This course offers interdisciplinary perspectives to examine the interplay between media and consumption, and its impact on Hong Kong citizens’ daily life. The course focuses on two areas of consumption: food and fashion. Students first explore the local consumption patterns, their historical roots, and their international connections. Students then learn the structure and processes of mass communication in shaping the production, distribution, and consumption of food and fashion in contemporary society. Students will further engage in critical thinking about various formats of social inequality including gender stereotypes, racism, class, and status. They will also examine the role of mass communication and the function of restaurants, cafes, shops, and malls as public space in the process of constructing such social inequality.
