The Senior Capstone Experience is an intensive research or creative project on a topic chosen by the student and guided by a faculty mentor. Students typically complete the Capstone in the spring of their senior year. However, planning for the SCE begins in the spring of their junior year with the submission of an SCE application during advising week. The Capstone is graded Pass, Fail, or Honors.

This course introduces students to core issues in communication and media studies, examining theories and models of communication, the relationship between media and society, and the histories and trends in newspaper, music, television, film, advertising, and electronic and digital technologies. To accomplish this, the course explores key problems, scholarly paradigms, and theoretical formulations through materials drawn from academic scholarship, the popular press, and multimedia.

Class presentations, job interviews, internships: pubic speaking is part of our everyday life. This course teaches students the main principles of public speaking; practice in composition, delivery, and criticism of informative, persuasive, and entertaining speeches. Particular attention is paid to speaking with media and public speaking in a digital world.

Internships provide opportunities for students to experience hands-on learning in a position or work environment connected to the study of CMS. Students wishing to complete an internship must establish an agreement with a faculty advisor and register for internship credits before beginning their internship. Internships are graded on a Pass/Fail system. 45 hours are required per credit.

The Communication and Media Studies Practicum at Radio Free George gives students the opportunity to develop hands-on skills in podcasting production. Students who participate will develop original programming that will be distributed through various podcasting platforms. Students are encouraged to think broadly and creatively about the topic/s for your program. No previous podcasting or production experience is required to participate.

Special Topics courses are courses outside of the normal departmental offerings that are chosen based on student interest and faculty expertise. Students may repeat Special Topics courses if they have different titles.

Understanding contemporary moving image culture and media-from YouTube, to Snapchat, to IMAX-requires a working understanding visual analysis. The history of cinema provides the best way to comprehend and contextualize the moving image in popular culture. This course is a history of world cinema from film dawn to post WWII cinema (roughly 1895-1960) which present the films of this era in a way that understands them as integral works within an historical visual landscape. This course emphasizes understanding filmmaking form (how to watch a movie), aesthetics, and filmmaking techniques, and analyzing content/narrative. Lab required for film screenings.

This course teaches students to develop a critical understanding of the role of popular movies and television in their own lives and in U.S. culture. The course looks at issues of the relationship of media to social violence, gender identities, sexual identities, technology, minority cultures, and the role of the U.S. media globally.

A continuation of World Cinema I, this course looks at film history roughly from 1960-present, presenting various modes of international cinema production and its contemporary evolution as closely interconnected. Covering the US, the UK, Italy, Czech, Senegal, Algeria, Japan, India, and France, we place an emphasis on hybrids of all these 'national' styles, as well as challenging the politically charged notion of national cinema itself. Secondly, we explore how changes in global contemporary filmmaking evolved the US film industry and helped to challenge Hollywood's global dominance. Thirdly, we trace how new industrial channels exposed regional and 'minor' film industries to global audiences. Lab required for film screenings.

This course examines persuasion as a communicative strategy. Attempts at persuasion surround us everywhere: in the advertisements we see, in the messages we receive on social media, in the debates we have over meals, and even in the layout of our grocery stores. Students consider the history of persuasion in mediated and non-mediated contexts and the ways in which technology keeps users clicking, watching, and participating. In addition to practicing critical analysis of persuasive messages, this class encourages the production of original persuasive content that is both effective and ethical.

This course examines the structures and impacts of global communication networks. We consider the economic, cultural, political, technical, and environmental consequences of increasingly globalized media. We discuss early work in the field of international communications and continue through to contemporary discussions of global media networks. Throughout the semester, we examine how different entities wield power and assert influence in this global media landscape and how digital technologies can be used to both challenge and reaffirm those existing hierarchies.

This course will cover the foundations of reporting, writing, fact checking, and editing. Other topics such as the history and ethics of journalism will be discussed.

Theory may seem like a scary word, but theory helps us to make sense of the world. Theories shape how we understand reality, relationships, and the media around us, and aids in creating media of our own. Theory tells us more about how we communicate every day, provides tools for deeper comprehension of our media landscape, and prepares us for lives consciously lived. This course exposes students to the major theories of communication and media studies, their application to the academic and professional inquiry in the field, and their importance in everyday life. The course also teaches students to write in and across the field, and prepares them for upper level critical, analytical, and theoretical based communication and media studies thinking and research.

This course introduces students to the art and craft of video editing and to the editor's role in bringing stories to life for the audience. A good video editor draws on artistic, technological and organizational skills in cutting and assembling a video that emotionally connects to an audience. Students will acquire and develop these skills using the various tools and techniques of editing during hands-on workshops and in project-based learning. Although other editing software can be used, this course focuses on Davinci Resolve 18, which combines editing, world-class color grading, visual effects, motion graphics and audio post-production all in one software tool. It is free and works on both Windows and MacOS. No previous experience in video production or video editing is required.

This course introduces students to the major filmmaking disciplines including producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound and editing. Through workshops there will be hands-on opportunities to develop skills with filmmaking tools including cameras, sound and lighting equipment, and editing software. Students will produce their own videographic workover the course of the semester. Prior experience in production and/or editing is not required.

Internships provide opportunities for students to experience hands-on learning in a position or work environment connected to the study of CMS. Students wishing to complete an internship must establish an agreement with a faculty advisor and register for internship credits before beginning their internship. Internships are graded on a Pass/Fail system. 45 hours are required per credit.

The Communication and Media Studies Practicum at Radio Free George gives students the opportunity to develop hands-on skills in podcasting production. Students who participate will develop original programming that will be distributed through various podcasting platforms. Students are encouraged to think broadly and creatively about the topic/s for your program. This intermediate-level practicum requires previous experience in podcast production and/or the completion of CMS 191.

Special Topics courses are courses outside of the normal departmental offerings that are chosen based on student interest and faculty expertise. Students may repeat Special Topics courses if they have different titles.

An agreement between a sponsoring faculty and a student letting the student study a topic of interest not offered at WC. 45 hours are required per credit.

This course introduces students to the political economic approach to communication and media studies and considers its application to specific media and entertainment industries. To understand media content, media technologies, and the economies built around them, we must look more deeply at the effects commercialization and corporate concentration have on these systems. In this course, we will consider issues like privacy, citizenship, globalization, labor, alternative media, digital media, and the ways in which we construct shared culture through media.

This course is designed to introduce students to the quantitative and qualitative research methods used to study communication and media. We will focus on critical analysis, evaluation, study design, research ethics, the application of research to everyday decision-making, and what communication and media research can tell us about phenomena in the world around us. This course treats students as CMS practitioners, which means they are expected to participate in the recursive process of scholarly inquiry and apply their skills to formulate research questions, study design, and research implementation.

Explores the history and cultural background of German cinema, its topics, forms of representation and relationship to main issues of German history; major themes, movements, and trends, and the construction of identity and difference with special focus on gender. Apart from the historical and narrative context of the films, we will also consider how movies produce meaning and how our perspectives as viewers are guided. While this course is not an introduction to Film Studies, it will give students a general idea how to think and write about film in a critical way. Films are screened outside of class; if students cannot attend the screenings, they must watch the films before the class discussion on their own time.

This course explores the role of the media in politics from various perspectives, providing an overview of the following: the history of media in the United States; the legal issues that relate to the media; the impact that the media has on public opinion; the substance (or lack of substance) of the media's coverage of the news, government and elections; biases of the news media; and the increasing conglomeration of the news media through mergers. Throughout the course, these issue areas will be discussed in a larger context involving questions of freedom, representation, and political participation.

A study of narrative journalism, what is required to tell a story thoroughly, and how to determine the best form for the story. Narrative journalism blends in-depth reporting and research, investigative journalism, first-person perspective, and narrative writing. Includes reading the genre, researching, reporting, writing, recording, giving constructive criticism, and revising.

Traces the history of journalism ethics through challenges to and practices of ethical journalism, as students research, report, present, analyze, write, and revise to demonstrate the knowledge they gain. Topics include yellow journalism, muckraking, new journalism, gonzo journalism, the use of anonymous sources, new new journalism, and fake news.

The goal of visual anthropology is to immerse students in the study and production of ethnographic media and documentary film. We will begin by exploring the varied genres of historical anthropological documentary which range from salvage ethnography to ethnofiction and include more recent attempts to empower cultures by encouraging them to visually capture their own unique social, political and expressive worldviews. We will also examine and critique other cultural forms of visual media ranging from film and photography to petroglyphs and tattoos. Once we have an understanding of the varied approaches to media production, students will engage in the creative process of developing an idea for an ethnographic film, storyboarding, shooting film, and editing complete ethnographic documentaries.

This interdisciplinary seminar examines African American literature and intellectual thought of the 1920s and 1930s. Take this course and learn about different conceptualizations of the black aesthetic, and about the impact race, class, and gender had on key figures like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, and Wallace Thurman.

Internships provide opportunities for students to experience hands-on learning in a position or work environment connected to the study of CMS. Students wishing to complete an internship must establish an agreement with a faculty advisor and register for internship credits before beginning their internship. Internships are graded on a Pass/Fail system. 45 hours are required per credit.

Special Topics courses are courses outside of the normal departmental offerings that are chosen based on student interest and faculty expertise. Students may repeat Special Topics courses if they have different titles.

An agreement between a sponsoring faculty and a student, letting the student study a topic of interest not offered at WC. 45 hours are required per credit.

This course engages with, uses, and challenges various theoretical ideas and approaches to film. Throughout the semester, we address questions such as: What is cinema, and what are film studies? How do we relate to and interact with films? What are the relationships among film and the larger global society? We discuss the historical and cultural context in which particular theories emerged and learn the language of idea-inflected film criticism. Additionally, we look at how film studies have used influenced and theoretical lines of thought such as Marxism, semiotics, formalism, psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, feminism, critical race theory, sexuality studies, queer theory, and critiques of neocolonialism. Class includes screening time.

The Senior Seminar fosters rigorous reflection on students' CMS training while exploring continuing debates in the field. This course requires students to critically reflect not only on their research topics, but to provide critical feedback to peers. Students will complete written and oral work in anticipation of and preparation for embarking on their Senior Capstone Experience. Beyond this, students will collaborate to develop an accessible resource on a current topic in the field and spend time preparing for job and/or graduate school applications.

This course surveys the interdisciplinary field of book history, with an emphasis on American print culture from the nineteenth century to the present. Students explore topics related to the creation, publication, dissemination and reception of American print communication (e.g., books, periodicals, and newspapers). Students also learn and practice advanced research methods used by literary historians and print culture scholars.

Internships provide opportunities for students to experience hands-on learning in a position or work environment connected to the study of CMS. Students wishing to complete an internship must establish an agreement with a faculty advisor and register for internship credits before beginning their internship. Internships are graded on a Pass/Fail system. 45 hours are required per credit.

Special Topics courses are courses outside of the normal departmental offerings that are chosen based on student interest and faculty expertise. Students may repeat Special Topics courses if they have different titles.

An agreement between a sponsoring faculty and a student, letting the student study a topic of interest not offered at WC. 45 hours are required per credit.