place it in his campus mailbox in 250 Ford. Do not submit assignments to the GTA, the GTA's mailbox, or under office doors. Please note that 250 Ford normally closes shortly before 4:00 pm every day.

(b) Deadlines. At least one -- and preferably both -- versions of any assignment must be submitted by 4:00 pm on the date it is due. Students who only submit one of the two required versions on time have until 12:00 noon on the day immediately after the due date to submit the other version. Late penalties will apply to all assignments that do not meet these deadlines, and will be assessed in direct proportion to the assignment's lateness. The minimum penalty in all such cases will be one full letter grade.

(c) Grammar/spelling/etc. Grades for written assignments will be based primarily on content (rather than form): e.g., insightful, smartly argued essays that contain a few spelling errors will almost always receive higher grades than grammatically flawless papers that have weak arguments. Nonetheless, grammar, spelling, and style still matter to the effective presentation of a strong argument, and assignments suffering from significant "form" problems will be penalized accordingly.

(d) Accepted languages. All written assignments submitted after 10 Feb must be submitted in one (or more) of the following languages:

Written work submitted in any other languages -- including English -- will be penalized a full letter grade.

2-009. Reading responses.

All undergraduate students must write and submit a minimum of twenty (20) short reading responses, each of which will consist of a brief critical response to one of our assigned readings. Each reading response is due by 4:00 pm the day before the class period for which the reading in question is assigned. Further details about this assignment are available on a separate handout. That handout constitutes a legally binding extension of this course rule.

2-010. Critical response papers.

Undergraduate students choosing to complete critical response papers are required to write and submit at least four (4) essays of 1000+ words, each of which should be a critical (i.e., thoughtful and analytical) response to a particular range of the assigned readings. Further details about this assignment are available on a separate handout. That handout constitutes a legally binding extension of this course rule.

2-011. Major research project.

This assignment will result in a 4000+ word argumentative research paper on a topic appropriate to the course's central theme. Final papers are due by 4:00 pm on 12 May. There are several mandatory intermediate deadlines designed to help undergraduate students complete their projects in a timely and satisfactory fashion.

This assignment is designed so that it can be used to satisfy the Senior Paper requirement for Communication Studies majors. Students intending to use this project for this purpose must:

• inform the professor in writing of their intent to do so by 29 Jan,
• register for Comm 3995W by 30 Jan (see the department's undergraduate advisors in 274 Ford for "magic numbers"), and
• earn a grade of B- or better on their completed project.

Further details about this assignment are available on a separate handout. That handout constitutes a legally binding extension of this course rule.

2-012. Super Bowl counter-ad assignment.

All students will write and produce a broadcast-quality 30-second TV advertisement that critiques the glorification of consumerism and militaristic nationalism that pervades the Super Bowl broadcast. Each ad must contain recognizable game footage from the official televised broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII (5:00 pm CT on 1 Feb on NBC). Finished ads are due on 5 Feb and must be submitted in DVD format. These ads will not be graded, but any student who fails to complete this assignment will have five (5) points deducted from her/his final course grade.

2-013. Academic dishonesty.

The following is a partial list of major examples of academic dishonesty:

• plagiarism in any of its forms,
• copying assignments (in whole or in part) produced by other students,
• having someone else research and/or write substantial portions of any graded assignment, and
• knowingly assisting someone else in their efforts to engage in any of the above practices.

The minimum penalty for academic dishonesty is a zero for the assignment in question -- and, in cases involving the major research project, such a penalty will result in a final course grade of F.

Further information about the University's official policies with respect to academic dishonesty -- including more detailed explanations of what constitutes "plagiarism" and "cheating" -- can be found online at http://writing.umn.edu/tww/plagiarism/

2-014. Recordings and course notes.

Students may make audio recordings of our class meetings for their personal use, provided they can do so without disrupting the ordinary flow of the class. The purchase and/or sale of either written notes or audio recordings of our class meetings is strictly prohibited.

2-015. Code-your-own software assignment.

All students will design and code a major piece of software from scratch. Allowable types of software for this assignment are limited to the following:

Finished software is due on 24 Feb and must be submitted in DVD format. This assignment will not be graded, but students who fail to complete it will have five (5) points deducted from their course grades.

2-016. Etiquette.

Significant disruptions of the normal flow of course-related business -- e.g., using cell phones in class, excessive side chatter, engaging in premature leave-taking behavior -- will result in grade penalties for the student(s) involved.

2-017. Polka pledge.

From 12 Feb onward, all of our class meetings will begin with a mandatory group recitation of the "Polka Pledge." The pledge's full text (which all students must memorize) is as follows:

Polka! Polka! Polka!
It's the only music for me!
Polka! Polka! Polka!
It sets your spirits free!

Hip-hop just hurts my head.
Jazz makes my ears hurt.
Country makes me wish I were dead.
Rock sounds like nothing but dirt.
Polka! Polka! Polka!
It's the only music for me!
Polka! Polka! Polka!
It sets your spirits free! Boo-YAH!

Students who fail to memorize the Pledge completely and accurately, to participate in our in-class recitations of the Pledge, and/or to abide by the noble ideals expressed in the Pledge will have their final course grade penalized one (1) point for each such infraction.

2-018. Reading/assignment schedule.

The schedule below lists reading assignments and due dates for major written assignments. Readings should be completed in advance of the dates listed.

Minor course rules

3-001. Facebook profile photo

By the start of class on 3 Mar, all students must change their primary profile picture on their Facebook page to the official logo of one of the following:

All students must keep their chosen logo as their primary Facebook profile picture until the end of class on 7 May. Students who do not already have a Facebook page will be required to set up a Facebook account in order to comply with this requirement. Students who fail to meet this requirement fully will have their final course grade docked by four (4) points.

3-002. Changing course rules.

With the sole exception of rule changes proposed in class on 22 Jan (see #3-013 below), all changes/additions/amendments to the course rules must adhere to the four step process described in rules #3-004 through #3-007.

3-003. Email timing.

From 15 Feb onward, all course-related email sent by any student to either the professor or the GTA must have a timestamp indicating that it was sent between 3:24:00 am and 3:32:17 am CT. At the sole discretion of the recipient, any email messages sent outside that obligatory time period will either (a) be ignored completely or (b) result in a one (1) point penalty assessed against the sender's final course grade.

3-004. Proposing rule changes.

All potential rule changes must first be proposed on the course blog. An official proposal will consist of a post to the course blog in which:

• the subject line takes the form "PROPOSAL #mm-dd-name" -- where "mm-dd" are numbers representing the date on which the proposal is made and where "name" consists of the first initial and last name of the proposal's author. [Example: a properly formatted subject line for a proposal made by Chris Thompson on 8 Feb would be "PROPOSAL #02-08-CThompson"]
• the body contains the precise text -- and only the precise text -- of the proposal that will be put to a formal vote.
• the post is formally marked as belonging to the "rule changes" category.

Proposal names are not case-sensitive (e.g., "PROPOSAL #04-11-DSmith" is functionally equivalent to "proposal #04-11-dsmith"). Spacing, punctuation, and leading zeros, however, do matter (e.g., "PROPOSAL #03-06-TJones" is a valid proposal name, but "PROPOSAL #3-6-TJones," "PROPOSAL 03 06 TJones," and "PROPOSAL #0306TJones" are all invalid). Blog posts that fail to follow the requirements listed above precisely will not be considered to be legitimate proposals. Votes cast on any illegitimate proposals will be null and void.

Proposed rule changes must relate to official course business in a clear and explicit fashion, and must be enforceable within the existing structure of the course. The outcome of any and all ballots must be fully decidable by means of a simple Yes/No vote.

Each student is allowed to put forward a maximum of one (1) legitimate proposal each per course week. In the event that a student puts forward more than one legitimate proposal in a single course week, only the first such proposal will be considered to be legitimate.

3-005. Discussion of proposed rule changes.

The successful posting of a legally formatted proposal will automatically start a 72-hour period for open discussion of the proposal in question. The discussion period is intended to give proposal authors the opportunity to assess the potential effects and/or viability of their proposals -- and, if they so desire, to make revisions to their proposals prior to any formal vote. During the discussion period, any and all course participants are welcome to use the course blog to offer questions, suggestions, objections, and/or other commentary on the proposal in question.

3-006. Revision or withdrawal of proposed rule changes.

After the discussion period ends, the original proposal author has three options:

• (a) To post an official revision to the proposal. Such a revision must follow the same format described in #3-004 above except that the word "PROPOSAL" must be replaced by the word "BALLOT." Once the discussion period has ended and a legally formatted revision has been posted, no further revisions are permitted, and the voting period (see #3-007 below) begins immediately.
• (b) To withdraw the proposal completely. For a withdrawal to be official, the original proposal author must post a new message to the course blog that clearly, unambiguously, and unconditionally states her/his desire to withdraw the proposal. Once formally withdrawn, a proposal is not eligible for an official vote unless it is subsequently put forward as a new proposal following the rules described above.
• (c) To do nothing. If 24 hours passes after the discussion period and neither (a) nor (b) above has happened, then the original proposal automatically becomes a "live" ballot.

3-007. Voting.

The official voting period for all ballots will last for 72 hours. Votes on any given ballot must conform to the following rules:

• Votes must be sent via email to rodman@umn.edu during the official voting period.
• The subject line must contain the precise identifying portion (i.e., the "#mm-dd-name" portion) of the ballot in question.
• Ballots must originate from an email address that clearly and recognizably belongs to an eligible voter: e.g., a student's official UMN email address or a non-UMN email address that the professor can reliably and accurately associate with an eligible voter.
• The body of the emailed ballot must contain one and only one of the following three words: Yes, No, Abstain. This word will be recorded as part of the official vote tally for the ballot in question.

Votes on separate ballots must be submitted in separate emails. Votes that are unclear, ambiguous, and/or conditional will be null and void. Once cast, votes cannot be changed or retracted. Votes that fail to follow these requirements precisely will not be considered to be legitimate votes, either for deciding the outcome of a ballot or for constituting a quorum.

3-008. Gopher spirit.

From 19 Feb onwards, all students must wear T-shirts to class honoring two great Minnesota sports teams of the past. On Tuesdays, students must wear maroon T-shirts displaying a team photo of the 1962 Rose Bowl champion Gophers. On Thursdays, students must wear gold T-shirts displaying a reproduction of the Minnesota Daily story describing the women's basketball team's appearance in the 2004 Final Four. Students who fail to wear the appropriate T-shirts on the appropriate days will have their final course grade docked two (2) points for each infraction.

3-009. Changed rules.

Changes to existing rules are considered to have passed if and only if:

• they have been proposed in accordance with the official course rules,
• they have been voted on in accordance with the official course rules,
• they have been judged by the professor not to be "illegal" rule changes, and
• they have received the number of Yes votes necessary to change the rule(s) in question, as determined by their hierarchical type.

3-010. New rules.

New rules are considered to have passed if and only if:

• they have been proposed in accordance with the official course rules,
• they have been voted on in accordance with the official course rules, and
• they have been judged by the professor not to be "illegal" rule changes.

New rules will be assigned to a hierarchical category based on the percentage of Yes votes received: i.e., a new rule receiving at least a supermajority Yes vote will be implemented as a major course rule, whereas a new rule receiving only a simple majority Yes vote will be implemented as a minor course rule.

3-011. Effective date of rule changes.

Any rule change(s) resulting from a passed ballot shall take effect at the start of the first class meeting following the completion of the voting period. No ballot may have retroactive application, even if its wording explicitly states otherwise.

3-012. Formal record of rule changes.

The full text of any rule changes resulting from passed ballots shall be added to the official course rules maintained on the course blog.

3-013. "First week" ballots.

During our class meeting on 22 Jan, students will have the opportunity to meet in small groups for the purposes of proposing changes to the course rules. After that review process, each group will be allowed to propose one (1) official ballot in class. Any such ballots must be submitted to the professor by the end of class on 22 Jan, using the official form provided for this purpose. The discussion and revision periods for these ballots will be waived, and the 72-hour voting period will begin immediately after the professor posts the ballots to the course blog. For purposes of rule #1-007, grade points for any "first week" ballot that is officially approved will be awarded to all listed members of the group that originally authored the ballot.

This rule does not infringe on the right of any individual student to propose a separate ballot during the first course week in accordance with the procedures described above.

N.B.: There are no fewer than ten (10) deliberately flawed rules in the original syllabus. Students are strongly encouraged to locate these, to propose rule changes that would repeal and/or modify them, and to vote these rule changes into effect. Otherwise, by rule #1-001, even these flawed rules will remain in effect until and unless they are officially changed.

3-014. Change your major.

Before classes resume after spring break, all undergraduate students must have officially and permanently changed their major, and must provide suitable documentation demonstrating that this change has been filed with the University. Students who begin the semester as Communication Studies majors must change to one of the following majors: Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, Dental Hygiene, Radiation Therapy, or Urban and Community Forestry. All other students must change their major to Communication Studies. Students who fail to provide documentation of their major change will be assigned a course grade of "F."