COMM-310 Final Review

State the name of each guest, their background, and the contribution to the given lecture.
Week 9: Race, Education
Michele Turner: executive director of USC Black Alumni Association
Reminds us that the perspectives of Lyndon Johnson and MLK are not representative of
everyones POV (i.e. Malcolm X?)
Biracial; black dad and white mom (they couldnt legally be married, threat of being lynched)
Same degree should get same treatment regardless of race (but this is not happening)
Property ownership (i.e. homes and therefore longterm wealth) is very closely linked to race
-Wealth can be an equalizer to an extent
Advocates for POC to find mentors to guide you through barriers/injustices/etc.
Critical of USC and its diversity initiatives (calling for POC to be decision-makers for POC/
diversity issues)

George Sanchez: Vice Dean for Diversity and Strategic Initiatives; USC history professor
USC gives students from surrounding area/low-income families spots at USC through various
programs BUT how can we expect these kids to compete with those who had affluent
upbringings/excellent high school educations, etc.?
-USC is giving opportunity but not supporting nor helping our diverse student body
Wealth is cumulative (and based on past privilege, privilege of ancestors/family/etc.)
-POC have been given higher interest rates/other financial disadvantages to prevent this
accumulation of wealth
Wealth is being built in white families via government funded policies (i.e. sanctioned housing
discrimination)
All universities are doing a con job to a degree (promising a degree of success that is not at all
guaranteed); need to tell students that nothing is certain/guaranteed and that they should be
focusing on developing liberal arts skills
In 1992, alums tried to get USC to move out of neighborhood (post-riots)
-USC choice not to move (very important decision)
Works
very closely w/ first generation college students (product of the lack of addressing racial

inequalities, often feel out of place at a school like USC)

Camille Gear Rich: Associate Provost for Faculty and Student Initiatives in the Social Sciences;
law and sociology professor
A lot of discrimination isnt blatant/intentional/active (subconscious, we were trained to
discrimination; not intentional but still harmful)
Have to create a positive environment w/o silent/background discrimination at USC
Innocent wealth is a result of privilege (need to recognize and disrupt this privilege)
College degrees shouldnt only be seen as a means of economic opportunity, should improve
you as a person/citizen
Need to complicate the convo about discrimination; students need to make decisions to interact
with people who are different from them (will help to negotiate these issues)
-People are choosing to be ignorant

COMM-310 Final Review

Mark Lloyd: Comm Professor, TV journalist, lawyer for FFC (previously), saw him first class
Wanted to show the Lyndon Johnson speech to show that Johnson understood that there were
no easy solutions to racial inequality
Johnson was very concerned with pokey (both white + black and realized these were
different)
-Black poverty IS different (biases, prejudices, historical circumstance, segregation,
housing discrimination in govt, etc.)
Criticizes the Clinton admin for being too focused on crime rather than addressing root issues
of crime
First challenge = accepting our biases so we can address them
Idea that you may not get all that you work for (applies to all marginalized groups, black
Americans, latinos, women, etc.)

Week 10: LGBT Sexuality

Larry Gross: same guy from Mr. Fish lecture, expert on LGBTQ issues/LGBTQ + media
Formal curriculum: what we are all required to learn, someone gets to decide what this is
Informal education: optional, you get to choose; can be in the form of news, movies, media,
etc.
3 core institutions that inform morality/what we should or shouldnt do = religion, state,
science
-Religion (particularly Christianity) promotes sex as a means of creating kids; otherwise
sinful
-State incorporated these religiously based ideas about sex into law
-Science studies sexual deviation (homosexuality = illness)
Sexual
Behavior in the Human Male - Al Kinsey = book that basically talked about the wide

range of sexual behavior behind monogamous, heterosexual relationships

Sexual revolution = begins w/ oral contraception, helps give women control over reproduction
and sexuality; Playboy emerges
-Straight men really won here
Emergence of gay neighborhoods/communities = very important
-Unlike racial/ethnic minorities who are often built into communities with others like
them, gay ppl do not have this

Lance Black: wrote Milk

Credits AIDS epidemic for hollywood rise of openly gay actors/movies/etc.

Week 11: Sports

Petros Papadakis: captain of worst USC football team; comes from long line of Trojans (and
specifically athletes); commentator
1970s, Alabama didnt have any black athletes on their football team + were losing terribly;
USC played them, beat them super badly (w/ many black players); marks the moment when
Southern college football became more integrated

COMM-310 Final Review

Sark controversy: people knew what was going on w/ him and his problems (esp. the people in
the athletic dept.); Haden hired Sark knowing he was an alcoholic, also hired Kiffin (didnt vet
him well); USC is not taking responsibility for their reckless decision with Sark; putting their
players at risk; Haden is incredibly powerful and people are reluctant to question him
(everyone outside USC wants him to step down); USC can kind of do whatever it wants b/c of
$
Argues that athletes/players know the risk they are putting themselves in (the fact that football
= dangerous is nothing new or surprising for him)
-There is a lot of pressure to continue performing regardless of injury
So much $ in football (college and pro); broadcasting rights, jobs like his for commentary, $
for players, etc.
Feels like he is in bed with the broadcaster/channels he works for (cant be critical about
certain things)
Fantasy football - brings a lot of $ to NFL, desensitizes ppl even more in terms of not thinking
about players as humans/people
Issue of academic qualifications for athletes
-Shouldnt have been able to get into Cal or USC based on grades
-Treated like he didnt deserve to be there to an extent
Football (and other pro sports too) is unique in its ability to continue making money today as it
is meant to be watched live; it is not DVR-able but rather a social/cultural event that is meant
to be watched live
Petros likes the idea of athletes getting compensated to a degree (i.e. he got $5000 in a bank
account for every 12 units completed; gives people $ for when they are done w/ school or if
they get injured)
-Doesnt think it makes sense to pay college players like pros
NCAA didnt actually want to investigate anything (but when they found out about the Reggie
Bush thing through the media they had to do something); it was a minor in fracture but USC
handled it SO poorly that the NCAA chose to come down really hard on USC
-USC was not innocent; instigated the situation
Problem = we tell kids that if they play hard/are good in college, you will go to the pros (lie)
-Illusion of opportunity, especially to kids who may not have many other opportunities to
succeed
-Can be good in the sense that it gives kids direction/passion

Week 12: Internment

Richard Reeves: USC annenberg prof, prolific journalist
Wrote Days that Live in Infamy: US Treatment of Japanese in WWII
Mary Powers: plastic surgeon

Week 13: Rise of China

Janet Yang: second time shes come, film industry
China is trying to get back to a place as a world leader/civilization

COMM-310 Final Review

Cinema is a way to share culture, philosophy, POV, history w/ the rest of the world (and
particularly w/ the west); media as a proven way to communicate effectively/connect
Media casts China very negatively/as very friendly or alien place (most people are shocked
about what China is really like when they go to visit)
-Pop culture/media is not representing China in a way that grabs peoples attention in a
good way
-Needs to learn how to sell/market itself
Cultural Revolution = cultural disaster. made nina out of touch with its own history and culture
as well as the rest of the world
Chinese box office will surpass American in terms of profit
Still insecurity in Chinese film industry (people have inflated sense of fame/power/expertise of
white American filmmakers)
-This is changing though; more and more movies geared towards Chinese audience
Importance of social media
-Used as a tool for discussion, dissent, etc. and govt. is really afraid of this (constantly
monitoring, suggest start the govt might be more afraid of the people than the people are
of the govt.)

Joshua Goldstein: Dornsife prof.

Problematic to think of China as a cohesive unified entity
Many Chinese people are not happy with current system/govt./politics/leadership/values
-Challenging the idea that our values are necessarily contradictory to Chinas
Environmental issue might trump all other issues as it affects EVERYONE; mutually-assured
destruction

Yu Hong: author/Chinese scholar

Idea that China doesnt necessarily have to adopt American model of economy/consumerism in
order to become liberal democracy
Critical of the binary system of whether China = opportunity (for US) or threat (to US)
China = largest exporter to USA (economies are very closely linked)
Chinese companies are becoming more and more integrated into global economic system
-Argues that china is not trying to change/uproot existing system but rather get a better
footing within existing one

Dean Wilson: Dean of Annenberg, studies Chinese-African relations

China/America relation = relevant b/c of USCs strong relationship with China (many int.
students)
Annenberg/USC scholar were invited to talk/brief Chinese officials/business owners to discuss
key issues (very prestigious honor, great way to communicate about issues)
Doesnt matter who started the polluting/consumption/environmental crisis; but now we all
have to deal with it (even though we played a huge role in this)

Orville Schell: former Dean at Berkeley, prolific author about China

COMM-310 Final Review

Labelled as a contrarian by Prof. Scheer
China has Constitution w/ many protections just like the ones we have but they do not have a
constitutional supreme court
-Constitution isnt necessarily applied in the same way
Chinese
media is still very Mao-ish (controlled, propoganda-ish vs. media in theory = separate/

not controlled by govt)

Question: how do we (US) relate to a society (CHINA) that has very different values/beliefs?
We dont know if China wants to change the global system (unclear what Chinas ambition is,
unsure of how it will play out)
Ignorance on both sides about the other (but particularly on the American side)
China is playing a victim in its national narrative; sense of paranoia towards other countries
-No longer a victim, needs to reframe this narrative
It
is
a
life or death matter of getting better at cooperating (environmental crisis)

Doesnt think US or China should necessarily be looked at as a moral model/beacon

John Kiriakou: former CIA spy, whistleblower on CIA torture program

US intervenes all the time w/o thinking about the longterm consequences (very different than
China in this regard)
Joined CIA thinking they were doing good/important things
During Clinton admin, there was a great degree of respect for human rights/morality; fell apart
when Bush tok office
Watched colleagues waterboard al-Qaeda associate (Abu Z.); horrible mental/physical abuse
that resulted in ZERO useful information
-Became disenchanted, offered training in enhanced interrogation)
Pendelum
has swung almost completely to the national security side (rather than civil rights)

received call from abc accusing him of torturing abu z (denied this; felt like he was being set
up)
-Went on news and directly contradicted Bushs claims about torture; said torture was an
official practice; has been signed off on by Pres.
-Couldnt be charged for actually talking about torture (cant criminalize revealing info
about a crime)
Charged for confirming the name of a former colleague; govt. will get you if they want to get
you (drain you of time, money, resources)
His case vs. how they treated Petraeus case

Week 14: Porn, 1st Amendment

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewsk: screenwriting team for The People vs. Larry Flynt
Falwell/Flynt case expanded the protection of free speech (and specifically of parody)
Making the film was daring but they could make it b/c they had already gained fame/
recognition from other projects
-Wanted to frame story in the context of free speech/1st amendment rights
-Movie is about core American values and constitutional rights (not just porn!)

COMM-310 Final Review

IRL, the one lawyer didnt represent Flynt for as long as he did in the movie (slight inaccuracy;
needed to emphasize the character so the SCOTUS scene would be effective)
Film studio was afraid that rev. Falwell would come after them so Larry/Scott decided to use
paraphrasing of ACTUAL things Falwell said (to protect themselves/the studio)
The film = a biopic (distinct from documentary)
-Had to decide what to include/exclude
-Asked themselves: why will/should Flynt be remembered? (answer: publishing Hustler
and the Supreme Court case vs. Falwell)
-Changed some reality/truth by keeping lawyer/staff consistent throughout the film
-Gave Larry/Scott role as historian/expert as they get to go through the history and craft it
into a narrative
Surprised by the fact that the LEFT actually attacked the film (claimed that they were
glorifying the porn industry); expected to be attacked by the conservative right
Miller Standard was important in protecting Hustler/other materials (in terms of obscenity)
-Hustler/Playboy/etc. had a lot of text so they could avoid legal attacks
Implications of Flynts supreme court case = emotional distress is NOT a grounds for limiting
someones first amendment rights
-Paved the way for other comedians/satirists to engage in parody legally
Flynt read the script
-Afraid that he would be offended by how they rearranged life events (he was not)
Dont
think that you could make the movie today (had more liberty then???)

Week 15: Campus Sexual Assault/Rape Culture

Amy Ziering: producer of The Hunting Ground
20% of college undergrads are sexually assaulted (huge number of people are denying this;
rape-deniers)
Denying stats (i.e. about serial rapists) = a way for people to deflect/avoid the real issue
(sexual assault) and avoid admitting that rape/assault is a legitimate problem
-For some reason, people are REALLY criticizing stats in this film (this didnt happen
with The Invisible War about rape in military); likely b/c the people being accused of
these crimes are white, affluent, middle-upper class and/or universities
Rape is the only crime that gets the response of blaming the victim (clothes, alcohol, not
saying no enough, why didnt you fight him off)
Goal of film = to make the viewer angry at the institutions that are allowing this to happen/
covering it up (dont want viewer just to be angry at specific assailants)
Kirby Dick: director of The Hunting Ground

Describe/summarize each text/film/etc.:

Reading Week 9: Race, Education
1. Chapter 4 Privacy is Freedom - Prof. Scheer
People are too comfy turning over their privacy in order to consume/get convenience
Zuckerberg says that privacy itself is gradually going away (people are giving up more and
more info voluntarily)

COMM-310 Final Review

Eric Schmidt of Google = if ppl dont have anything to hide, they shouldnt be worried about
snooping
US went from society that was OBSESSED/grounded upon privacy to one where people are
willing to give it up so easily
FB gave scientists access to tons of user info so that they could test if they could change users
moods (emotional contagion); basically study without consent/ethics
-Scientists claimed it was b/c they cared about emotional impact of FB
-Sandberg at FB admitted it was to improve marketing (all about making $)
Overall
FB argues that 4th amendment only protects against govt. searches

-Takes data for its own uses but then protected users when govt. tried to get FB to turn
over to charge ppl for cheating/illegally claiming disability
Minerva = Pentagon program, funding academic research
-Seems to be aimed at controlling public dissent through surveillance/manipulation/social
media/etc.
SCOTUS ruling; Riley v. California: info on cellphone cannot be searched without warrant
(ppl have right to expect privacy here)
-Need to expand 4th amendment to apply to new technologies

2. Why Didnt Higher Education Protect Hispanic and Black Wealth? by William R. Emmons
and Bryan J. Noeth (Federal Reserve)
Conclusion:
higher edu does not protect the wealth of all racial/ethnic groups equally; higher

edu alone CANNOT level the playing field (economically)

Strangely POC with college degrees did worse than POC without

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Reading Week 10: LGBTQ Sexuality

1. Milk
Runs for city supervisor (loses), runs for assemblyman
-People tell him he has no chance/ppl arent ready for gay in govt.
-He criticizes liberals for not taking issues seriously (i.e. hate crimes, discrimination)
Votes all over the county that would repeal bill stat protected gay rights (i.e. housing); huge
protests all over about this (Milk was involved)
Became supervisor in 1978
Harvey proposes Gay Rights Ordinance that would protect people from being fired on basis of
sexual orientation (Sen. Briggs/Briggs Initiative trying to fire all gay teachers)
-Milks Ordinance passes
-Briggs Initiative fails
Shot by Dan White (another supervisor who had had a lot of problems w/ Milk)

2. Year of the Queer: Hollywood and Homosexuality - Larry Gross

Specifically about the success of Brokeback Mountain
-Everyone is super concerned about the trauma of having to act/portray intimate moments
w/ same sex partner

COMM-310 Final Review

-Ledger and Gyllenhaal both say that they dont think their characters are really gay
Gay for pay - straight actors getting paid big $ for gay roles; expectation for gay actors to
stay in the closet

3. Hollywoods Closet Still Closed for Business - Larry Gross

About Milk (most roles played by straight actors; why?)
Question: will US accept gay actors in leading roles? (gay or straight?)

Reading Week 11: Sports

1. A Legal Titan of Sports Labor Disputes Sets His Sights on the N.C.A.A. - Edler
Jeffrey Kessler, antitrust lawyer, filed lawsuit against NCAA; wants schools to be able to
decide what they should pay/give their athletes
Advocating for open market in college athletics (already successful in NBA/NFL cases)

2. N.C.A.A. Must Allow Colleges to Pay Athletes, Judge Rules - Strauss & Tracy
OBannon Case: judge ruled that NCAA must allow compensation of athletes when their
names or images are used in video games and TV broadcasts
-$ will be put in trust funds that athletes can access post-grad
This doesnt mean athletes HAVE to be compensated; schools might go into bidding wars for
players (but NCAA will be allowed to cap this)
Colleges are making SO much money off these players; shouldnt they get a piece?

3. Emancipate the Black College Athlete - Darron Smith

Specifically talking about how young black men are being taken advantage of in college sports
(used to make money, see very little of this)
Mistreatment and idea that black bodies can be controlled/used

4. The NFL Dodges on Brain Injuries - Patrick Hruby

NFL is supposed to compensate players for injuries (but there are set maximums; players often
get MUCH less); vast majority of players will not get compensation or care that they need due
to injuries cased directly by football

5. The OBannon Ruling: Student-Athlete Is History

student athlete = strategically used term; makes no actual sense for college football players,
trying to make it very clear that theyre not really professional athletes but simply students
who choose to play sports (trying to avoid making them sound as legit as they are)

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6. Brain Trauma to Affect One in Three Players, N.F.L. Agrees
!

7. Pat Haden, USC shouldn't have waited so long with Steve Sarkisian
Basically shitting on Haden for how he handled this situation (knew what was going on,
feigned innocence)
-Nikias needs to get rid of Haden

COMM-310 Final Review

8. Prof. Scheer Podcast w/ John Dean

Critical of how US govt is handling leaks
-Obama admin is putting people in prison for leaks; claims to be protecting the
presidency/national security but Dean doesnt buy it
Dean wrote Worse than Watergate about Bush and his lack of transparency/secrets

Readings Week 12: Internment

1. Ch. 5 - Prof. Scheer
Regina Dugan = worked for Pentagons Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA, program that brought internet and GPS, etc.); portrayed positively as bringing
Silicon Valley type of thinking/creativity into govt.
-Dir. of Googles Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP); very vague program
-Has electronic tattoos, pills, etc. that serve as ID verification/authentication
Recall: Eisenhower (who started DARPA) warning against military-industrial complex (now it
is military-intelligence complex)
-Transition: same corrupting connection between national security state and for-profit
companies that produce destructive implements of war
Total Information Awareness (led by John Poindexter, didnt see privacy as a constitutional
right)
-Collects literally everything you do (transactions, emails, etc.)
-People pushed back; Cngress dismantled TIA in 2003 largely because of Poindexters
controversial personality/choices
NSA then created ARDA (Advanced Research and Development Activity), very similar to TIA
In-Q-Tel: govt. sponsored venture capital firm, investing in Silicon valley companies,
supposedly ind. of CIA but answers fully to CIA
-Founded by George Tenet (direct of CIA)
Palantir: private, for profit company tat tangles dense info for intelligence/law enforcement,
essentially asme thing as Total Info Awareness program, founded by Thiel (founder of Paypal)
-CEO = Alex Karp (very different from Poindexter)
-Presents itself as counterculture/all about privacy (when it is actually the opposite)
-Anonymous hacked Palantir (revealed that the company was trying to disrupt legal orgs
that were countering propaganda of Chamber of Commerce)
Iraq was incredibly profitable for private companies
Govt threat goes largely unnoticed b/c private companies are doing all the dirty work
Even Palantir statse that liberty does not have to be sacrificed to enhance security (so why is
this happening?)

2. Adams and Langes photos

Both shot Japanese internment/what Japanese Americans were subjected to

3. Review of Reeves book

Days that live in infamy: US treatment of japanese in WWII

COMM-310 Final Review

Dewitt (Lt. Gen) called for FDR to incarcerate potential enemies (AKA Japanese Americans)
b/c the fact that they hadnt done anything yet = proof that they are going to do something in
the future
Exec Order 9066 authorized detainment of Japanese in US into concentration camps
Reeves book = account of internment
Reader can see the parallel between this/Reeves book and the world we live in today
(survellience, post-9/11, treatment of Muslim Americans, etc.)
Rounded up in Jan 1942
So many Japanese Americans served in WWII (fighting for US!)
-Should demonstrate loyalty and lack of threat
-442nd infantry regiment = almost all japanese americans, most decorated unit for its size
in us history; first to liberate one of satellite conc. camps in Germany (ironic, members
of the 442 saw that these concentrations camps looked like what they experienced in US)

4. Brief history of Manzanar

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor = Dec 7 1941 > US into WWII and led to internment
-Intensified racism, fear of sabotage/espionage/etc.
FDR seigned exec order 9066 in feb 2941 to authorize military areas for threates aka
japanese americans
families were given only days to figure out what to do with their homes/possessions before
they were sent off to centers (CA, AZ, AK, CO, ID, UT, WY), pocess complete by nov 1942
Manzanar = CA, 2/3 of interns = american citizens by birth; others had been denied citizenship
-No privacy
-extreme weather conditions for most ppl coming from southern ca
-did the best they could (made gardens, did agricultural work, started church groups)
-eventually let out, but NO japanese americans were actually charged of any crime
many japanese americans were serving in us army pre-pearl harbor, stopped drafting them after
1942 (enemy aliens)
1944, draft reinstated for japanese americans; 442nd regimental combat team (highest casualty
rate, most decorated for size/length of service)

5. p.100 Mr. Fish - Dr. Seuss

Very offensive depiction of Japanese man

6. 1942 Propoganda Poster

How to differentiate friends from Japs (racist propaganda)
a lot of scientific racism (basically saying there are certain physical features/attributes that
allow you to ID people)

Readings Week 13: Rise of China

1. A Whistleblower Shall Set Us Free Chapter 6 - Prof. Scheer
About attacks on whistleblowers
Mark Klein = whistleblower on AT&T/NSA

COMM-310 Final Review

Thomas Drake = NSA analyst, talked about how govt. was collecting data via PATRIOT act
-Charged w/ 10 felonies (all dropped) and had to plead to misdemeanor (but first they
drained him of all his resources)
-Obama re-opened/tried to convict him (Drake thing happened during Bush admin)
Obama
ran on a platform of transparency (but he has actually been worse than Bush)

Daniel Ellsberg released Pentagon Papers (about Vietnam War)

Leon Panetta (head of CIA) gave tons of details about OBL to Zero Dark Thirty movie crew
(nothing happened to him!)
John Kiriakou was prosecuted for talking about torture (although they couldnt actually charge
him for THIS crime, got him in other ways)

2. Can the U.S. And China Get Along?

people are very pessimistic about us-china relations at the moment
china = problematic to us b/c of its civil/political rights violations, attack on universal
values, etc.
Advocates for telling China that we want to see them rise but we are willing to do what we
have to if china doesnt behave appropriately (AKA how we want them to)

3. How China and U.S. Became Unlikely Partners on Climate

Coming together as the issue affects them both (and US/China are main contributors);
recognition that there will be no solution without collaboration
-Can still disagree on other things and work on this

Readings Week 14: Porn

1. Ch. 8 - Prof. Scheer
9/11 made people more accepting of surveillance culture, but this stuff was happening even
before 9/11 (even in 2000 Scheer was writing about how snooping has become so easy/
invisible, whereas before it was labor intensive/more obvious)
9/11 was almost good for the US government in that it allowed them to justify and expand
survellience that they were already doing (perfect excuse)
Scheer says we are losing the battle between ind. freedom and collective conformity (bad!)
computer/internet/technology = both great in its capabilities and terrible in terms of its ability
to do destructive things
Even Google execs Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen said that everything is easily available for a
regime that wanted to create a digital police state (not hard to do)
1890 - Louis Brandeis extended reach of 4th amendment (privacy, extending personal
freedom)
-Concerned about technologys great to privacy (even in 19th century!)
-Olmstead v. United States (1928); IDed govt as potentially privacy evader (win for
privacy side)
Library
of Congress is storing all public twitter posts (why?)

9/11 = merging of corporate and govt. in an attempt to use national security as a guise to spy
(and make $)

COMM-310 Final Review

-PATRIOT act basically took away all of the basis of constitution (kept getting renewed)
Individual rights are most severely tested when foreign policy/national security are at the fore;
wartime = supressor of freedom
There was evidence almost immediately to show that Bushs choice/rationale for invading Iraq
= bogus
Media was weakened in its ability to cover national security issues
-Govt. had increased ability to use media to propagate their message
-Modern surveillance allowed govt. to spy on reporters/pressure them
Jeff Bezos - Amazons founder/owner, owns Washington Post, contracted to build $600 million
cloud to store spy agency data (conflicting interests!)
Most dangerous thing we can do = accept the idea that we are powerless and accept what is
happening as OK

2. Miller v. California
Supreme Court case ruling on obscenity, expanding protections for people to express 1st
amendment rights
-Have to consider if there is literary, artistic, political, scientific merit/value

3. Porn Wars: The Debate thats dividing academia - Guardian Article

Attwood and Smith collecting/gathering scholarly work on porn/journal
-Dont think porn is necessarily getting any worse/more violent
Many people disagree with Attwood/Smith (think they are coming from a non-critical, proporn perspective, not considering all the research that has been done about harmful impacts of
porn)
Concern specifically w/ depictions of rape within porn (or real rape being filmed)

4. XOJane - 10 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Porn

Basically just that porn isnt real life

5. Can a non-religious Web-savvy campaign against pornography work? - Daily Dot

About Fight the New Drug (claims to be non-political/non-demoninational, focuses on young
people specifically)
-But connected to LDS in some ways
Relying on science to show that porn = harmful, addictive drug (very little real data/science)
Important to take peoples problems seriously (IDing as addict), but classifying porn =
addictive by nature is dangerous

Readings Week 15: Rape

Articles about rape/college campus rape

Lecture Notes/Question
Lecture 9: Race & Education Questions/Info
1. What was in the Lyndon Johnson commencement speech at Howard? Why was it important?

COMM-310 Final Review

Recognizes that everyone should have pride/freedom/pursuit of happiness/etc.
Calling for a change/revolution; equality and justice are long overdue
Optimism about new/upcoming legislation (no discrimination based on skin color, new voting
rights, etc.)
-Barriers to freedom are falling down, but realizes this is not enough; equality is not
always true in practice
Recognizes that there is a painful history (legacy of slavery) and that we cant expect people
who have been systematically oppressed to suddenly be competing on level playing field with
those who have had privilege
-All born w/ same ability but then external forces influence this
Talks about this idea of two nations (white and black)
Black Americans inherit crippling poverty (need to end this cycle)

2. What does the assigned report tell us, according to Professor Scheer?
Report is from a very cautious institute (Federal Reserve; not inflammatory/not trying to make
a political point)
Education does NOT protect the wealth of all racial/ethnic groups equally
-Recession was much harder on POC

Lecture 10: LGBT Sexuality Questions/Info

None; see guest notes.

Lecture 11: Football

See guest notes. Recall comparison that Prof. Scheer made between nationalism and sports/
football.

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Lecture 12: Internment
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Lecture 13: China
See guest notes.

Lecture 14: Porn

Miller Standard: deals w/ what is obscenity and what isnt; what sexual content and other
potentially offensive content is constitutionally protected

The People vs. Larry Flynt

Flynt was shooting pics that showed full genitalia
Arrested for obscenity, organized crime, etc. (a ton of charges throughout his career)
Shot after leaving court, paralyzed from waist down
Leaks FBI video, selling coke (refuses to release sources)
Sued by Rev. Falwell for libel/other stuff due to Hustler cartoon
-Charged w/ causing emotional distress (not libel)
-Appeals, goes to SCOTUS

COMM-310 Final Review

-Flynt wins the case in front of conservative Supreme Court

Lecture 15: Rape

The Hunting Ground
Follows a number of girls at different schools who were raped and then treated very poorly by
administration/not taken seriously
-One UNC admin compared rape to football; asked what the victim would have done
differently to avoid it
-Victim shaming (blaming it on alcohol, clothing, etc.)
-Admin. is there to protect the school/institution, NOT the students
-Discourage reporting to keep #s low
Very few (if any) rapists were expelled or punished (and if they were, they were often readmitted)
Stat = a very small # of men actually rape, but those who do often commit it again
(controversial statistic, film was criticized for including this)
Women started using Title 9 to pressure schools to take rape/assault seriously
-Dep. of Edu took on the UNC girls case while UNC continued to deny reality
-These girls were often threatened or harassed for speaking out
Schools didnt want to take these accusations seriously because they wanted to protect
reputation and keep/maintain money
-Want low crime rates to attract applicants and donors
One case in particular = Erica Kinsman from Florida State, raped by Jameis Winston (star
quarterback, now in NFL); no one took her seriously; had to leave school as a result