Course Catalog

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Course Catalog

ATTENTION AND UBIQUITOUS MEDIA (CM3042)

In our “ubiquitous computing” age, attention and power are linked in new ways. The course surveys the following: (1) perception, consciousness and emotion in the rapidly shifting environment; (2) the technological infrastructure of attention, especially algorithms; (3) political economic interests underpinning what gets attention. Each topical area will be presented and analyzed in the context of overarching considerations of power, control, and freedom.

MEDIA LAW, POLICY, & ETHICS (CM3046)

Examines how constitutional and statutory law define and protect media in different countries. Introduces students to libel law, copyright and author's rights, commercial rights issues, and variations across countries. Examines the role of government institutions and regulatory bodies in formulating policy on matters such as children's television and advertising regulation. Explores the process of self-regulation and issues of journalist's ethics.

HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION (CM3048)

Introduces theories of human-computer interaction and analyzes human factors related to the design, development, and use of Information Systems. Students will apply these theories with examples of design, implementation, and evaluation of multimedia user interfaces. The subject of this course is inherently interdisciplinary and the students attending the course normally represent several majors.

MEDIA AND ETHNOGRAPHY (CM3049)

Explores how ethnography has been applied to a variety of media to understand how audiences receive media and respond to them. Examines how ethnographers and anthropologists use photography and film to explore 'cultures' and how they are re-appropriating media to express their own concerns.

RHETORIC & PERSUASION (CM3052)

Studies rhetoric as a historical phenomenon and as a practical reality. Considers how words and images are used to convince and persuade individuals of positions, arguments or actions to undertake, with particular attention to advertising, politics and culture. Studies the use of reason, emotion, and commonplaces, and compares visual and verbal techniques of persuasion.

MEDIA & GENDER (CM3053)

This course introduces students to key concepts, theories and texts in the study of gender and media in a global context. By examining a range of media texts, modes of representation and production, we can analyse established patterns of how gender has come to be depicted and constructed by media, but also changes and challenges to these patterns. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of power, discourse and ideology in these contexts. Topics of study will include gender roles, body image, empowerment, spectatorship and performance, sexuality, stereotypes and exploitation; examples will be drawn from media forms including advertising, film, television, journalism and the internet. An overview of important feminist, poststructuralist and queer theories will be central to critical approaches to this material.

VISUAL RHETORIC: PERSUASIVE IMAGES (CM3055)

This course will examine the hows and whys by which visual cultural products circulate, attempt to persuade audiences, and have effects in contemporary media cultures. These include: film, television, advertising, public spaces, photojournalism, and new media. The course answers the question: How do images, audio-visual products, and their place in media cultures shape us as individuals, groups, or nations?

THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF FOOD (CM3060)

This course examines the intersection of food and the senses from an anthropological perspective. We will explore the intersection between food and culture; the impact of social, political and economic contexts on our foods and foodways; French food culture; and taste, cuisine and commensality as forms of inter-cultural communication. Students apply class readings and practice ethnographic methodologies in a few short study trips.

MEDIA SEMIOTICS (CM3062)

This course introduces students to theories of semiotics as they are applied to mass media. Semiotics is the study of meaning-making; we will study how meaning is made from media. We will study a range of media forms, including television, cinema, websites, advertising and print media, as sign systems in order to analyze how cultural meanings are produced and received within the mass media. We will apply key theories and concepts relevant to media semiotics, including genre, narratology, linguistics and discourse theory.

ADVERTISING (CM3067)

The world of advertising has seen dramatic change over the past decades and what used to be mass communication still in the 90s is about to evolve into the "market of one" as described by P&G, a global consumer goods company. The availability of Big Data and man's capacity to use massive amounts of information will soon allow advertisers to target people individually, directly catering to their personal needs and desires. However, in this quickly changing world of communications, the basic workings of advertising & communications have remained the same. While media choices have evolved, understanding and applying the rules and factors that produce effective advertising has not and will not change in the foreseeable future. This class provides a thorough understanding of what works in advertising and what doesn't. Among other things, students will acquire the skills to write a single-minded copy strategy and creative brief, how to plan for the right media in offline and online, how identify the target audience and how to recognize good creative ideas. The course will convey initial notions on how to develop advertising concepts in print, TV, digital and content strategy as well as social media communications. The course will look at over 100 ads as illustrations and for analysis purposes and will teach students the elementary principles of how to develop effective advertising by using a teaching method inspired by the Harvard Business School.