Fall, 2009 cntv 345: Health Issues in Entertainment Media Section 17803r co-Instructor

Mary Pickford Chair of Film and Television Production

School of Cinematic Arts

Phone: (213) 740-7511

E-mail: dmayer@usc.edu

Office hours: Mon 11-12; Tues 4-5 or by appointment Office location: SCA 411

Phone: 323-865-0385

E-mail: jeanr@usc.edu

Office hours: email to set private appointments

Office location: HSC Topping Tower 3409A
Location: GFS 213
Schedule: Monday 2-5:20
Teaching Assistant:

E-mail:
Course Description:

Cinema, television, and interactive games influence the public’s expectations, beliefs, and knowledge about health and healthcare in both passive and active ways. While health professionals may use these media to influence health behaviors or to disseminate research findings, viewers may also develop their beliefs based on content in media intended purely for entertainment purposes. The course will largely examine material that transmits health information inadvertently because so many health issues provide strong and compelling story lines both nationally and internationally. However we will also view entertainment education material that is more conscious with its health messages and seeks to influence viewers to change opinions and behaviors. We will examine the intersections of media and health from multiple perspectives including public health, media production, critical studies, cultural studies, communications and visual culture studies.
This course focuses on the ways in which entertainment media provide information about health and influence health behaviors.