Communications

Students serve as apprentices for a student-run production team that provides students with an introduction experience of working on professional media production projects in a team setting. No prerequisites. May be repeated once for credit (maximum of two semesters).

COM 108 is an integrated communication skills course focusing on speaking, writing, listening, research and information literacy, leadership, teamwork, visual design, and the use of classroom technologies. Students learn to compose, organize, and express their arguments, ideas, and feelings in writing and in a range of speaking situations from formal public speaking to class discussions to interpersonal relationships.

Students learn about the changing role and cultural impact of mass media in our society along with gaining a critical understanding of our role as media consumers. This course is the gateway course for communication majors and a prerequisite for most upper-level, media-related classes. Prerequisite: ENG 101 and either ENG 102 or ENG 103 or COM 103 or SCI 103.

Students learn the various roles that the story script fulfills as the primary conceptualizing, defining, and guiding document for the media production process. Writing projects and exercises walk students through the process of script development for television and motion picture production, exploring essential story elements such as narrative form, dramatic tension and conflict, character development, plot, point of view, dialogue, and setting as well as the structural demands of the industry formats including legal and professional issues. Prerequisite: ENG 101 and either ENG 102 or ENG 103 or COM 103 or SCI 103

Students learn about the opportunities and challenges faced by modern professional photojournalists and the strategies and techniques used to apply photographic theory and principles to these occasions. Prerequisite: ENG 101 and either ENG 102 or ENG 103 or COM 103 or SCI 103

Students learn the basic concepts, theories, and methodologies of audio design and production for media projects that use moving images and dynamic sound. Students gain hands-on practical experience with specialized media production equipment and software used for recording, manipulating, and then editing audio signals for a wide variety of media projects.

Students learn to create professional media storytelling projects for film and television using moving images and dynamic sound. Using TV production equipment in the studio and on location, students begin to master the basic production elements of developing an idea, writing a script, producing, directing, shooting and editing a project, and finding options for program distribution and exhibition.

Following COM 250, students in this course move their media production abilities to a higher professional level of both content creation and technical quality. Working in production teams, students create short digital video projects through closely supervised, hands-on learning experiences. Students develop advanced skills in lighting, camera work, sound recording, working with actors, and artistic considerations. Prerequisite: COM 250, or permission of instructor

Students explore a topic of contemporary interest to the study of communication. May be repeated for credit.

Students work closely with a supervising professor to carry out an independent course of research and/or creative scholarship. Prerequisite: COM 202 and permission of instructor.

Students actively engage in content production using both writing and design skills for developing storylines for transmedia, multi-platform, story-based experiences. Beginning with an understanding of how producers weave together audio, video, images, graphics, and text as components with which to tell a story, students learn to create multimedia story packages distributed across media platforms. Applications range from multimedia online journalism to transmedia marketing to other types of non-linear, modular, interactive fiction or nonfiction narratives for multi-platform release.

Students are introduced, through hands-on practice, to the fundamentals of digital art and graphic design using the computer as an art medium and design tool. A variety of imaging applications are explored through design problem solving and visual studio assignments. Prerequisite: ART 100 or permission of instructor

This course expands upon the concepts and skills developed in COM/ART 308 with an emphasis on cross-application digital work and advanced presentation methods. Image sequencing and web application complement the burgeoning knowledge of digital art techniques. The class also focuses on the larger conceptual issues that underlie digital art and graphic design. Prerequisite: COM/ART 308

Students gain an in-depth perspective about the many conceptual and practical aspects of editing motion-media stories such as television programs, documentaries, and dramatic films. Through intensive, hands-on work with digital non-linear editing systems, students gain familiarity with professional editing practices and techniques. Prerequisites: COM 250 or permission of instructor

Students focus on the design and development of web sites and interactive media that might include dynamically-driven Internet applications, video games, virtual online environments and ubiquitous computer applications. Students learn critical skills; develop their visual aesthetics, interactive design, technical and analytical skills; and achieve an introductory understanding of industry-standard tools.

This course develops more advanced skills in web and interactive media design, including the aesthetic and technical skills for development of complex web sites and interactive media as well as professional skills in working in collaborative design teams and in using the internet for business communications. Students learn and practice critical and technical skills in visual aesthetics, design philosophies, architectural structures for interactive design and analysis, while at the same time achieving a working knowledge of industry- standard tools. By the end of the course, the students will have all the tools and skills they need to take on free- lance web construction work. Prerequisite: COM 325

Students gain interpretive skills for analyzing and better understanding films and television programs, both fiction and nonfiction (documentary), within a variety of stylistic, historical and cultural contexts.

Usually focusing upon a particular genre, such as science fiction or documentary, this course exposes students to the formal and stylistic strategies valued in a particular body of films or TV series, including narrative structures and visual storytelling techniques such as cinematography, lighting, sound, staging, editing, and special effects. Students also examine the critical and philosophical assumptions underlying the artistic choices shaping each work, considering the impact of audience response as well.

Students explore global or international issues of contemporary interest to the study of communication or advanced issues in intercultural communication. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: COM 202 or permission of instructor.

Students gain an understanding about the contributions of various intellectual and theoretical traditions to the contemporary field of media studies, examining theories of media and culture at the level of production, textual analysis, and reception of media messages. Prerequisites: COM 202 and COM 360 or permission of instructor

This independent learning course provides students with the opportunity to develop special media-related projects working under the supervision of a professor. The professor and student will develop a plan and determine the scope of the project and what must be completed to earn the agreed-upon number of credits. Students may sign up for one to six credit hours. Prerequisites: Must be preapproved by instructor and Program Coordinator.

A supervised program of on-the-job study for the Communication & Media Studies or English major, this course provides practical, hands-on experience in a real-world work environment. The internship may be in areas such as marketing, editorial writing, human resources, public relations, TV production, news media, etc. This is not an independent study or special projects course; students must be working under the supervision of a professional in a corporate office or production environment. Prerequisite: Completion of 24 credit hours of COM (or ENG, for ENG majors) courses at the 200-level or above, plus approval by the CMS faculty Internship Coordinator.

Students learn about the roles and responsibilities of the producer and the director in creating a media project such as a TV program, film, or streaming video segment. Through hand-on practice, students learn how to guide media production teams efficiently with an emphasis upon managerial skills of personal initiative, dependability, and follow-through. Prerequisite: COM 250, COM 251, and COM 310.

Students plan and carry out an independent, semester--long project of substantial academic research and/or creative scholarship in consultation with a thesis project director approved by the student's major advisor and the CMS Program Coordinator. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Preapproval by instructor and Program Coordinator.

This capstone course for graduating seniors provides students with the opportunity to integrate all they have learned in their major coursework in a collaborative seminar where each student develops and carries out a transmedia storytelling capstone project. This can be a creative narrative story, a documentary project, or a promotional project for a small business or nonprofit client. The seminar uses a student-led pedagogical style in which students take greater responsibility for their own learning. Prerequisite: COM 403 or Permission of Instructor

This senior-level seminar course explores a topic of contemporary interest to the study of communication. May be repeated for credit.

Students work closely with a supervising professor to carry out an independent course of research and/or creative scholarship. Prerequisite: Completion of advanced coursework and permission of instructor.