Media & Communication Department
Practice
216, 217. Communication and Public Relations
Explores public relations issues within organizational contexts; emphasis
on communication theory and research into public relations practices.
Topics include the origins and development of public relations, its role
in society, principles of public relations theory and practice; and the
ethical issues raised by various philosophies and practices of public
relations. Prerequisite: Com 101 or Com 201 recommended but not required.
321, 322. Writing for the Media
Provides intensive writing experiences in a variety of formats. Introduces
students to the different conventions of writing for print media, radio,
and television. Class structure, assignments, and timed writing exercises
are designed to simulate a working media environment. Prerequisite: Com
101 or Com 201.
334, 335. Health Communication
Examines interpersonal as well as mediated dimensions of health communication
including theories and case studies that address issues in physician and
patient communication; gender, race, and cultural constitutents in health
comunication; techniques for the production, distribution, and assessment
of health-care information; the design and implementation of public health
campaigns; the use of communication technologies in the production of
health communications. Emphasizes writing.
336, 337. Environmental Communication
Explores theories, models, and strategies for production and assessment
of environmental communications. Examines environmental media and campaigns,
and provides students with skills to identify and solve problems in environmental
communications and in the production of environmental media. Emphasizes
writing.
338, 339. Organizational Communication
Examines communication patterns operating in large-scale organizations.
The constituents, constraints, values, practices, and media of corporate
cultures are investigated from historical, cross-cultural, and contemporary
perspectives.
351. Video Production
Refines an understanding of video/television concepts and operations through
the application of advanced production techniques. Provides hands-on experience
beginning with the development of a professional project, treatment, script,
and storyboard. Focusing on production tools and skills, class workshops
and outside exercises that facilitate becoming comfortable with camera
and editing equipment and with the overall production process. Conceiving,
coordinating, shooting, and editing the project, production teams will
encounter real-time pressure and problem-solving situations. Prerequisite:
Com 251.
361. Radio Production
Introduces the tools, techniques, and principles of radio production.
Students develop awareness of sound, the ability to structure information
on the radio, and the capacity to sustain attention and build an audio
documentary. Students will plan, produce, and evaluate audio projects
in a variety of modes including news, documentary, dramatic, and commercial.
365. Hypermedia
Focuses on interactive media, on the logic for authoring and designing
interactive tools and experiences including those on the interned. Through
explorations of electronic multimedia and its applications including such
technologies as interactive video disc, CDROM, the world-wide-web, the
class examines critical aspects of interactive thinking and production.
Each student will conceive and design an interactive project and produce
it in one or more digital environments. Prerequisite: Com 231 or permission
of instructor.
431. Documentary Field Work
Develops advanced skills in documentary inquiry and practice. Provides
tools and opportunities for developing skills in interviewing for archival,
journalistic (print and electronic), social scientific, and administrative
purposes. Course is organized around the design and development of individual
or group documentary projects in selected media. Completed project(s)
will be exhibited in some campus or public forum, e.g. submitted to campus
newspaper, aired on campus radio or television, or displayed on the department
website. Prerequisites: Com 201 and Com 231, and permission of the instructor.
467. Advanced Electronic Media Production
Students explore the convergence of video and digital media while studying
the problems of constructing narrative and documentary texts within emerging
experimental formats. Through their research-production projects, students
learn to work with more advanced visual and organizational concepts. Legal
and ethical issues involved in media production are considered. Students
present ongoing work and final projects in either an on-line or broadcast
venue. Prerequisites: Com 352 or Com 365, and permission of the instructor.