E03.0001 | New Student Seminar New Student Seminar (NSS) is a required first semester course for new undergraduate students (e.g. freshman and transfers). It orients students to the University, the Steinhardt School, and the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication. Students are introduced to the nature of higher education, student life on and around campus and New York City, and to the all important major requirements (also known as program of study). In class, students work together under the guidance of their advisor to actively explore their roles as students in this diverse and global academic community and as future professionals in their chosen fields. |
E59.0001 | Introduction to Media Studies sample syllabus Introduces students to the study of contemporary forms of mediated communication. The course surveys the main topics in the field and introduces students to a variety of analytical perspectives. Issues include the economics of media production; the impact of media on individual attitudes, values, and behaviors; the role of media professionals, and the impact of new media technologies. |
E59.0003 | History of Communication sample syllabus A survey of the four great revolutions in human communication: orality (speech), literacy (writing and reading), typography (print and mass literacy), and the electronic media (telegraph, telephone, photograph, film, radio, television, computers, and communication satellites). Examines how the semiotic codes, physical structures, and time-space biases of the media wrought by these revolutions have affected such basic human communication forms as memory, myth and ritual, narration and reenactment, and visual imagery. |
| E59.0005 | Introduction to Human Communication and Culture sample syllabus |
E59.0010 | Language, Thought, and Culture An introduction to the role played by language in human society and culture. Examines how language structures our ways of perceiving, knowing, thinking, communicating, and behaving. |
E59.0014 | Introduction to Media Criticism sample syllabus An introduction to approaches and practices used to criticize the content, structure, and context (including effects) of significant media in our society. Background readings, examination of current criticism, and beginning practice in media criticism are employed. communicating, and behaving. |
E59.1200 | Integrated Liberal Arts A culminating course integrating models of interpretation derived from the liberal arts with the analytical tools developed in communication studies. The course reflects current research interests within the department and encourages students to explore emerging issues in the field of communication studies, including media and globalization, professional ethics, and the interaction between audiences and texts. |
E59.1002 | Space and Place in Human Communication This course will build on a core concept of Lewis Mumford who understood media ecology as a component of spatial and urban ecology. Emphasis will be given on how space socially organizes human meaning and on the inscription of space. How do people, through their practices and their being in the world, form relationships with the locales they occupy (both the natural world and the build environment)? How do they attach meaning to spaces to create places? And how do the experiences of inhabiting, viewing, and hearing those places shape their meanings, communicative practices, cultural performances, memories, and habits? Course themes include: mapping and the imagination; vision and space, soundscape, architecture and landscape, new media and space/time compression; space and identity; spatial violence; spatialization of memory. |
E59.1003 | Introduction to Digital Media sample syllabus This course is an introduction to digital media, focusing on networks, computers, the Web, and video games. Theoretical topics include the formal qualities of new media, their political dimensions, as well as questions of genre, narrative, and history. |
E59.1005 | The Culture Industries A survey of the contemporary arts and journalism, with particular attention to the impact of corporate concentration on the working atmosphere and final "product" in each field. Through broad reading and interviews with weekly guests, we will probe the working life today in television, radio, cinema, magazine writing, book publishing, Web production and the music business. |
E59.1006 | Television: History and Form Analysis of television as a medium of information, conveyor and creator of mass culture, and a form of aesthetic expression. Course examines the historical development of television as both a cultural product and an industry. |
E59.1007 | Film: History and Form Analysis of film as a medium of information, conveyor and creator of mass culture, and a form of aesthetic expression. Course examines the historical development of film as both a cultural product and an industry. |
E59.1008 | Video Games: Culture and Industry The course examines the emergence of video games as site of contemporary cultural production and practice. It pays special attention the symbolic and aesthetic dimensions of video games, including their various narratives forms and sub-genres, and concentrates on their interactive dimensions. The course provides insight into the emerging trends in the interface between humans and media technologies. The course also situates video games within the business practices of the entertainment industries. |
E59.1010 | Censorship in American Culture From the late 19th century to the present, this course explores many of the areas where debates about obscenity and censorship have been urgently contested, from discussions about birth control, to literature, film, theatre, art galleries and history museums, to public sidewalks, lecture halls, and the Internet. The goal is for the students to have an enhanced understanding of the historical contexts in which important cultural and legal struggles over censorship have taken place, and to bring that understanding to bear on contemporary debates about the arts, sexuality, national security, media technology, privacy, and government involvement in the marketplace of ideas and images. |
E59.1011 | Media and Migration The course examines the role of media in the lives and cultures of transnational immigrant communities. Using a comparative framework and readings drawn from interdisciplinary sources, the course will explore how media practices and media representations (re)define and enable a re-imagining of national belonging, identity and culture in the context of global relocations. |
E59.1012 | Crime, Violence and Media sample syllabus This course considers the culture of crime in relation to conventions of news and entertainment in the mass media. Topics include competing theories of criminogenic behavior, news conventions and crime reporting, the aesthetics and representation of crime in the media, the role of place in crime stories, moral panics and fears, crime and consumer culture, and the social construction of different kinds of crimes and criminals. |
E59.1013 | Political Communication sample syllabus This course focuses on the essentially communicative aspects of American governing processes, surveying research that analyzes the way in which political candidates at various levels of government are chosen, how they shape their personal image, the process of constructing persuasive message appeals, and their interaction with voters. It will also focus on how elected officials set political and legislative agendas, use public relations strategies to shape public policy, and otherwise engage in the process of political deliberation. The media in which these processes take place will be an additional focus, including the influence of news outlets, political campaign advertising, and the work of political advocacy groups of various kinds. Common methods utilized in political communication research will also be highlighted, including experimental and survey research, and various forms of textual analysis. |
E59.1014 | Mass Persuasion and Propaganda Analysis of the development, principles, techniques, and results of mass persuasion from its beginnings in ancient civilizations to its evolution into propaganda in the modern technological society. Mass persuasion in war, politics, and advertising is examined. |
E59.1015 | Advertising and Society sample syllabus Study of modern advertising as both an industry and symbolic system. The course combines rigorous textual and critical analysis of advertising (to include print, broadcasting, outdoor, and online advertising) with an understanding of campaign strategies. The course also analyzes the relationship between advertising and consumerism. |
E59.1016 | Media Audiences sample syllabus An examination of the great debate concerning the effects of mass media and mass communication on our society. Analysis and application of major perspectives and approaches used in formulating modern theories of mass communication. |
E59.1018 | Kids in Media Culture sample syllabus In this course, students will examine how young people of different ages and backgrounds use, value, and find meaning in different media in different kinds of contexts, and we discuss the social, cultural, and political implications of these lived experiences. In addition, we will explore how we might address the issues raised by the contemporary communication environment, and by the realities of young people's complex interactions with popular media. Books required are David Buckingham's After the Death of Childhood: Growing Up in the Age of Electronic Media and Fisherkeller's Growing up with Television: Everyday Learning Among Young Adolescents. A packet of readings will include cultural audience studies investigating different actual kids' relationships to different media in a variety of social contexts. The culminating assignment for this class requires students to write a paper addressing a "real" audience outside of the classroom informing them about the issues of the course, and proposing how that audience might take a course of action in reponse. |
E59.1019 | Media and Identity Study and exploration of the relationship between the media and the construction of both individual and social identities. Examines the ways in which human identity is increasingly influenced by media representations and the social and personal consequences of this trend. |
E59.1020 | The Business of Media Detailed examination of the business models and economic traits in a variety of media industries including film and television, cable and satellite, book and magazine publishing, gaming and the Internet. Emphasis on historical trends and current strategies in both domestic and global markets. |
E59.1021 | Dead Media Research Studio This course is devoted to media archaeology, that is, historical research on forgotten, obsolete, or otherwise "dead" media technologies. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the skills and resources necessary for producing rigorous scholarship on obsolete and obscure media. It will include an exposure to scholarship in media archaeology including writings from Friedrich Kittler and Jonathan Sterne; an intensive introduction to research methods; instruction on the localization and utilization of word, image, and sound archives; and a continuing emphasis on the need to restore media artifacts to their proper social and cultural context. The course follows a research studio model commonly used in disciplines such as architecture. |
E59.1022 | Latino Media sample syllabus Examines the production, consumption and cultural meaning of Latino media produced in and around the United States (as opposed to that produced in Latin American countries). Focuses on a wide range of mediated cultural production: television, radio, film, advertising, magazines, etc. This course will be a critical investigation into the theories, production and consumption of Latino media and popular culture. Examines the influence popular culture has on politics, identity formation, shaping culture and as a mode of revealing, producing and reproducing ideology and political struggle. |
E59.1023 | East Asian Media This course examines contemporary mass media in East Asia by focusing on media institutions and practices in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Special attention is paid to such issues as media regulations and censorship, press freedom and journalistic practices, the rise of East Asian media industries, intra-region flows of information and entertainment, and the presence and influence of transnational media companies in East Asia. |
| E59.1029 | New Media Research Studio New Media Research Studio is a lab dedicated to examining and deconstructing new information technology tools and environments. Students will be exposed to the contemporary discourse around new media through reading, listening and watching. We will embark on virtual journeys into media and will update the class collaborative blog with travelogues from social networking sites, massive-multi-player online environments, the blogosphere, the open source movement, radical online activist groups, internet art collectives and more. |
E59.1034 | Media Technology and Society sample syllabus An inquiry into the interplay of technology and contemporary society. Examines the ways in which technologies-mechanical, electronic, analog, and digital-have shaped and complicated our culture and society. |
E59.1100 | Internship Applied fieldwork in Communication Studies. The internship program promotes the integration of academic theory with practical experience. Internships expand student understanding of the dynamics of the ever-changing field of communication. |
E59.1200 | Integrating Liberal Arts sample syllabus Open only to seniors in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication or by permission of the instructor. A culminating course integrating models of interpretation derived from the liberal arts with the analytical tools developed in communication studies. Reflects current research interests within the department and encourages students to explore emerging issues in the field of communication studies, including media and globalization, professional ethics, and the interaction between audiences and texts. |
E59.1210 | Senior Honors in Media, Culture, and Communication Prerequisite: senior standing and department approval to pursue honors in the major. Open only to communication studies majors with seniors standing. Extended primary research in communication studies, focusing on the development and sharing of individual research projects. Students enroll concurrently in 2 points of Independent Study under the direction of a faculty honors sponsor, as outlined in department guidelines. |
E59.1300 | Media and Global Communication Examines the broad range of activities associated with the globalization of media production, distribution, and reception. Issues include the relationship between local and national identities and the emergence of a "global culture" and the impact of technological innovations on the media themselves and their use and reception in a variety of settings. |
E59.1305 | Communication and International Development This course introduces students to theoretical foundations in historical and contemporary issues in communication, media, information and international development. Topics include state-building, modernization, dependency and globalization. Every week will be dedicated to a particular country/region and media development program whereby students will analyze a specific case study. |
| E59.1340 | Religion and Media |
E59.1350 | Understanding Propaganda: Media, Politics, and the Modern World Introduces students to the history and practice of propaganda in the modern world, with a particular emphasis on the tactical and strategic uses of media as an instrument for the dissemination of propaganda. |
E59.1401 | Global Cultures and Identities This course examines globalization as it is inscribed in everyday practices through the transnational traffic of persons, cultural artifacts, and ideas. The course will focus on issues of transnational mobility, modernity, the local/global divide, and pay specific attention to how categories of race, gender, and ethnicity intersect with transnational change. |
E59.1402 | Marxism and Culture sample syllabus Explores the various political and philosophical debates within western Marxism. Pays particular attention to the influence of the cultural turn in twentieth century Marxist thought on feminism, postcolonialism, and theories of mediation. Themes include: the commodity, alienation and reification, surplus value, culture, ideology, hegemony and subjectivity. |
E59.1405 | Copyright, Commerce and Culture Course explores the basic tenets and operative principles of the global copyright system. It considers the ways in which media industries, artists, and consumers interact with the copyright system and judges how well it serves its stated purposes: to encourage art and creativity. Examinies various social, cultural, legal, and political issues that have arisen in recent years as a result of new communicative technologies. The two main technological changes that concern us are the digitization of information and culture and the rise of networks within society and politics. |
E59.1517 | Photography and the Visual Archive This course examines the role and history of photography within the historical landscape of media and communication. Special emphasis is placed on the accumulative meaning of visual archives, tracing how images relation and establish cultural territories across a variety of texts and media. The course investigates and contrasts the mimetic visual strategies within western and non-western traditions, looking at historical and contemporary images in a variety of forms. |
E59.1520 | Marking Time: From Writing to Print to Visual Bookmaking Evolutionary stages of diverse writing and bookmaking practices. From the first record-keeping necessities through biblical texts and medieval book practices, to mechanical reproductions and the transformation from print to the computer age. Cultural and social impact of these traditions are examined. |
E59.1700 | Gender and Communication Does gender influence the ability to communicate? According to recent studies, gender plays a powerful role in how we are perceived by others and often influences the way we communicate with others. This course enables students to understand how to deal with sex roles and sex role development as they affect the ability to communicate in everyday life. |
E59.1717 | Modes of Listening This course examines theories, technologies, and practices of listening in the modern world. How has our experience of sound changed as we move from the piano to the personal computer, from the phonoautograph to the mp3? How have political, commercial, and cultural forces shaped what we are able to listen to, and how we listen to it? Finally, how have performers, physiologists, and philosophers worked to understand this radical transformation of the senses? |
E59.1725 | Communication in Professional Settings Effective communication within organizations requires an understanding of the various communication dimensions that exist within professional frameworks. The course endeavors to give students this understanding through the discussion and practical experiences in technology and communication, teleconferencing, the interview, group and individual presentations in a television studio setting, and defining the professional environment. |
E59.1730 | Nonverbal Communication It is estimated that what we say without words comprises up to 65 percent of what we mean. In this course, students learn how to identify and interpret gestures and facial expressions and to understand the implications of the power that underlies all nonverbal communication. Topics for discussion include the meaning of body language, the uses of space, touching behavior, eye contact, and paralanguage. Through such understanding, students gain greater awareness of and insight into their own behavior and into the behavior of others. |
E59.1735 | Intercultural Communication Consideration is given to verbal and nonverbal communication processes in United States culture as compared and contrasted with other interacting cultures; stereotypes resulting from differences in communication; and intervention strategies designed to strengthen effective intercultural communication. |
E59.1740 | Interviewing Strategies This course focuses on the principles and practices of successful interviewing techniques. Students are provided with background on the structure of an interview and learn how to analyze success and/or potential problems. Review of case studies and practice in holding interviews enable students to gain experience and to improve their own abilities. |
E59.1745 | Organizational Communication This course is designed especially for students entering business, health care, and educational settings who are assuming or aspiring to positions of leadership. Through case studies and class discussion, course work focuses on strengthening communication competency in presentation skills, persuasive ability (i.e., marketing and sales), leadership in meetings, and problem-solving skills. |
E59.1750 | Public Relations: Theory and Process (formerly titled Communication and Public Relations) |
E59.1755 | Public Relations: Principles and Practices (formerly titled Public Relations Techniques) Focuses on techniques of communication in public relations including creation of press releases, press packets and kits, and developing public relations campaigns. |
E59.1775 | Advertising: Principles and Practices (formerly titled Advertising Strategies) Course focuses on understanding the communication strategies and fundamentals of effective advertising and the use of advertising communication tools. The emphasis is on techniques, preparation of materials, and the ability to assess the effectiveness of these strategies. |
E59.1780 | Advertising Campaings (formerly titled Advanced Advertising Strategies) This course teaches students who have taken a basic advertising course how to develop a complete advertising campaign for a product, service, or nonprofit organization. Prerequisite: E59.1775 or equivalent. |
| E59.1785 | Marketing for Mass Media |
E59.1790 | Introduction to Rhetoric A historic view of rhetorical theory from the ancients (Plato, Aristotle, Quintillian) to the modern (Burke, Weaver, Toulmin). The primary applications of the theory are to contemporary speakers and the nature of American political rhetoric. Questions addressed range from "What is rhetoric?" to "What made the Declaration of Independence persuasive?" to "Why (and how) does the government lie to us?" |
E59.1795 | Introduction to Rhetorical Criticism An introduction to the art of evaluating speeches. Application of the rhetorical theories-from Aristotle to postmodernism-to famous 20th-century speeches (Kennedy's "Inaugural," Reagan's "Star Wars," etc.). |
E59.1800 | Political Rhetoric Looking at the rhetoric of public relations, we examine the principles and assumptions in analyzing the process of political campaigns. Focus is on an analysis of what is reported to the mass media and not the "gatekeepers" - reporters, editors, and producers of news who filter the messages. Also, discussion on how public relations helps create the viewpoints that eventually become well established and widely held. |
E59.1805 | Public Speaking Analysis of the problems of speaking to groups and practice in preparing and presenting speeches for various purposes and occasions. Hours are arranged for student evaluation and practice. |
E59.1808 | Persuasion Analysis of factors inherent in the persuasive process; examination and application of these factors in presentations. |
E59.1815 | Conflict Management Communication Effective communication plays a critical role in addressing, defusing, and managing conflict in professional and personal settings. Through case studies, students learn how factors such as ethnicity, oral and nonverbal communication, gender, culture, and writing contribute to conflict and how we can learn to assess, manage, and defuse conflicts productively. |
E59.1820 | Mediation Strategies Mediation is an alternative to violence, self-help, and litigation. It is a process in which parties with a dispute settle it with the mediator. Students acquire the communication competencies and an understanding of the process that enables the parties to live peacefully in the future. Students also develop mediation objectives and strategies and execute a mediation session. |
E59.1830 | Interpersonal Communication The application of various systems of communication analysis to specific behavioral situations. Through case-study method, students apply communication theories & models to practical, everyday situations. |
E59.1835 | Argumentation and Debate Analysis of the problems inherent in arguing and debating; the development of analytical tools for argument; practice in the application and preparation of analysis through debating. Hours are arranged for student evaluation and practice. |
E59.1840 | Team Building Examines the principles and techniques involved in group problem-solving and decision-making tasks. Class projects are used to practice the application of the fundamentals and implementation of specific strategies. Hours are arranged for student projects and practice. |