User Comments

What users have been saying about this site:

    Date:     February 9, 2006 8:34:12 PM EST
Hi, Prof. Streeter--

I thought you might be interested in what I sent to my Culture and Mass Media class
regarding your work--thanks!   I teach in the School of Journalism and Mass Media at the
University of Idaho. This is a 400-level class, with a lot of abstract and theoretical material--
I'm always looking for good examples to use in class, and your web essay has a lot of them.

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Dear Class--a change in the readings for Tuesday and Thursday. Please read Berger Chapter 3 for Tuesday and Chapter 10 for Thursday--we'll skip 11--Ch. 3 (on metaphors) is more important right now.
Also, a student (thanks Macy) found a wonderful web essay by a Vermont sociology professor on advertising and use of female imagery in our advertising "system." This is useful information with great examples whether you are simply analyzing ads or creating them. These are what "works" right now in our culture (think of Barthes' ideas as you review these). There are a lot of slides but it won't take you long to go through them and Prof. Streeter's analysis. Here's the link: http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/

    Subject:     the Semiotics and Ads website
    Date:     January 20, 2006 8:21:16 PM EST
Hi

. . . I am a mentor (similar to a TA) at Portland State
University.   I got your website from a fellow mentor who used it in one of her
classes at PSU. I have recently used the site with my 3 mentor sessions (each
has 12 students, who come from a variety of disciplines and are generally at
the Sophomore level) and it was a great tool for providing background and
generating discussion. I'll include a little more detail below.

I don't have any academic background in semiotics (beyond having a critical view
on culture), but I was trying do a creative session to help my students with an
advertising analysis assignment. They are supposed to analyze ads from the
1920s (I mentor for an American Studies class and we're focusing on the 20s),
but I had decided to practice analyzing modern ads so they could get a feel for
the method of inquiry. I went through the site before I gave it to them so I
could give them a little bit of a background in preparation for the viewing it.
I then had them check out the general introduction and the "menz view..." page.
They were so involved with the information that they ended up spending 20-25
minutes on their computers. I was a little worried they would get bored, but I
had to give them more time because they were so interested in the material.

After the individual time on the computers, we had a group discussion about
whether or not they bought into the idea of using ads to examine culture,
things they found particularly interesting (all three classes brought up the
gaze of women and using women in women's magazines), the power of advertising,
and the circular nature of advertising. I then had them get into groups of 3
to analyze the ads or magazines they brought it. It was great.

Anyhow, thanks for all the information and work you've put into the site. It
was a better way of introducing the topic of semiotics than if I'd had to do it
on my own.

    Subject:     On the gaze
    Date:     January 14, 2006 6:24:08 PM EST
Thomas,

Thanks for a wonderful resource. I teach art appreciation an use Berger's
text to begin the discussion of the gaze. Berger's book is provocative, yet
it leaves students thinking he misogynist. When I explain he is actually
bringing insight into an issue, it feels like I am apologizing for Berger's
language. I would like to direct them to this link for a nice exposition of
the point of Berger's argument.

    Subject:     Web essay on The Male Gaze
    Date:     January 9, 2006 2:09:32 AM EST
Great essay! It really brings to light the meaning behind these ads and images. I would recommend a better last photo (if possible) though. Although the woman is squarely directed at the camera and communicating something other than sexuality, she is still "canting." She is looking up at the camera, which still shows that she is submissive or at least inferior to the viewer (the man). It will be nice when equality is finally reached.
Thank you,

    Subject:     Your semiotics program
    Date:     December 2, 2005 7:11:22 PM EST
Dear Dr. Streeter:

I want to inform you that I used parts of your semiotics and ads and narrative program at the end of my course, Anth 205, Language and Culture, to dovetail with Danesi's book on the same topic.

It worked well as a class exercise, and students enjoyed the images immensely.

Thank you!
College of Charleston, South Carolina

    Subject:     comment on your website
    Date:     November 7, 2005 5:20:42 PM EST
Mr.Streeter,

I am a student at Wright State University in Dayton, OH. I am in a
class on Alcohol and Drugs in Society. For this class I am writing a
paper on the influence advertisement has on people's alcohol/drug use
behavior. I found your website very helpful in understanding how
advertisement works. It is easy to understand, even though you are
presenting complecated ideas and I have nenver had any class that
deals with semiotics.
Thank you for making this available to everyone on your website, and
not just your students. It was very helpful!

    Subject:     your site
    Date:     October 28, 2005 10:58:28 AM EDT
Hi there,
I can't tell you how useful your site is, I found it via a paper on www.jrconsumers.com, well done, it is just what my undergrads will like and I will use it and feedback any comments to you.

Great work!

School of Marketing
Univeristy of the Arts, London

    Subject:     Comments on The Semiotics of Media
    Date:     October 14, 2005 2:35:47 PM EDT
Dear Prof. Streeter,

I'm a PhD student in Computer Science and Digital Communication of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. I'm a reader of your website of The Semiotics of Media, and found the slide-html format of the content is a much better idea to teach a subject that works on images and easily gets people confused as well (but you made it quite clear). Also, I love your writing. It's an enjoyment, and encouraged me to click "next". All your effort helped me to get 7 out 10 in the Quiz.

THANKS A LOT!!

    Subject:     Website on semiotics
    Date:     September 24, 2005 12:32:29 PM EDT
Thank you so much for putting this web page "out-there"
I am a non-traditional student enrolled in pursuit of a bachelor in Liberal Arts. Normally I understand the concepts and theories from lectures, class discussions, and reading the materials provided. However, in my current class (Liberal Studies, 211, Interpreting Meaning) I am clueless.

I have found your articles, definitions, and explanations extremely helpful.

    Subject:     Your semiotics self-study web site
    Date:     September 10, 2005 6:48:09 AM EDT
Hello
I hope you will not mind me writing. I am an English and Media Studies teacher in the UK and, for some years have pointed my students in the direction of your excellent site on semiotics.

I teach a wide range of 14 – 18 year olds and they tell me that although they find the site fascinating and quite useful, it is always in part a real struggle for them. This is natural, of course, as you designed it for university level mature students. I was wondering, therefore, if you would find it reasonable for me to ask if I could use an edited version of the site, changing the level of its content sufficiently to suit the curriculum of the age group I teach? I know this is a rather cheeky request because the site represents a lot of original and hard work but the image aspect of the site is so especially well suited to my student’s needs and the general tone and ideas presented and developed are exactly in line with my own teaching that I would really prefer to continue to use it than create one of my own – not least because ,y time as a teacher is so very short with prep, grading and marking. I find your site gives students just a sufficiently sceptical outlook on media institutions and texts that it is helpful both in terms of their approach to the media and to their exam grades!


    Subject:     Semiotics and Media
    Date:     July 29, 2005 1:42:31 AM EDT
THANK YOU THANKYOU AND THANK YOU

I found this site whilst looking for easy to understand semiotics. I’ve developed questions for my students to answer as they follow the prompts.

I think they understand a little more about semiotics but I know I do…

I’d be very interested in others like this available for my students.

I teach in Australia so Australian content would be best but the fact that this is available is great.

    Subject:     Hi
    Date:     July 28, 2005 8:22:09 AM EDT
Hi Mr.Tom, . . . from India.

I want to thank very much you for your wonderful essays on Semiotics in Media. I found them very instructive and practical for my purposes. I work as a creative head at a media company, you see.

I would very much like to know more about Semiotics in films and television. I know this is a very usual request you get and you could also dish out a bunch of links on the topic. But that is not what I need.

I have been to other sites that have pages and pages of essay on the topic that could not put even an iota of the enormous understanding that your lucid site gave. (That is no exaggeration - I don't like false compliments; to give or to take)

    Subject:     Hello from the University on Newcastle
    Date:     July 23, 2005 9:18:32 PM EDT
Hi, . . . I am a first year student studying Communication at the University of Newcastle. Your website is part of the recommended reading list on our Communication and Culture course website and I am just writing to say that I read the essay Male Gaze, Fashion Advertising and the Pose and found it great. It was very easy to read and interesting. I like to way it is broken up with images and small paragraphs. Just thought you'd be interested to know.

    Subject:     Thanks for the Semiotics Web Site
    Date:     May 29, 2005 1:11:15 PM EDT
Tom,
   Thank you for your web site on semiotics. I have been disappointed with my class that covers the subject, but your straightforward definitions and explanations have clarified a host of issues for me. I am able to grasp the topic much better now.

London School of Economics

    Subject:     Permission to link to web site
    Date:     May 25, 2005 4:52:45 PM EDT
Hello,

I ran across your web site on gender poses in advertising and was wondering if I might have permission to link to it for a Media Theory and Design class I am teaching in the fall. Will it still be up?

Columbia College, Chicago
Digital Media Technology

    Subject:     semiotics and ads
    Date:     April 21, 2005 8:39:57 AM EDT
Hello

Thank you so much for your website - I'm currently studying semiotics and trying to write an assignment and you have managed to make sense of a subject that I completely booged down in jargon and overtalking on the subjects finer points. Thank you. I get it.

Subject: Dr. Streeter,
Date: April 13, 2005 2:28:01 PM EDT

Dr. Streeter, I just wanted to thank you again for your most excellent primer on Semiotics, esp. the slideshow on advertising and the male gaze. You've presented such a lucid discussion of some very complicated theory. You've helped my students (who are freshmen and sophomores at a CC in Oregon) immensely. thanks again,
Dept. of Language, Literature and Communication Lane Community College

thanks again,

    Subject:     Semiotics site
    Date:     March 29, 2005 9:05:21 PM EST

Thank you!..I am a first year external communications student,studying through the University of New England (Armidale, Australia), and returning to study for the first time in almost 20yrs. Your site helped to reinforce what I had been reading in the text...it is easy to follow, and the visual examples great ..(please dont proofread my ramblings)..

    Subject:     Shopping Mall Windows
    Date:     March 26, 2005 12:48:29 PM EST
Dear Professor Streeter,

Searching the web for articles on advertising, I came across your excellent presentation, "A Web Essay on the Male Gaze, Fashion Advertising, and the Pose." A photographer/artist, I've been taking photographs of shopping mall displays with a small pinhole camera. The window displays, overwhelmingly photographs of women, are in mainstream clothing and department stores one finds throughout the country. The results aren't subtle. They look like photos of women in a red-light district. I'm accumulating the pinhole photographs with the hope of showing a hundred or more in a non-profit space.

Strangely, half the people I talk to about my project say, "What mall window photographs?" I guess we're so used to these images that many people don't consciously note them.

    Subject:     Semiotics presentation
    Date:     March 10, 2005 7:21:17 AM EST
Mr. Streeter, I love this presentation. I'd like to use it in a freshamn
composition class introducing critical analysis, etc...Most of the
students are from SE Asia and the concept of analysis in these ways
(reader response, semiotics, etc...) is very strange. I keep trying to
pull together the right kinds of images and text to illustrate. Well,
your class' work does exactly this.

Is there a way to use it without an active Internet connection?

Webster University Thailand

    Subject:     web essay on semiotics
    Date:     February 28, 2005 6:50:34 AM EST
As a part time/ correspondence MA student grappling with some of the
concepts of cultural studies, your web essay was the equivalent of a lecture
exploring some of the key concepts.

Just wish you had one on each of the course concepts :)

Thank you.

    Subject:     semniotics
    Date:     February 27, 2005 3:50:04 PM EST
Dear Thomas Streeter

I have just been reading your excellent article on semiotics on the web.

I find it excellent. It has greatly clarified a subject that I was beginning to find almost impossible to take on board

However for some reason I can only view pages up to your example on advertising
I don't know if this is a computer fault of whether your lesson has not been completed.

I am studying in Swansea University UK for a Masters degree in the faculty of art and design my particular speciality is photography.

I will try again to see if I can continue your excellent lesson as I have soon to write a 3000 word essay on a subject that I cannot fully grasp.

    Subject:     semiotics and ads
    Date:     February 19, 2005 7:42:03 PM EST
Hi Thomas,

I really enjoyed your article on the web "Semiotics and Ads". Out of general
interest I have just read an introductory book on Semiotics (reading for
pleasure!) and struggled a bit with some of the concepts. Your website
article illuminated a number of things and really made me think. This is
where the internet really scores for me, accessibility and education for
all.

I wish there were more websites like yours.

Many thanks and keep up the good work

UK

    Subject:     Semiotics web page
    Date:     November 29, 2004 12:15:52 AM EST
. . . I am a freshman at Parsons School of Design in New York City, I just wanted to let you know that I find your page very useful to my project of semiotics right now. It was difficult for me to understand the term "semiotics" because english is a difficult language for me but your website has helped me and so Thank You!

    Subject:    your site on semiotics and media
    Date:    October 27, 2004 3:00:05 AM EDT
Hi Thomas!

I am a Swedish sociologist and researcher on media and popular culture. I
really appreciate your website on semiotics, and I also put up a link to you
on my blog at http://simon.lindgren.com/popcultblog.html, and you are of
course welcome to post a comment there.

    Subject:     Comment on web site
    Date:     October 25, 2004 12:30:51 PM EDT
Good morning,

I very much appreciate your web site on semiotics. I am a Marketing Manager at a Credit Union here in California and I teach communications classes (Public Address and Small Group Communication) for our local college as well. I send my marketing staff to your site for a better understanding of our goals when advertising to our credit union members, and I also offer it to my students when we discuss how to be critical consumers of rhetoric. Your web site gives a clear overview and I appreciate having it available.

I noted one typographical error (I must have been reading more carefully this time). It's about the 15th slide (the topic is "ads and codes"). It shows a little boy in front of a TV. The text says "There's an important point here: signs, myths, and codes do not effect us ......" I think you intended to say "affect us."

Again, thanks for a terrific web site. I'm always grateful it's still online each time I go back to find it.

San Luis Obispo, CA

    Subject:     Re: awesome
    Date:     October 19, 2004 8:22:51 PM EDT
My degree is Film Studies, and Television Studies is a required component. This semester is just Television (United States) and next semester will be Canadian. It comes up in a unit on Cable Television beside Betsy Williams' article "North to the Future." We have not had a lecture on it yet, but it will be interesting to see how the professor decides to apply your material.

    Subject:     hi from israel
    Date:     August 11, 2004 3:25:11 PM EDT
hi thomas

i read your excellent web essay "A Web Essay on the Male Gaze, Fashion Advertising, and the Pose". i found it on Google, it explained a lot about the male gaze issue and is going to help me in later communication/gender studies in the university (tel aviv)
wonderful job

    Subject:     Thanks!
    Date:     July 7, 2004 11:10:16 AM EDT
The two web essays on this site have opened my eyes to look at ads in a different way. I’m not saying that I am immune to the effects that ads have on me but at least now I am aware of how they are used to lure me into forming my own ideas (ideas that the ad is supposed to invoke in me), it was especially clear with the front page from the USA Today of the arab kissing the american flag.

So, thank you for a terrific website and you deserve a pat on the shoulder for it.

P.s The creators of the ads are they really aware of all the signals they are putting into the ads or is it just a knack they have ?

    Subject:     Hi
    Date:     July 5, 2004 12:28:49 PM EDT
I went through your presentation on Semiotics online, I feel the treatment
of the whole issue is very well done and unique. It gives one a fresh
perspective. I am a student of National Institute of Design in India. I am
doing a self study on 'The Male Gaze'and thats how I came across your
website.

    Subject:     media semiotics
    Date:     June 26, 2004 3:08:49 AM EDT
Dr Streeter,
It was a great pleasure to read your articles online.
I am an assistant professor of contemporary English at VTUniversity, Bulgaria.I am interested in media semiotics.
Do you think it is worth trying to do research for my PhD on the topic:
The role of the media in the presidential campaigns in the USA and Bulgaria?

    Subject:     Your Media and Communications Studies Site
    Date:     June 12, 2004 6:35:47 PM EDT
Wonderful! I intend to direct my English Composition students to your site in the hope that they can begin to "see" beneath the surface. I am attaching an ad that I am using and have used in the past (for a Sociology class). Perhaps you'd like to have it for your own classes.

So far, this semester, I'm getting nothing with this ad. I am still waiting to hear from my nursing majors (it's an online class). Perhaps when they've viewed your site, we'll do better!

Thank you for your terrific site, and hope you find the attached to be of use.

    Subject:     The sign just started to make sense...
    Date:     March 16, 2004 1:25:54 PM EST
Hello,

I just visited your website. It is absolutely amazing.
I am a third year student in Communications Studies at the Concordia University in Montreal, and I take a class in semiotics. Your web site is not only very interesting and well done, but it explains semiotics in a very comprehensible way that anyone can understand it. I finally did!

    Subject:     website
    Date:     February 25, 2004 9:03:18 AM EST
Hi I'm a student at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh, Scotland, and I have just been checking out your website for information on the 'male gaze'. It was a very interesting article that I read and it has helped me greatly in my quest for finding info for my dissertation. Thanks a lot. I feel so much more at ease with the topic.

    Subject:     Terrific!
    Date:     December 19, 2003 11:13:09 AM EST
Hi!

To begin with, I'm . . . writing from Ahmedabad, India. This might be a surprise to
you!

I was searching for and browsing through various websites to find information on Semiotics
Research. And I came across your website.

To sum it up in one word: "TERRIFIC". I love the way you've explained the concepts. Simply
awesome!

Can you help me in some more ways? It's my first mail to you yet I'm asking you for some
help. Don't mind.

Thanks again for the wonderfully structured website.

    Subject:     semiotics website comment
    Date:     December 16, 2003 8:44:09 PM EST
prof. streeter,

I found your lyric hypertext to be informative and
engaging. I am studying semiotics and creating my own
website this semester at UMass Dartmouth (in two
separate classes); browsing through your pages has
helped me twofold. thanks.

    Subject:     semiotics website
    Date:     December 16, 2003 12:30:12 AM EST
Thomas

A student from a course I coordinate called Australian Culture: Myths and Realities directed me to your site earlier this year.

I am in the process of designing next year's course and would love to use your site as a means of getting students to think about the social construction of imagery. Their first assignment asks them to analyse a particular image of australia or australianness and your site will provide them with much to think about in preparing for the tutorials and assigned work.

All power to you, it is wonderfully well constructed and thought provoking website. I thank you for making it so available, in an age when universities are commercialising their products sooooo much, you remind all of us that it doesn't have to be that way.\\

Anthropology & Sociology
University of Western Australia

    From:     ian@all.info
    Subject:     Literary Theory listing
    Date:     December 12, 2003 4:17:13 AM EST
We are editing the Literary Theory section of all.info and would like to
include your web site: http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/

The all.info search directory addresses the issue of site credibility.
Web site producers are an integral part of all.info. As a site contact,
your input is essential in helping our users better find and evaluate
your website.

    Subject:     Semiotics
    Date:     December 10, 2003 10:37:18 PM EST
Fantastic website! Thanks for taking the time to educate people like me so
that in time, I may do the same.

    Subject:     semiotics
    Date:     November 11, 2003 5:08:49 AM EST
I'm a 2nd year student studying Media and Information in Scotland. I am
currently writing an assignment on semiotics and advertising so i found your
website very interesting and useful.

Great website and I will be recommending it to fellow students.

November 1, 2003 1:02:18 AM EST: Subject:     Semiotics - Excellent Website,    Hi,
I am Advertising research consultant by profession, working on a qualitative
research project. I found your website excellent in content and an
informative and enjoyable experience. My project involves an in-depth
interview, and I am thinking of employing some semiotics exercise/technique to
distinguish genre preference(media) amongst the respondents. . . . . .

Wed Oct 29 17:19:37 2003; Subject: Thank you! -- Hello, I am a student at the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland. I am doing an essay for my course Consumer Behaviour and had to analyze some adds with a semiotic approach, and I really have to say after surfing the internet that your explanation of semiotics was really clear and very good! Thank you so much for your help!

Sat Sep 27 20:11:23 2003; Subject: comments on site -- Hi. Just because you asked, I am writing to let you know that I read your site and the part on semiotics etc twice and really loved your presentation. I am studying Communications and IR externally with the University of Southern Queensland in Australia and this made things that I have been reading in very complicated readings really clear for me. I loved how you took us step by step through the examples even before you tried to explain the concepts in words. This has helped me as I am about to attempt my first ad analysis . Great. I read the article on the Male gaze and it was freakily interesting. But as a women, it was a bit uncomfortable, because I realise that I do all those 'poses' around men (and even some women!). I think it will be difficult to pull it off now! Thanks! Your site is in my favourites.

Fri Sep 19 15:07:51 2003; Subject: semiotics web page -- Thank you so much for creating a page to deal with such a trick subject to explain. I am a student at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and I continually use this site as a reference to help explain my work and to teach others about objects and meaning.

Sat Sep 13 08:31:59 2003; Subject: saw you article -- hi
i chkd out your article while doing a small study on semiotics. very well treated and lucid.

Sat, 06 Sep 2003; Subject: Using your site for a class presentation -- Professor Streeter: ... I am a graduate student taking courses in the Communications Studies Department at UNLV. My assigment is to lead a class discussion in a media theory, and I have chosen semiotics. With your permission, I would like to use your semiotic presentation as part of my presentation. I would be displaying your web page on a giant screen as I give my presentation (Our classroom is set up to display images from the internet in real-time). I would like to walk my fellow students through the presentation, a journey I have made several times in the past. Nothing on the internet equals your presentation in introducing people to the power of semiotics. I hope it remains on the internet for years to come and that you add to it someday.

Fri Jul 4 21:20:36 2003; Subject: media psychologists -- Hello Dr Streeter, I am about to enter my final year of study in an undergraduate degree for Communication Studies and Psychology at York University, Toronto. I hope to continue studying communications in graduate school, but I'd like to study it through psychology. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding psychology professors in Canadian universities who study the media. Thus, I am writing you to ask for any information that you might have on media psychologists, preferably in Canadian universities, although any information about psychologists in American universities or anywhere else in the world would be appreciated very much. I'm interested specifically in psychologists who study gender representations in the media and media literacy, but I would be glad for information on any type of media psychologist. Thanks, ...

P.S. Your site on Semiotics is the clearest and most amusing website on the topic; thank you so much for making it exist!

Tue Jun 17 17:40:41 2003; Subject: your semiotics website -- I really like your web site on semiotics and advertising. The hypertext essay is very well done--both for content and images. I was wondering if you would mind if I pulled some of the images and adapted them for an in-class powerpoint presentation for my students on semiotics. I would refer them to your web site for the full text, and would acknowledge your web site in the class presentation. Thank you for your consideration, .... Santa Clara University

Sat May 17 11:24:52 2003; Subject: Thank you very much...; I am a student from the U.K studying Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster in London...i feel absoloutely obliged to write you a thank you note. I came across your site today while trying to make some sense of semiotics and other related topics.. It has helped me more than Foucault, Saussure and Barthes put together....I guess I can finally start writing that essay. thanx again

Tue Apr 8 11:14:20 2003; Subject: semiotics website -- Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This site has mde what was once an utterly baffling collection of terms and jargon into an understandable and interestic method of analysis. The panic I've been experiencing over the last week about how on earth I was going to be able to submit a paper on this has disappeared. Believe it or not I'm now quite looking forward to starting it...! I'll definitely be telling my lecturer about it so that other poor students next year don't have to suffer like we've all had to up till now! Thanks again

Feb 26 08:46:51 2003
Subject: Question on the semiotics of advertising -- Dear Mr. Thomas Streeter, I am a degree student at Hanoi National University, Vietnam, and I'm researching for my graduation paper. I'm especially interested in post-modern advertising and semiotics of advertising. The subject that I am researching is the relationship between semiotic analysis of magazines adverts and the 'audience' understanding of the same adverts. I would like you to give me some ideas on the effectiveness of semiotic theory when put into practice, and its relationship with the actual decoding of adverts in the real world. I am looking forward to any comments or views about this topic from you, as well as any suggested readings or sources or any relevant information. Thank you. Best regards,

Wed Feb 12 09:59:00 2003; Subject: semiotics and media -- I'm teaching a 1st-year writing seminar at Cornell University and required students to work through your online tutorial after they had written a rough draft "reading" an ad of their choice. Most of them emphasized how much they enjoyed the tutorial, and they found it extremely helpful for their revisions. Thanks for creating such a neat online project!

Tue Feb 11 11:00:32 2003 Subject: Your terrific website -- Thomas, As an instructor in Communications at Hofstra University, I send my students to your site all the time. You do such a wonderful job of clarifying a subject that's....well, difficult to get your arms around! Many thanks,

Mon Dec 9 17:29:06 2002 -- Hey I visited your site and found it very helpful I was wondering if you could help me. I am studying Media in London, England. I am doing a research essay on the history of the Jmes Bond movie posters. I know I need to look at semiotics, but what else should I look at??I know you must be very busy but it would be of great help to me! thanks

Mon Nov 25 22:14:15 2002 Subject: semiotics tools -- I am a graduate student in the Professional Writing program at the University of Cincinnati and I wanted to write and thank you for the amazing help your website has been in kick starting my research into the topic of semiotics. My background being in television media and my ultimate career goal being corporate communications & public relations, I took immediate interest in semiotics as a potential research topic.

My undergraduate work and professional experience being in broadcast television, I'm curious as to whether you came across information relating semiotics to the debate of the effects of TV & video game violence on children? It seems that if we accept that semiotics is most effectively used as an advertising tool, especially in ads in which the target audience is children, then there is definitely strong reason to suggest that random acts of violence, depending upon the context within which they are presented certainly takes a toll on a child's world view.

Another crucial question to the study of semiotics seems to be "what came first -- the chicken or the egg?" Obviously, many of the signs work because we have a common understanding of something the picture implies but does not need to come right out and say. However, we must then ask how these beliefs are established? Certainly the repetition of particular signs begins to create these understandings.

I'd be curious to here your thoughts on these issues and I'd also be interested in any other semiotics resources you might recommend to help further my research?

Thank you,

Thu, 21 Nov 2002 Subject: Your Website -- I have just finished reading your essay on signs/semiotics and felt compe lled to let you know how helpful it is. I am a first-year media arts stu dent studying in the UK. Your analysis is clear and I now have a greater understanding of the conc epts. I have an assignment to write and feel so much more confident now than I did 3 hours ago! I shall pass the web address on to my fellow students. Thank you again, your work must help many students who struggle to understand this new lan guage.

Wed, 9 Oct 2002 Subject: Typo on page -- Prof. Streeter, Hi ! I enjoyed your web site. It is on a noteworthy topic. As a Social Science major I thought that it was interesting. It was included as a link for a presentation ... at W.S.U. I want to let you know about a minor typo that I found. On your page that includes a link concerning "Women's Psychological Health" the typo is the omission of the word "to" in the sentence that includes the following "and women were just beginning feel modest". I know that 20 this is a very minor point but, I don't want the English majors to give you a hard time. I am aware of the fact that the most important part is the overall message but, I thought that I would point this out. I am sure that a teaching assistant probably typed the text for you and you are not directly responsible. Hope to see more thought provoking work and will check your site in the future.

Mon Sep 2 04:44:33 2002 Subject: A source for a magazine photo you have used -- ... I am doing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, English Literature and Media Studies at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Your site has given me a very good basis for an essay I am writing (my Media studies tutor told me I might find your site useful). It is an excellent site I have found very helpful. There are several photos you have put together in your male gaze essay, as an example of Goffmans point stating that women are often pictured lying on the floor because it is associated with the less clean part of the house and the place to keep dogs, and one of them is Kate Moss in the 2001 Calvin Klein jeans advertisement lying on the floor. If at all possible I would really appreciate it if you could e-mail me back and tell me what magazine that advertisement came from and if possible the issue and date of the magazine issue, if you have kept that information.

Fri Aug 23 05:51:43 2002 Subject: Your website -- Dear Thomas, I am a PhD candidate at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and I found your websitemost interesting. It's probably more suitable for undergraduate level students, but neverthless it offered a useful opportunity to refamiliarise myself with the kind of basic concepts one tends to lose sight of the more ivnolved one gets.

My area of study is myth, more specifically national myth or what you might call the nation myth. South Africa effectively had to create a new sense of nationhood out of difficult circumstances and my thesis looks at how advertising contributed to the construction of a mythology of the new South Africa. (The title is "One nation, one beer", which comes from a song from one of our beer commercials. It went "One nation, one soul, one beer, one goal". Quite something.)

So, it's good to know that there are other people out there looking at similar subject matter. With all our budgetary constraints, the Internet is a lifesaver.

Thu Aug 15 14:51:32 2002 Subject: semiotics and ads -- Dear Mr. Streeter, I really enjoyed your slide lecture on semiotics. Would you be willing to email me the file so that I could use it in instruction in semiotics? It would be used purely for educational purposes. I think it really gives a great introduction to the study of semiotics. Please let me know whether this would be possible. If you have this in powerpoint, it would probably be easier to use. Thank you,

Wed Jun 19 01:24:44 2002 Subject: hi -- I've just read the information on your web page and have found it most interesting. I am currently studying Communication Management at Massey University in New Zealand. I am actually interested in doing some post graduate work at UVM - and maybe competing on the ski team (I'm going to the World University Games in Italy Jan 2003) for my current university - so it's great to see the quality of information taught at UVM. Only one negative comment, I did find it difficult to read what you were saying with the pipes in the background, I really had to strain my eyes. I look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

Sat May 18 18:32:00 2002 Subject: Your home page -- Hi, I had a bit of an in depth look at your home page as i am doing an essay on the use of media texts to portray images and ideals. Just thought it was fantastic and your examples certainly helped me to understand the use of Semiotics in the media. I am a communications student all the way from Australia, and I am defiantly stoked to have come across your page! Your home page will, i have no doubt, be invaluable to my assignment!! Thanks a bunch and awesome job!

Wed May 15 08:53:59 2002 Subject: Semiotics website -- Hi there. Just wanted to give you some feedback on your site. I am a final year marekting student in australia and we are covering this area in regards to branding and your site has helped immensely to assist me to try and get a better understanding of this topic. Although I am still a little confused, I will look at the links on the page to try and sort out the confusion. Cheers! -- Academic Aussie!

Tue May 14 20:29:04 2002 -- Hi Tom, Thanks for sending the link to the website that you and your students have created. I have gone through a bit of it and I'm very impressed, it deconstructs fashion hype and the sexual politics related to it very well. I have passed on the address to some educators and parents who are interested in media literacy as well.

Mon Apr 22 06:35:27 2002 -- great website! well structured and eaasy to use. thanks.

Sun Apr 21 14:19:08 2002 Subject: writing on semiotics -- I am completing an assignment for my MA in childhood studies and have just discovered your web site and felt I needed to pass on my comments. I have found the information well laid out and easy to understand. The easy access to the dictionary helped to keep me focused on my research. The quiz a brilliant idea - made me go back and revise my mistakes. My assignment is focused on images of childhood and I would appreciate any guidance or suggestions where I could get information that relates how children are portrayed in the various media and how this relates to the images of childhood. Keep up the good work -- South Yorkshire S75 1NG England

Tue Apr 16 19:05:39 2002 Subject: Web site -- A quick message to acknowledge how much I like your web site. I have a background in semiotics and cultural studies and am presently trying to put together some Professional development materials to support teachers in teaching reading. Our view of reading here in Queensland (Australia) includes mutlmodal texts. I am trying to give a 'simple' intro to semitocs so I found your site full of wonderful ideas for how I might begin to present this information. I showed your site to collegues who do not have any background in semitocs and they found it gave them a much better understanding of the concepts. I may contact you in the future regarding listing your site as a link from our site so teachers can use it as a further resource. Congratualtions on the site!

Fri Apr 5 05:03:47 2002 Subject: Your web site... -- Hi there, Having just participated in your on-line semiotics lecture, I was compelled to let you know how great I think it is. I am a 1st year Communications student, about to hand up my first essay on cultural studies and semiotics, previously with barely a clue as to what I was writing about. Your lecture explained the terminology in a simple, user friendly way and built it all up (put it together) gradually so, I was able to follow along relatively easily and at my own pace. Thankyou!

Wed Mar 27 07:44:11 2002 Subject: semiotics home page -- Just wanted to tell you I enjoyed the "Male Gaze in Fashion Advertising". I am a student of photography and women's studies at Vermont College. It is really amazing how a woman can be educated, feminist, and aware of the tactics used in advertising, and still be affected and conflicted by the male gaze and wanting for approval, that generally comes >from being passive and "sexy".

Sat Mar 16 02:02:37 2002 Subject: thank you -- Just a quick note to let you know how helpful your website on semiotics has been. I now believe that I may just pass this Unit of my study for my first year at university. My lecturer uses the same words(signs) as you, however fails to convey the meaning in a vaild and useful way. I think that I will able to write my essay with more insight and thought than if I had not had access to this site. I am currently studying my teaching degree at Edith Cowan University Mount Lawley Western Australia. I hope that i am able to employ these methods in their correct manner for the remaining four years of my degree. Again thankyou for your insight into this topic.

Thu Mar 7 22:16:48 2002 -- hey! i go to Australian Catholic University, in Ballarat VIctoria australia. i just thought i would email you and let you know that i came across your site and will probably be using some of the information, although i havent looked through it yet. i am only first year, but we are doing an assignment on semiotics in advertising.

Fri Mar 1 16:14:31 2002 Subject: semiotics slide show -- Very well done.

Fri Mar 1 12:56:37 2002 -- As a middle school educator and curriculum developer, I am writing a lesson about the use of language to create meaning in media and advertising. This site was an excellent introduction to the larger concepts involved in culture, myth, codes, and symbolism within media and advertising. Thanks for the crash course.

Mon Feb 11 14:12:47 2002 Subject: Your semiotics slide show online -- Dear Professor Streeter, I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for putting together the slide show on semiotics and allowing anyone to acces it and use it. I am giving a seminar entitled The Sociology of Love this term and I'll be doing just a brief section on Semiotics. I looked at many sites online and found that for an introduction, yours is the best.

Mon Jan 7 19:16:42 2002 Subject: Website. -- Hi, i'm a student at the university of Central Lancashire in the UK. i was browsing on the internet for info for my dissertation when i found this site. i have just completed studying a module, Language, Image and Media in which we covered a great deal of what is included in your site. However, i have to say that it all (esp. sign, signifier etc) is a lot clearer to me know that i have seen your definitions and examples, i wish i'd found this sooner!! thankyou.

Thu Jan 3 17:07:34 2002 Subject: Re: Your semiotics site -- Excellent!! semiotics is a useful tool but difficult to explain. Your site is a great tool for doing just that. thanks! .... I work for .... a marketing agency in Chicago ... We're about 600 folks with 5 planners on staff. We handle a number of blue chip accounts. I am the planner for McDonald's [an account we've had for some 25 years -- and no, we don't do the promotions, we do the merchandising which is what led to my interest in semiotics. I keep thinking that McDonald's would be an intersting study but am clueless about how to approach it. The motivation is this: McD is trying to better understand it's relevance to the customer. Their stock has been static for about 4 years and they're trying to find better ways of relating. So, that's my story. Hope it's what you wanted to know. I've also sent the URL for your site to the planners in the agency. It really is a good.

Wed Jan 2 14:01:00 2002 Subject: Your semiotics site -- Excellent!! I work in a marketing agency. semiotics is a useful tool but difficult to explain. Your site is a great tool for doing just that. thanks!

Thu, 01 Nov 2001 Subject: Your website -- I'm a lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at the Management School at the University of Sheffield here in England. I'm a Communication Studies graduate myself and am not really sure how I ended up here! But, I'm running a new course this term called Language and Organisation for 3rd year business studies students, trying to show them the importance of language (and other sign systems) in the construction of the business world. They've never quite experienced anything like this before and it's week 6 and they're still all turning up! Your site has been immensely helpful in making the topic of semiotics accessible to these students who are mostly from science/accounting/maths backgrounds. Thank You.

Thu Nov 1 18:22:20 2001 Subject: Outstanding! -- I discovered your students' web site on semiotics while searching for some material to help my new Marketing Assistant understand how we coordinate our print materials and our branch merchandising. My compliments. It offers a clear view of semiotics and advertising. I have an MA degree in Communication (minor in gender studies) from California State University Northridge. My master's thesis was an analysis of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast -- the first two full length feature films Disney produced after a long break from this type of film. So I was also interested in the Disney material. I will go back and look at that more closely from home. However, as I scanned it, I noticed that the bibliography did not include the Elizabeth Bell (Ed) book From Mouse to Mermaid. It's a collection of essays, with one semiotic analysis by Elizabeth herself, which is outstanding. I LOVE this stuff. It was so exciting to find your web site.

Sun, 21 Oct 2001 13:24:02 -0600: I am a communications student in Mexico and my teacher told us to read the introduction to semiotics on your web page. It really helped me understand some things I had doubts about, namely how media can influence people's opinions and attitudes.

Sat, 13 Oct 2001 12:01:50 +1300: I'm an adult student doing a degree in Communication in New Zealand. I've been struggling with an assignment, trying to do a textual analysis . . . Your tutorial using semiotic techniques has explained more to me than a semester of lectures.

Mon, 8 Oct 2001 22:14:51 +0100: I'm an American studying literature in London and I have to thank you for making this subject matter so easy to understand and comprehensive. . . . this site with the photos and associated semiotic terms really made it click. Thanks a million and keep up the great work!

Wed, 5 Sep 2001 00:28:33 +0100: I am a student of Graphics and Media Communication in Bradford, UK. After reading your website, the fog that surrounded me concerning signs, signifiers and semotics has been lifted. Despite reading many books, and my poor tutor trying hard to explain, i could not get my head around it. I now understand very clearly, Thanks to u.

Wed, 15 Aug 2001 10:15:58 +1000: Just a quick note to say I have enjoyed your site immensly.. . . I am a Mass Communication student studying in Canberra, Australia. I became very dissapointed while researching semiotics on the net but your site has saved me.

Wed, 06 Jun 2001 20:52:30 +0100: I just wanted to drop you a line to say how much help your semiotics website has been to me. I am currently taking and 'A' Level in Communication Studies over here in England and Semiotics has been a major part of the course. . . . your website has made me understand semiotics 100% more than i did before. I just wanted to let you know how much you've helped me and say a HUGE HUGE thank you!

Tue, 08 May 2001 16:09:51 +1000: have just visited the 'slide show' section of your semiology site - it was great!! i have been researching semiotics on the net all day and have not found one site that explains things so clearly and concisely as yours...

Mon, 30 Apr 2001 14:56:03 -0500: I just worked my way through it, and I found it to be very powerful and interesting. A really good explanation of some difficult concepts. But you should fix the spelling errors, because THIS advertising copyeditor found that they detracted from the excellence of the work.

Mon, 16 Apr 2001 12:19:48 -0400: Thank you for your web site! I am a senior Communication major at Millersville University in Pa and have been learning about semiotics for four years-yet I haven't grasped a thing! Using real life examples and advertisements helped a lot.

Sun, 1 Apr 2001 16:06:06 +0930: I'm a second year Communications student from the University of South Australia. I thought your site was fabbo and sent the url to my tutor.

Mon Mar 19 13:37:34 2001: Hi I teach a third-year advertising class in a communications studies department. Great examples and food for thought here.

Mon, 19 Mar 2001 07:15:01 -0500: I'm a student at the University of Toronto. I just visited your website and went through your slide show, and I must say that I'm very, very impressed. Congratulations on the excellent job. . . . Out of everything that I've found so far, you slide show had to be one of the clearest and best written student-aids I've found. The writing was beautifully clear and well organized--a true feat for someone in such a complex feild.

Sat, 03 Feb 2001 12:47:48 -0500: I just want to tell you that your little online primer for semiotics is a favorite of mine. Before I had a look at that essay, the whole notion of a semiotics as a coherent field of study was quite vague for me. I now pass the URL on when I hear other people express vexation in the face of the semiotic or deconstructive terminology used in postmodern criticism. I am also better able to use the ideas and to explain them to others. I think you've done us all a favor.

Fri, 20 Oct 2000 18:54:21: I teach a course called "cultural semiotics" for artists at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. I just wanted to let you know how impressive I think your site is. I think you have done a great job of articulating these ideas, and I will definately send my students there.

Fri, 20 Oct 2000 07:16:09 -0500: I am a student at Northwestern University currently enrolled in Mass Media and Society, a requirement for the Rado/TV/Film major. We were assigned an essay analyzing a print ad using semiotics . . . I'm just taking the time to thank you for the site. It made a confusing subject very accessible and surprisingly interesting. It definitely made my paper easier to tackle!

Sat, 07 Oct 2000 09:11:27 -0700: I found this website truly astounding. Usually I last about fifteen minutes on a website, partially because reading a site is physically difficult for this old lady. I certainly never expected to find a discussion of semiotics so fascinating because the textbooks that I have read about the topic are usually so abstract that I find them difficult to follow. Thanks for the journey. I'll visit again!

Tue, 26 Sep 2000 11:47:54: I am a third year BA(HONS) Fashion student at Leeds College of Art and Design. I am currently researching the subject of semiotics in retail for my dissertation. I am a complete beginner as far as semiotics is concerned and although I had read one book . . . I was still a little baffled!! After reading your hypertext essay things became a lot clearer to me

Thu, 21 Sep 2000 11:49:17 -0700: Excellent website. I am an English teacher at a Southern California community college, and I base my critical thinking classes on semiotic analysis of popular culture. I cover quite a bit of the material in your site for my opening lecture, but the format you have chosen and media you've used makes it all very clear.

Tue, 5 Sep 2000 20:56:00 +0100: Just clicked onto your website, and I have to say how brilliant it is! I am a Media teacher to 14 - 18 year old at a school in Hastings, U.K. and am preparing for tomorrow's first lesson with an eager bunch of 16 year olds. Introducing them to the revelation that 'This is not a rose!' should confuse a few of them! I've printed off your Southern Comfort essay (not yours, I know but youknow what I mean!) and will use it to give inspiration to those that have the nous to understand it. Thanks again.

Fri, 30 Jun 2000 11:06:24 -0400: I am on the faculty at Boston University's College of Communication, and I teach courses in rhetoric, persuasion and social influence to undergraduates and master's-level students. I have found semiotic analysis to be a good entry into media criticism for students, but haven't had the most successful time teaching it to students with limited exposure to rhetoric/cultural-critical studies, etc. . . . I just wanted to express kudos to you for your interactive site... it is the clearest, most visually interesting and accessible introduction to semiotics I have ever seen. It will make my life much easier, and I think my students will appreciate it as well. Thank you so much for making this site publicly accessible!

Mon, 26 Jun 2000 15:29:26 +1000: I lecture in literacy and primary ( elementary) education here in Australia. I have recently been working on areas of visual literacy and so semiotics naturally falls into that category. . . . I wanted to ask your permission to show at a presentation the Lee Jeans ad you used in your web page. . . and recommend your site to students who would like an introduction to semiotics.

Tue, 18 Apr 2000 18:07:29 +1000: I'm working on an essay on sexuality and semiotics in advertising and stumbled on your site will researching. WHAT A GREAT SITE!!!

Fri, 24 Mar 2000 06:19:04 -0500: This is the best introduction to semiotics I have found thus far. -- Student at Carnegie Mellon University

Sun, 19 Mar 2000 01:23:39: I'm a senior undergrad Communications major at James Madison University in VA. I stumbled across your site from a Calvin Klein Ads Link to advertising research to your page. . . . Your tutorial was refreshing and provided me with great background knowledge for the analysis I am preparing to perform. THANK YOU!

Thu, 16 Mar 2000 19:09:34 +0800: Your site is great. Really it is sooooo helpful. We've just started studying semiotics in our TV class at uni and your website really helped me consolidate what the lecturer mentioned in class. I really liked the fact that there were ads and photos and not just words. After ten minutes exploring your site I did the quiz at the end and got 9, so the info has really gotten through to me!!!! University of Notre Dame Australia

Wed, 15 Mar 2000 12:25:08 -0500: I wanted to tell you how useful I've found your web exercise on using semiotics. I've recommended it to students who have proposed class projects on things like "women and advertising." It's great. Thanks for giving me an new tool.

Mon, 28 Feb 2000 15:11:00 -0600: I'm a Composition instructor at UW-Milwaukee, and I've recommended your site as extra credit for my English 101 students. I've gone through your site twice, and I think it does a wonderful job of explaining how (and why) to use semiotics to analyze cultural images. My students have to write an Image Analysis paper, and I think they can/will benefit greatly from having visited your site beforehand.

Sun, 6 Feb 2000 17:55:49 -0500: thank you for your website. I am a student studying videography and was having trouble getting a handle on the concepts and the meanings. Your breakdown of the construction of semiotics and how it plays a role in the images in our every day life was incredibly helpful.

Thu, 18 Nov 1999 11:49:25 -0800: Wonderfully presented intro to semiotics! I had professors broach the subject in college and very recently came across the word again while surfing, and decided to "refresh my memory" and learn more about it. . . . Nice job!

Thu, 18 Nov 1999 10:00:56 -0800: I just went through your semiotics introduction and found the subject to be very interesting and your presentation to be excellent. As somebody who has never been exposed to the subject and who isn't usually interested in this sort of topic, (I'm an engineer and usually stick with technical subjects) I didn't expect to do much more than glance at your page. I was quite surprised to find myself hitting the 'next' button over and over again and even taking the semiotics quiz at the end. . . . a highly effective demonstration of the potential of hypertext as a teaching tool.

Tue, 16 Nov 1999 12:39:41 +0000: I work in advertising in England and was browsing the web looking for information on how youth access information today (i.e. they are more visual/process things more quickly do to the increasing amount of information they have to wade through etc) and stumbled on your great site. I really enjoyed the interactive format and will pass it on to

Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:22:37 -0400: i'm a student at UNC-Greensboro having to write a semiotic analysis of a magazine advertisement. wanted to say thanks...your site got me over a 2 day-long case of writers block.

Thu, 7 Oct 1999 15:46:30 +0100: Thank you VERY MUCH for the very clear site covering this topic. I am in my third year of a PhD, studying British WW2 posters, which obviously involves semiotics to some extent, and have been struggling with the concepts involved. I am a lot clearer now! Winchester, Hampshire. UK

Tue, 21 Sep 1999 11:07:29 -0700: I am a lecturer in the English Department of Santa Clara University in California, and will be using your site in my Comp & Rhet I class for the first time this Fall. . . . Thanks for all your work and for making your site available to other academics.

Fri, 13 Aug 1999 21:18:24 +0800: I teach Linguistics at the St.Louis University, Baguio City in the Pilippines. The site- very stimulating!

April 1999: Enormously helpful!. University student, London, England

April 1999: I am a masters student at the University of Stockholm. I probed your pages on semiotics. I must say that they are a very comprehensive introduction, useful for any media graduate student, and even post graduate studies.

April 1999: I'm a student at the University of Canberra in Australia. I'm studying my first year of Advetising/Marketing and I am researching for a semiotic analysis that I have to conduct. I have read through and taken notes from your web site . . . I have found it incredibly useful and enlightening.

March 1999: I'm a freshman at the University of the Philippines. . . I guess I'm basically writing to tell you what I think of your site: It's Fantastic. I wish I had come across it before delving into more complicated sources.