Final Exam

The final examination is a take-home essay that discusses the historiography of communications and media in American history. Your prompt is:

The overriding theme of the course has been the political economy of communications, that is, the underlying structures that govern how communications works in the United States. How has the political economy of communications developed and changed since the seventeenth century? In your answer, you should make specific reference to at least three specific forms of communications we have discussed this semester, the ways in which they developed over time, and how they operated in comparison to one another.

In your answer, you should discuss Starr, Creation of the Media and also readings from at least six different weeks of the course. The goal, keep in mind, is to think broadly about the history of media and communications as we’ve covered it during the course.

Requirements

• The essay is due by 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 19, in accordance with our exam period as defined by the Registrar. You should submit your essay via Dropbox.
• The essay should be approximately 2,500 to 3,000 words, exclusive of footnotes/citations.
• All material should be cited according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Please consult the Whittemore Library website or the History Department’s skills module if you have any questions about how to cite a particular source.
• You should only use sources from the course except in case of express permission from the instructor.
• The project should represent your own work. You are welcome (encouraged!) to talk to the instructor and/or to seek assistance through CASA, but you should not work with classmates on the assignment.