200
Examines both religious and mainstream media and their relationship to the Catholic Church. This course studies the role of the media in the world and in the Church; the Catholic Church's teachings and pastoral guidelines for both communicators and consumers of the media; and the Church's use of media in evangelization, education, and pastoral communication.
Surveys contemporary methods of critical analysis of television in a social media environment. Using a model of criticism based on Aristotle's Rhetoric, four general areas are examined: programming genres, cultural significance of content, social viewing habits, and visual literacy. This course helps the individual develop "active viewing skills" that can be used by media producers, critics, or consumers.
Focuses on the collecting of information for news stories. Content includes evaluating and using interviews, surveys, government and other documents, participant observation, field experiments, and the Internet as means of gathering information.
Focuses on the development of performance skills for the digital media. Students explore various broadcast and non-broadcast performance situations (radio and television commercials, news, interviews, and a dramatic film scene), analyze the techniques used, and then practice those techniques. Class work includes studio performance assignments with regular evaluations. Lab fee.
Explores the function and structure of radio, television, and digital communication technologies in the United States. The course includes individual and group projects designed to introduce students to digital production and distribution processes.
Provides practical scriptwriting experience for radio and television. The process of developing scripts for a variety of broadcast applications is presented. It also covers format rules for a variety of genres including public affairs, drama, and commercials.
Provides instruction and practice in writing basic news stories using proper language skills and news judgment. The course addresses news values, elements of a news story, and duties and responsibilities of a journalist. Students receive practice in writing various types of news stories. Lab fee.
Trains students to research and write about the social, political, and economic subjects that constitute public affairs. In this advanced news reporting course, students write stories about local issues and events.
COM 261 or permission of instructor
Does the old saying "a picture speaks a thousand words" hold true? How often do you encounter images in your day? How prevalent are visual presentations in media today? How do you interpret what you see? How do others? This course addresses these and other related design issues. The premise is that visual messages have great power to communicate, inform, educate, and persuade both individuals and culture. Through hands-on exercises, research, group critiques, and discourses, students learn industry-standard graphic design applications while creating a capstone project that serves as a foundation to a personal employment portfolio.