Muhlenberg College: Media & Communication

Media & Communication Department

students become ethical and responsible cultural producers
students think systematically about media and communication
students know the legal, historical, sociological, political and economic foundations of media institutions
students understand the centrality of media for citizenship and social justice in a democratic society
students acquire literacy in visual and emergent media forms
students understand the complex interplay between mass media and society

Learning Outcomes:

GOAL I.

students can identify the ethical dimensions inherent in (media) representation
students practice ethical standards in their media making
students demonstrate an awareness/attentiveness to the legal dimensions of cultural production (copyright, fair use, plagarism, liability, privacy)
students acquire competency in at least one form of media making (assumes critical media literacy entails media making and not just consumption)

GOAL II.

students can apply the major social science research methods
students can discriminate between everyday and academic forms of knowledge
students can discriminate between conjecture and evidence
students can comprehend professional journal articles and a challenging theoretical text
students can produce well-written, accurately cited papers with an original, insightful argument

GOAL III.

students can explain the historical development of commercialized mass media
students can identify media as products of social relations (and forces)
students can identify underlying intra and extra organizational structures of media institutions
students can articulate the tensions between journalism and market forces (profit pressures) in a democratic society
students can identify the legal and regulatory foundations of US and international media industries

GOAL IV.

students can deconstruct media messages about power and reconstruct alternate messages
students can recognize that media systems are not natural and are therefore subject to transformation
students can identify themselves as advocates for social change
students can mobilize knowledge and practice to advocate for social justice (e.g. advocating for municipal wi-fi)
students can locate alternate sources of media and information
students can recognize the vital importance of journalism for a healthy democracy

GOAL V.

students can understand the underlying language and structure of visual representations
students can apply their understanding of visual media to interpret future media forms
students can explore the complex interplay of words and images in narrative works
students can analyze the nature of emerging interactive media forms
students can experiment in the exploration of emerging interactive media forms
students can explore the implications of digital media for image ethics
students can understand the major traditions of film and cultural theory

GOAL VI.

students can analyze media in production, audience, textual and historical frames
students can explain core concepts in the study of media and communication
students can explain that all human activity is mediated by communication
students can identify and critique the major research and intellectual traditions of the communication discipline