Media Studies and Production

Teaching Faculty

Teresa Housel	Choonghee Han	Christian Spielvogel

Courses Offered

Comm 251. Media Production 1: Introduction to Digital Media Production

This course offers an entry-level learning experience and introduces students to digital media production from theoretical, aesthetic, and practical perspectives . The course aims to familiarize students with basic tools and processes of digital media production so that they learn to communicate with their ideas creatively and effectively using various forms of media. The course is divided into seminar and workshop components. In the seminars, students will discover different theoretical approaches to media representation that inform the practice of digital media production. In the workshops, students will gain technical skills and knowledge required for digital media production, including the use of camera, sound, voice recording, lighting, editing, graphics, and transitions. All students will undertake a series of exercises which demonstrate their understanding, skills, and creativity, and they will present and discuss their own productions.

Four Credits, Han, Both Semesters

Comm 255. Reporting, Writing, and Visual Design for the Mass Media

This course introduces students to writing, reporting, and editing for newspapers, magazines, broadcast, and online media. Students produce news and features articles suitable for magazines, newspapers, and online media. Students learn how to effectively combine visual elements (photographs and graphics) with the written word to present information through lay-out (using Adobe InDesign). In addition, students write a broadcast script and match voice-over to footage. The versatile skills that students gain from this course are necessary for any media, public relations, or advertising career

Four Credits, Housel, Fall Semester

Comm 352. Media Production II, Advanced Video Production and Editing

This course helps students become familiar with issues in media literacy and equips them with advanced video and editing techniques for broadcast-quality production. Students should expect to spend at least three hours per week of self-directed production/practice/research time in addition to the designated class meetings. For the final project, each student will produce a digital video project with a Web presentation that can be distributed widely for media education in high schools and universities. Prerequisite: Media Production I or permission of instructor.

Four Credits, Han, Spring Semester

Comm 356. Advanced Magazine Writing and production

This course teaches techniques for advanced magazine features writing, design, and production. Students write different types of magazine features articles, such as the news feature, profile, how-to article, and the review. Over the semester, students create an online campus magazine. Students design the magazine’s cover and logo; analyze circulation markets; and demonstrate the magazine by writing, designing, and producing an issue by the end of the semester. In addition, the course develops basic media criticism skills. To this end, students evaluate how journalists gather and present information, considering not only how they perform but also how they might improve. Students also examine legal and ethical issues such as plagiarism and libel.

Four Credits, Housel, Spring Semester

COMM 357. Media Production, Social Documentary

This course introduces students to documentary film and video from both theoretical and practical perspectives. By combining theoretical/analytical work with a series of production exercises, the course encourages students to develop a critical understanding of creative, theoretical, and practical dimensions involved in documentary representations. In the first part of the
semester, students will learn different approaches to the documentary, including ethnographic documentary, activist documentary, and the politics of representation. Discussion will focus on such issues as insider accounts, processes of othering, reflexivity, realism, the ethics of consent, the politics of editing, and the role of the intended and non-intended audiences in documentary production. The course will cover simultaneously the technical and practical aspects of documentary production that enable students to produce their own projects. During the final part of the semester, each student will produce a broadcast-quality documentary video. Prerequisites: Media Production I and II or permission of instructor.

Four Credits, Han, Fall Semester

COMM 451. Media Theory: Critical Perspectives

We live in a media-saturated culture where not only do we spend a great deal of time consuming media, but we also frequently have conversations about the the media. We condemn the media for creating a standard of beauty that few can ever live up to. But, we often glorify the media for revolutionizing our access to a variety of information. Indeed, anyone can talk about the media without knowing anything about media theories. Our goal, however, is to enable us to engage in an “informed” discussion of various aspects about the media instead of reiterating common-sense knowledge about them. The educational aim of the course is to provide students with theoretical tools and frameworks required for critically evaluating various issues associated with the media. The course covers a wide range of schools of thought and theory, including cultivation analysis, political economy of communication, cultural imperialism, and reception theory. Throughout the semester, students will conduct a series of short research projects to apply theoretical knowledge to their actual understanding of the contemporary media. Prerequisites: Communication 101, 160, 260 and 280.

Four Creditsr, Spielvogel, Fall Semester

COMM 470. Cultural Theory

This seminar examines theories of how power is expressed symbolically and embedded in cultural texts. Students will develop skills in the interpretation and analysis of cultural meaning. Prerequisites: Communication 101, 160, 260 and 280.

Four Credits, Housel, Spring Semester