Arts & Sciences
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Communication Arts & Sciences |
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Programs: Media Studies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courses Most of what people know about the world they discover in the media: print, film, and electronic. The media studies program examines the electronic media and their impact on society, culture, and people. MEDIA STUDIES CURRICULUM
Sequencing:
CAS Electives - 4 courses total:
One course selected from:
140 Communication and Culture (3). This course examines the ways in which communication is used to create, maintain, and change culture. Students have the opportunity to apply a basic understanding of the concepts of communication and culture to a range of contemporary social issues, cultural texts, and communication practices. Emphasis is given to rhetorical and discussion methods to help students learn about analyzing and constructing oral and written arguments and to work cooperatively doing a research project for class presentation. 190 Introduction to Video Production (4). An introductory course in film-style production in the medium of digital video, with instruction in all of the elements of production, including scriptwriting, videography, sound, lighting and editing. Students will produce a series of exercises and a short finished video. All equipment is provided. 230 History of North American Media (3). This course emphasizes changes in the means of communication, the control of media systems, the audiences for media products, and the changes introduced into North American life (Canadian, Mexican, U.S. ) by the press, telegraph, telephone, phonograph, photograph, cinema, wireless, radio, television, cable and satellite, and computers. It concentrates on the history of technological development, programming, audience development, representation of constituent groups in society – especially minorities – and changes in law and regulation that have affected media institutions. 238 Theory and Communication (3). An examination of the significance and role of theory in understanding the nature of human communication. The course focuses on the fundamental elements of communication processes, the assumptions that underlie communication theory, the similarities and differences between theoretical approaches, and the means of evaluating theoretical perspectives, including a Christian critique of communication theories. Prerequisite: CAS 140. 248 Writing for the Media (3). An introduction
to the content, styles, and formats of media scripts. The course emphasizes
the differences in media writing compared with more familiar forms of
writing, the role of the script as text in producing media programs, the
styles of writing used (journalistic, dramatic, polemical, and emotive),
and the technical requirements for scripts used to focus the work of directors,
actors, camera, and sound technicians, editors and mixers in creating
a media product. Also listed as English 248. Prerequisite: English 101.
Topic for both semesters: Film Scripts. 254 Media Criticism (3). The theory and practice of media criticism. This course develops a Reformed lens for consumers and producers of media to evaluate mass media on behalf of church and society. Students write audience-focused reviews and evaluate others' criticism of media such as television, radio, popular music, and new media technologies (including the Internet, digital music, video games, and blogs). Prerequisites: ENGL 101 and CAS 140 or permission of the instructor. 255 Documentary Film and Television (4). An examination of the history, aesthetics, ethics and cultural and institutional functions of documentary film and television. Course includes a mandatory weekly screening (lab). 281 American Film (4). The study of American film as
an art form, including technology, industry, and the system of representation
and communication from the silent era to the present. This course investigates
how Hollywood films work technically, artistically, and culturally to
affirm and challenge images of America. Films considered represent major
expressions of the classical Hollywood style and diversions from that
style. Topics include film technique and style, narrative conventions
and genres, the Hollywood studio and star systems, directors, and ideologies. 284 Critical Approaches to Film (4). An introduction to the key concepts and cultural paradigms employed in the study of film. Students are introduced to the diverse ways in which films are examined and critiqued, central theoretical, ethical, and critical issues surrounding the study of film, and major film theories based on cognitive, psychoanalytical, ideological, semiotic, structural, and feminist perspectives. Various schools of film criticism (e.g., formalist, auteur, genre, humanist, and religious) are considered. Prerequisite: CAS 251, 281, or permission of the instructor. 285 Advertising and Public Relations (3). How and why organizations use advertising and public relations to influence various publics. The course emphasizes the historical development of advertising and public relations, as well as current issues in these industries. 305 Persuasion and Propaganda (3). The theory and practice of persuasive communication. Topics include theory and research of persuasion, improving personal persuasive abilities, recognizing and resisting persuasive strategies, and the role of propaganda in modern society. Examples for analysis are taken from advertising, religion, sales, political campaigns, and democratic and totalitarian propaganda. 318 American Politics and Mass Media (3). A survey of the relationship between American politics and the mass communications media. The course covers the way the federal government, through its regulations and its 330 Global Media, Global Culture (3). This course examines communication occurring across international borders, with special attention to the development of a global culture based in media flow. Topics include the history, use and regulation of international communications technologies, information and cultural impacts of media flow, international law, and the role of media in international politics, economics, culture, and religion. It includes significant attention to the development of global media organizations and their impacts on indigenous culture. 346 Internship in Communication (4). Students work in profit or non-profit communication under the supervision of a professional. Typical placements include public relations or advertising agencies, broadcast or cable stations, video production companies and the like. A journal and seminar participation 352 Communication Ethics (3). This course examines the moral dimensions of human communication, exploring dilemmas in interpersonal, group, and mediated communication, with special reference to problems encountered in communications professions. While wrestling with cases and controversies, students also review and apply historic criteria for coming to reasoned moral judgment, including the contemporary voices of feminist, determinist, post-modern, and naturalist ethicists. Major Christian positions are reviewed and applied. Case studies are the focus of the class, with a variety of learning opportunities and encouragement for students to pursue personal learning objectives. Prerequisites: Biblical Foundations I, Developing a Christian Mind, and Philosophical Foundations. 395 Special Topics in Communication (3). 399 Senior Seminar (3). This capstone course examines the application of See the Calvin College Catalog for a listing of all courses. Titles for Some Recent CAS Interim Courses The Totalitarian Temptation A Christian Perspective on Mass Media at Calvin College The mass media provide one of the most powerful and ubiquitous, even if chaotic and contradictory, sets of alternative "realities" to a Christian worldview in the modern world. The mass media curriculum aims to help students see this alternative worldview for what it is and to provide the tools for students to use in critiquing and evaluating it, using it circumspectly and discerningly in daily life, and entering into it as professionals for the purpose of bringing Christian perspectives to bear in its practices and content. Contact For more information, contact Professors Mark Fackler, Quentin Schultze, or Chris Smit. Back to top |
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