The history and development of U.S. media, theoretical aspects of mass communications, the composition of media audiences, law and regulation of mass communications and how the media affect and are affected by society are presented.

This foundational course explores how visual creators use new media and technologies for cultural impact and expression in a variety of fields. How have these new innovations merging art and technology impacted contemporary society by combining different languages, including visual, verbal, written and signed? By selecting case studies within the fields of, for example, film, journalism, digital media, games, internet culture, immersive media, students will understand how creative media is shaped by, and engages with, contemporary economic and social issues within the U.S.

Community Journalism emphasizes the local aspects of news, and teaches students how to identify “community” beyond a region and a neighborhood. A co-taught course with Photojournalism faculty in the College of Art and Design, Community Journalism sharpens students’ reporting skills, and guides them in constructing a reporting project as a complete journalistic package, with visual, artistic and written storytelling components in concert with each other. The final project will be a reported (written) piece with corresponding photographs and multimedia.

An opportunity for undergraduates to learn the verbal and visual skills utilized in the creation of advertising messages. To create an effective strategy for an advertising campaign, the advertising copywriter/art director team needs to combine linguistic and visual metaphors into a persuasive message. Students will develop creative advertising messages by researching and writing a creative brief and then implementing the plan by transforming concepts into actual advertising messages and campaigns.

The contemporary understanding of communication and narrative is quickly shifting in a world where media is ubiquitous. The "language of new media" is the thematic used in this course to discuss contemporary and historic forms of non-linear narrative. Students will explore the properties of non-linear, multi-linear, and interactive forms of narratives. This course will survey some of the possibilities, examining both traditional and new media such as oral storytelling, literature, poetry, visual arts, museum exhibits, architecture, hypertext fiction, Net Art, and computer games. Writers on communication culture, gaming, television, digital aesthetics, contemporary art and film, as well as synchronic narrative will be addressed. The focus is to develop critical tools to analyze contemporary media as well as a minimal level of practical implementation. Students will produce a final media project.

This honors seminar is a foundational course that examines how our social worlds are linked to our natural and built worlds. The corresponding emphasis on inquiry, analysis, and interpretation facilitates student-engaged learning. In exploring pertinent place and space related issues/topics through an experiential, active, and site-specific curricular focused learning, various aspects of the human condition are discovered. The theme or topic of this honors seminar, as chosen by the instructor, is announced in the subtitle as well as course notes and is developed in the syllabus. The honors seminar integrates the required Year One curriculum.

This course will provide a mechanism for teaching topics within the field of humanities and/or social sciences on an ad-hoc basis. This course will serve as a shell to allow the College of Liberal Arts flexibility to allow faculty across the college to teach a short-term course in their area of expertise. These short-term courses can take the form of • a course surrounding a professional opportunity, such as a conference or field study; • a short-term course developed to teach students skills not ordinarily offered in the curriculum, which may lead to a skills-based certification • a pop-up course developed to address a current event. Faculty who wish to stand up this course must have the permission of the department chair as well as the dean’s office.

As mainstream newsrooms shrink, fewer stories about issues relevant to local communities are written and photographed. This course introduces students to the principles and practices of community journalism. Community journalism focuses on hyper-local issues and is increasingly becoming an important source for local news and information. Students will learn about the importance of community journalism and will practice writing and photographing stories about community leaders and organizations, neighborhood stability factors, meetings, sports, crime, and changes in a small community near Rochester. The course will be structured around class discussions, workshops, and live reporting from the community.

A capstone class for students in the Individualized Program bachelor of science degree program. Course provides students an opportunity to reflect upon and enhance the many aspects of their individualized educational programs and focus on future goals. Senior status is required. Students should consult their adviser before registering. (Pre-requisites: Senior status and permission of academic adviser).