Framing, a central concept in communication studies, describes the manners with which media package complex realities into (relatively) simple interpretive schemes. This course surveys the main origins and uses of this concept.

We will review two bodies of knowledge - (1) studies in political communication and social psychology that examine framing effects (the picture metaphor) and (2) studies in the sociology of culture that conceptualize framing as a facet of a wider social struggle over meaning (the building metaphor). We will explore how the concept applies to the interests and practices of media producers, texts and audiences.