MDSB05H3S MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION
Fall, 2023
Dr. Lewis Kaye lewis.kaye@utoronto.ca
Major Research Essay Assignment 35% of final grade
DUE DATES
Proposal and Annotated Bibliography
5% of final grade Week 4, SEPTEMBER 26
Proposal Length: 1 page PLUS bibliography (NOT including headers)
Final Paper
30% of final grade Week 12, NOVEMBER 28
Paper Length: 7-8 pages (double-spaced, NOT including headers and bibliography)
This assignment is a standard academic essay. Your papers are expected to make use of
original research, develop an original insight or perspective, and put forth an original and
compelling argument.
Instructions for Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography
The proposal component of this assignment is to both get you thinking about your final
paper early in the term and to provide an early opportunity for you to get some feedback
on your ideas. Its job is to provide a basic outline of what you intend to do in your final
paper, and should contain three basic elements of information:
1) WHAT: provide a clear outline of your paper’s topic including your proposed
research question (i.e., describe what your paper will be on),
2) WHY: indicate why it is a significant and worthy topic of investigation (i.e., explain
why this topic is appropriate and important with respect to this course), and
3) HOW: provide an outline of how you intend to organize and carry out your
investigation (IOW, provide a brief preliminary outline of your final paper) by
introducing the theories, examples or case studies you will use to illustrate your
argument (i.e, explain how you will organize your paper).
Your annotated bibliography should have 2 scholarly sources, none of which are assigned
as course readings (you can use course readings as sources for your final paper, but NOT
for the proposal). Each bibliographic entry should provide (1) a properly formatted
bibliographic entry (APA style, preferably), (2) a brief summary of the source, and (3) a
brief description of how it is appropriate to your chosen research topic. Each annotation
should be between 1/3 to 1/2 a page, double-spaced.
** Please note that the 2 scholarly sources requirement is for the proposal ONLY. Your
final paper will require AT LEAST 5 more sources. **
Suggested Research Topics
1) Globalization is often heralded as bringing about a fundamentally new form of society.
But is globalization really new? If so, in what ways? If not, what are the basic continuities
with previous forms of interconnected societies? How might the media of the day either
contribute to or resist globalization? How does the globalization of the past continue to
influence the world today? (NOTE: This is NOT an either/or question. Feel free to say it is
both new AND old. However, make sure to distinguish which features are which.)
2) Explore the relationship between network media, our sense of time and space and the
process of globalization. What are the social and cultural implications of such new ways of
considering time and space? To what degree is our current understanding of globalization
itself a product of a new attitude towards, understanding of and relationship towards a
mediated experience of time and space? Your paper should provide two or three concrete
examples & explanations of how our experience of time and space today is different than
in the past.
3) Pick an historical epoch (e.g., ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Han dynasty-era
China, the European colonialist era, post-WWII, etc.) and examine the state of
globalization as it existed then. What were the key network technologies that facilitated the
globalization of that era? Who owned and controlled these networks, and how did this
shape the dynamics of globalization? What were some of the social and cultural
implications of the network society that prevailed at that time? What can the relationship
between media, networks, and globalization in the era you chose teach us about
contemporary globalization? Be sure to provide two or three reasons that relate to the state
of media or network technologies to explain why the era you chose is particularly
significant.
4) Protocols and standards are crucial to the proper functioning of media networks. Choose
one of these media networks (e.g., the Internet, the telephone network, the rail network,
satellite communication, global container shipping, etc.) and examine the historical
development of its protocols and standards. How has this process unfolded? Who are the
central actors in this process? How have the interests of these central actors shaped the
resulting protocols? What sort of politics have been involved? What are some of the social,
political, cultural, or environmental implications of the way your chosen network has been
organized?
5) Network development is inevitably an uneven process. Choose a particular network and
analyze how the uneven development of this network has manifested in social, cultural,
political or economic inequality. Provide and illustrate three specific consequences in your
paper.
6) The cultural dimensions of globalization are one of the most remarked upon features of
the phenomenon. Choose an example of this aspect of globalization (e.g., globalization of
a particular popular culture industry such as the film or the music industries) and profile its
history and current conditions. What have been some of the social, political, or economic
accommodations or transformations required for this aspect of cultural globalization to
take root? What are some of the tensions or challenges engendered by it? Be sure to discuss
two or three specific concrete examples in your paper.
7) You may develop and propose your own topic of your own choice. If you wish to do
this, I strongly encourage you to consult with me before either part of the assignment is due
to make sure your ideas are in line with the course goals and aims.