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July
COM 500. Seminar in Media Law and Ethics (no credit)
Covers the legal and ethical dimensions of media communications across platforms, with an emphasis on First Amendment, privacy and copyright issues. Students examine historical cases, analyze the contemporary evolution of law as it relates to technological development, and discuss ethical situations that arise from the confluence of accelerated technological development and the culture's ability to understand its consequences, unintended or otherwise. Required for those without an undergraduate media law and ethics course or professional experience waiver.
COM 500. Seminar in Media Writing (no credit)
Clear, logical writing is necessary to communicate effectively to an audience. This course focuses on background research, interviews, accuracy, attribution, and styles of writing (print, broadcast, online, news release). Superior grammar and language skills are expected, and Associated Press style is introduced. Required for those without an undergraduate media law and ethics courses or professional experience waiver.
Students without a media law and ethics background will be required to participate in the Seminar in Media Law and Ethics from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for one week and students without a media writing background will be required to participate in the Seminar in Media Writing from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. that same week. These will be undergraduate seminars and will not involve academic credit. Materials will be provided in advance. There will be no additional costs for the one-week seminars.
August
COM 520. Digital Media Workshop (3)
(Required of all M.A. students)
Provides concepts and applied skills related to visual communication, photo editing, audio processing, video capture and editing, and Web publishing. Students develop the ability to organize elements for a variety of visual effects and gain an understanding of how to use technology to create meaningful digital communication.
COM 530. Theory and Audience Analysis in an Interactive Age (3)
Introduces students to the intellectual logistics of graduate study in general, to the historical and contemporary body of research literature in the scholarly subject area of interactive communications, and to career opportunities. Students write research papers capped by a bibliographical essay that covers books, professional journal articles, or studies focused on interactive communications.
COM 540. Interactive Writing and Design (3)
This course maps the divide between genres of communications traditionally taught in print of traditional forms of electronic communications to those that are now operating in digital environments where various "multimedia" are converging into a single, integrated meta-medium of practices, known as interactive writing and design.
COM 550. Producing Interactive Media (3)
Covers the fundamental practices associated with interactive media production, including interface design, applied multimedia and usability refinement. In the effort to provide users with optimized opportunities for choice and control, students will apply design guidelines such as Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules and production/ design trends emerging in various industries. Students will author interactive experiences and explore historical origins, as well as today's best practices.
COM 560. Interactive Media Strategies (3)
An investigation of strategic issues such as new design paradigms, project work flow, information design, interactive navigation, production methodologies, and an exploration of a full range of interaction media from web to screen devices to interactive objects and spaces.
COM 570. Interactive Project for the Public Good (3)
Students work in a team environment to create an interactive media project for the public good. In teams, they travel for approximately a week to a site to gather content through interviews, photos, audio and video needed for the project. They then return to campus to organize this content into a project that will becomes accessible to the public at large. Students develop, design and deploy original interactive projects in a deadline-driven setting.
COM 580. Contemporary Media Issues (3)
Focuses on the historical and contemporary state of personal and public interaction with popular media, within the context of technological developments and their impact on society and culture. Students study journal articles, survey the research literature, and write papers on the historical trajectory of information consumption from the emergence of mass-produced, paper-based texts to the development of the World Wide Web. Students should use this course to evaluate the current ethical, political and economical controversies that will part of their daily lives upon entering media professions.
COM 590. Interactive Media Capstone (6)
Students complete an individual capstone interactive media project accompanied by an explanatory paper. The master's capstone project requires students to create an original, fully functional interactive media presentation for news, entertainment, informational services or strategic communications.
COM 561. Intellectual Property Law (3)
The intersection of law and technology has always been rife with legal dilemmas. New laws often come on the heels of new technology. This course introduces one of today's flashpoints for this difficult relationship: the law of intellectual property. Today, intellectual property law is the subject of demonstrations, acts of sabotage, mass civil disobedience, bitterly fought Supreme Court cases, intense lobbying, litigation and legislation. Digital technology makes it easier to create interactive media but perhaps also easier to violate copyright and trademark laws in the process. This course will examine intellectual property law for creation content producers, and addresses both practical considerations and public policy concerns.
COM 562. Citizen and Participatory News (3)
For more than two decades, the practice of journalism has changed through shifts in media technologies, corporate structure, and the organization of public life. Today, a new form of Internet journalism- citizen journalism- is taking root in which ordinary citizens are learning how to report on the people and events of the world with fresh eyes. Since the Internet became a part of everyday life in the mid-1990s, it has played an increasingly large role in the delivery of news about the world to citizens. This course explores citizen journalism and other technological shifts, with an eye to seeing how they affect journalism's role in society, and introduces conceptual and practical tools to practice journalism in today's digital environment.
COM 563. Virtual Environments (3)
Study three-dimensional online environments, massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) and the phenomenon of real-time, online interaction. By examining Second Life and emerging virtual worlds, students will explore how such realms and the accompanying toolsets can be leveraged in a communications capacity, whether to create an online political presence, to disseminate news, or to be a virtual forum for marketing and commerce.
COM 564. Public Opinion through New Media (3)
With the advent of virtual communities, smart mobs, and online social networks, old questions about the meaning of human social behavior have taken on renewed significance. Although this course is grounded in theory, it is equally rooted in practice, and much of the class discussion takes place in social cyberspace. This course requires active participation of students and a willingness to immerse in social media practices- mailing lists, web forums, blogs, wikis, chat, instant messaging, virtual worlds- for a part of every weekday during the seminars.
COM 565. Visual Aesthetics (3)
Principles and practices associated with design as both a physical manifestation of an artistic idea and a practical expression for communicating messages through images, icons and other elements that form the information architecture common to interactive media. Students analyze the aesthetics of artistic expression and further existing interface design skills.
COM 566. Interactive Media Management and Economics (3)
Forms of interactivity are changing the economic models for media companies, corporations and non-profit organizations seeking to communicate with desired audiences. In turn, this changing economic model influences management strategies for interactive media initiatives. In this course, students will survey economic analysis of the media and advertising industries in market economies, using that information to understand media performance.
COM 568. Special Topics in Interactivity (3)
Because of the fast-changing world of interactivity, special topics may arise periodically that the School of Communications believe warrant a special course for iMedia students. Special topics classes will be added to the curriculum in such cases as electives.
COM 569. Professional Apprenticeship (3)
An independent work experience under a professional mentor provides an opportunity to acquire insights and skills in a professional environment. Students are required to work at least 240 hours in a supervised environment. Apprenticeships must be approved by the graduate program director and will be permitted only under exceptionally circumstances.
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