COMMUNICATION
(AN) {COMM}  

123. Communication and Popular Culture. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Sender.

Popular culture has been variously dismissed as mere trivia, "just entertainment;" it has been condemned as propaganda, a tool of mass deception; and its consumers have been dubbed fashion victims and couch potatoes.  This course considers these critiques, as well as those that suggest that popular culture offers valuable material for the study of social life.  We will consider the meanings and impact of popular culture, including its effects on how we see ourselves, others, and American life; who makes distinctions between high, middlebrow, and low or mass culture; and how power and resistance structure the production and consumption of popular texts.

L/R 125. Introduction to Communication Behavior. (B) Society Sector. All classes. Price, V.

This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of communication behavior. It focuses on social science studies relating to the processes and effects of mass communication.  Research reviewed includes media use behavior and media influences on knowledge, perceptions of social reality, aggressive behavior, and political behavior.

130. Mass Media and Society. (A) Society Sector. All classes. Turow.

How might we think about the legal, political, economic, historical, and "cultural" considerations that shape what we watch on TV, read in books, stare at in billboards?  What ideas are relevant for examining the enormous changes in the mass media system and the consequences of those changes?  The aim of this course is to begin to answer these questions by acquainting you with the workings of American mass media as an integral part of American society.

140. (CINE203) Film Forms and Contexts. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Messaris.

Movies as a form of audio-visual communication: their formal language, their relationship to other means of communication (music, stories, theater, pictures), their place in the media industry, their role in culture.

175. (PSCI177, PSCI185) Argumentation and Public Advocacy. (M) Jamieson.

Using current events and materials from contemporary news sources, the course will teach the fundamentals of argument.  The course will analyze good and bad rhetoric, and demonstrate the ways in which advocates use data, precedent, personal stories, values, experts, stereotypes and fears to support their claims or undermine the claims of others.  Students will have an opportunity to craft and fine-tune logical and persuasive arguments about public issues and policy and to debate issues from a wide spectrum of views.

        This course is designed to improve (a) your skill in analyzing and evaluating arguments and presentations of the kind you find in everyday discourse (news media, discussions, textbooks, advertisements, lectures, etc.); (b) your skill in presenting clear and persuasive reports; and (c) your critical instincts.

221. Communication and the Law. Haiman.

This course will examine the legal, political, and cultural boundaries which surround the exercise of freedom of speech, press, and assembly in contemporary U.S. society, with a major focus on prevailing Supreme Court doctrines.  Areas to be explored will include incitements to violence or to other illegal action; speech which provokes hostility or causes emotional distress in its audience; press freedom versus government secrecy and personal privacy; defamation of public officials and public figures; alleged obscenity and indecency; regulation and deregulation of the electronic media; and the extent to which the First Amendment applies to nonverbal communication, to commercial and corporate speech, and to students in the public schools.

225. Children and Media. (D) Jordan.

This course examines children's relationship to media in its historic, economic, political and social contexts.  The class begins with an exploration of the ways in which "childhood" is created and understood as a time of life that is qualitatively unique and socially constructed over time.  It continues with a review of various theories of child development as they inform children's relationship with and understanding of television and other household media.  It next reviews public policies designed to empower parents and limit children's exposure to potentially problematic media content and simultaneously considers the economic forces that shape what children see and buy.  Children and Media concludes with a critical examination of research on the impact of media on children's physical, cognitive, social and psychological development.

226. (PSCI232) Introduction to Political Communication. (C) Jamieson.

This course is an introduction to the field of political communication, conceptual approaches to analyzing communication in various forms, including advertising, speech making, campaign debates, and candidates' and office-holders' uses of news.  The focus of this course is on the interplay in the U.S. between television and politics.  The course includes a history of televised campaign practices from the 1952 presidential contest through the election of 2004.

237. Health Communication. (M) Hornik/Staff.

An examination of the influence of public health communication on health behavior.  The course will consider: intervention programs addressing behaviors related to cancer, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, drug use, obesity and others; theories of health behavior change; issues in the design of effective health communication programs; concerns about the portrayal of health and medicine on mass media.

262. (CINE204) Visual Communication. (C) Messaris.

Examination of the structure and effects of visual media (film, television, advertising, and other kinds of pictures).

275. Communication and Persuasion. (C) Cappella/Staff.

Theory, research and application in the persuasive effects of communication in social and mass contexts.  Primary focus on the effects of messages on attitudes, opinions, values, and behaviors.  Applications include political, commercial, and public service advertising; propaganda; and communication campaigns (e.g. anti-smoking).

299. Communications Internship. (D) Staff.

Seminar for students concurrently participating in department-approved internships in communication-related organizations.  Students will develop independent research agendas to investigate aspects of their internship experience or industry.  Building on written field notes, assigned readings, and classroom discussion and evaluation, students will produce final papers using ethnographic methods to describe communications within their site or industry in order to understand and critically examine their hands-on experiences.

300. Public Space, Public Life. (C) Marvin/Staff.

Public space as a communicative arena.  Historical aspects, varieties of public space, public space as a cultural signifier, how public space facilitates or hinders common life, public space as a component of democracy.

308. Communication Research with Children and Families: Ethical, Theoretical, & Methodological Issues. (M) Linebarger/Jordan. Prerequisite(s): COMM 225 or COMM 340.

This course is designed to explore the unique issues that arise for communications researchers who work with children.  We begin by considering the role of theory in designing research by providing examples of theoretical paradigms that shape research programs (e.g., developmental theory, critical theory, ecological theory).  We next review the major methodological approaches communications researchers in this field use, including lab and field experiments, surveys and interviews, naturalistic and ethnographic research and secondary data analysis.  We examine the variety of contexts in which such research is employed (e.g., audience research, market research, and social research) and consider the unique ethical issues and protective mechanisms in place.  The course culminates in group-based, supervised research wherein students have an opportunity to design and implement a child-focused study.

SM 322. History and Theory of Freedom of Expression. (C) Marvin.

Origins, purpose, theory, practice of freedom of expression in the West. Philosophical roots of contemporary debates about expressive limits, especially problems associated with mass communication.  Major topics may include but are not limited to sexual expression, violence, hate speech, traitorous and subversive speech, non-verbal expression, artistic expression, privacy.

SM 323. Contemporary Politics, Policy and Journalism. (B) Hunt.

"Contemporary Politics, Policy and Journalism" is a course on the modern media and its impact on government and politics.  It primarily covers the post-Watergate/post-Vietnam era of journalism, the past quarter century.  We will focus each week on specific topics and areas of post-Watergate journalism as enumerated below.  In weeks we do not have guest lecturers, the first half of class will concern the assigned readings and the second half of class will talk about current press coverage of national events over the prior week.  In addition to assigned readings, students are required to stay informed about major national news stories and to follow coverage of them in the national media outlets.  An important objective of this course is to afford students the opportunity to interact and discuss the intersection of the press, politics and public policy with some of the leading practitioners in the field, people who work in the "media environment" created by the national press.

330. Advertising and Society. (M) Turow.

This course will explore the historical and contemporary role of the advertising industry in the U.S. media system.  Readings will include social histories of advertising, economic examinations of advertising's role in society, and critical analyses of the ad industry's power over the media.

SM 336. History of Communications. (M) Marvin.

History, impact of major shifts in communication technology from pre-industrial to mass communications, satellites, computer; how new communication technologies and forms have created opportunities for new types of social interaction, new economic possibilities, new hierarchy of privileged and public knowledge;how communications history expands our familiar understanding of national and world history.

339. Critical Perspectives in Journalism. (M) Zelizer/Delli Carpini.

This course aims to provide students with a critical understanding of journalism.  It combines theoretical perspectives on the making of news with primary source material produced by and about journalists.  Students will analyze theoretical material on journalism -- about how news is made, shaped, and performed -- alongside articles and broadcasts appearing in the media, interviews with journalists in the trade press, and professional reviews. Topics include models of journalistic practice, journalistic values and norms, gatekeeping and sourcing practices, storytelling formats in news, and ethical problems related to misrepresentation, plagiarism, and celebrity.

SM 340. Basic Communication Research. (A) Hennessy.

This course is a general overview of the important components of social research.  The first third of the semester presents a conceptual basis for assessing research quality based on the four "types of validity." We also cover the standard elements of research design including sampling, measurement, and causal inference.  These concepts are then illustrated through reviews of four research areas: surveys and field studies, qualitative/ethnographic studies, content analysis, and policy/evaluation studies.  The last third of the semester focuses more on descriptive and inferential statistics, measures of association for categorical and continuous variables, and the language of data analysis.  For these classes, we make use of SMALL STATA, a PC program useful for learning statistics.  Most modules are illustrated through class exercises based on published articles, this year focusing on the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program.  This course fulfills the undergraduate quantitative requirement.

350. Non-Verbal Communication. (M) Cappella.

Human non-verbal behavior as the basis of communication between persons. Non-verbal behaviors include aspects of the voice, the face and eyes, body position, posture and gesture, and space, territory and touch which are presumed to have social meaning.  The course considers the individual and social factors affecting the production of such behavior, and the effects of such behaviors on others.  The origins and cross-cultural similarities of nonverbal behavior are also considered.

362. Visual Communication Lab. (M) Messaris. Prerequisite(s): COMM 262.

Follow-up to Comm 262, Visual Communication.  The laboratory provides an opportunity for students to explore through actual media production many of the conceptual principles and research findings discussed in Comm 262 and other communication courses.  Permission of instructor required for enrollment.

SM 374. Communication and Congress. (M) Felzenberg.

This course will examine how Congress goes about the business of translating the public's concerns into legislation and keeps the public informed of its progress.  It will examine how the two chambers interact in this process, what role the media plays in shaping Congress's agenda and vice versa, and what impact the advent of 24 hour news, C-SPAN and the internet have had on Congressional deliberations.  A historical approach will be taken in considering the evolution of both chambers and the media's coverage of them. Students will examine differences between the House and Senate in both their institutional development and how they go about communicating with each other, the general public, and the other branches and levels of government.

SM 376. Supreme Court Advocacy. (C) Kolbert.

This course will take a detailed look at rhetorical practices of the United States Supreme Court.  Students learn how cases come before the High Court, constraints on judicial decision making, and how the Court is selected.  By following a current Supreme Court case, we will examine petitions for certiorari, main and amicus briefs, oral arguments and judicial decisions and learn persuasion and argumentation skills.  Students will write an amicus brief, prepare and deliver an oral argument and both argue and decide the case in a moot court proceeding.  For the final exam, students will write the opinion in the case as if a sitting Justice.  The class will travel either to the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to hear an oral argument and will attend at least one taping of NPR's Justice Talking at the National Constitution Center.  Class attendance is mandatory.

SM 393. (CINE393, ENGL295) Chinese and US Perspective . Staff

SM 395. Communication and the Presidency. (D) Eisenhower.

This course will examine the vital aspect of communication as a tool of the modern Presidency.  Reading and class discussions will focus on case studies drawn from modern Presidential administrations (beginning with FDR) that demonstrate the elements of successful and unsuccessful Presidential initiatives and the critical factor of communication, common to both.  This course is also an introduction to primary research methods and to the use of primary research materials in the Presidential Library system.

SM 396. Media Events. (C) Katz.

Live broadcasts of historic events - contests, conquests, and coronations - constitute a new form of ceremonial politics whereby television joins the establishment and audience to declare a holiday.  The course will analyze this genre - its diffusion, politics, aesthetics, ethnography, and effects.

SM 398. Special Topics in Communication. (D) Staff.

399. Independent Study. (D) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Written proposal signed and approved by faculty supervisor.

The independent study offers the self-motivated student an opportunity for a tailored, academically rigorous, semester-long investigation into a topic of the student's choice with faculty supervision.  Its structure and purpose is different from the internship experience.  Students must also complete and file a designated form, approved and signed by the supervising faculty member and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, which includes a topic proposal.  This form must be received in the Undergraduate Office during the Add period of the semester during which the independent study will be conducted.

SM 408. Children and Media: Cognitive Development. (M) Linebarger. Prerequisite(s): COMM 125 and COMM 225.

This seminar is designed to investigate the relationships between children's cognitive development and their use of media (i.e., television, computers, the Internet, video games, electronic toys).  We will examine normal patterns of children's thinking and how these patterns are situated in children's lives (e.g., contextual factors that mediate cognitive functioning).  Then, students will apply these concepts to understand both the creation of and the effects associated with media.

SM 410. (SOCI409) New Media and Community Life. (C) Hampton. Prerequisite(s): COMM 125 or COMM 130.

This upper level course provides an overview of recent research on the social implications of new media.  The focus is on how recent technological innovations, including personal computing, the Internet and mobile phones may be changing the way we interact with each other, our environments and those around us.  This seminar takes students beyond the basic questions of "are virtual communities real communities?" and "does the Internet destroy or save community?" to an in- depth discussion of how networks of community relations are maintained and transformed on and offline as a result of new media.  The course is based around the argument that computer networks are inherently social networks, linking people, organizations and communities.  This subject is heavily weighted towards the evaluation of empirical studies, the use of social network analysis, and studies that address sociological research questions.  Students will learn to critically examine the impact of new media on society through in-depth seminars and independent research.

SM 413. The Role of Public Opinion in Leadership Decisions. (C) Hart.

This course endeavors to explore the myriad uses of public opinion in leadership and decision making.  In it, we will examine what public opinion research is, how it is conducted, and how it is subsequently utilized in a wide range of contexts, both public and private.  We will use numerous actual case studies involving public opinion in political campaigns, constituency organizing, crisis management, and a variety of other contexts to provide an inside view of how opinion research is actually conducted and used.  We will consider such questions as: How does an incumbent politician formulate strategy and successfully communicate message in the midst of a dirty politics/decidedly anti-incumbent Senatorial campaign?  What would you do if you were Governor and your roads and highways needed improvements, but the public opposed a new gas tax?  If you were a CEO of a large company and you had safety concerns about some of your products, how would you balance your corporate image and reputation against the independence from government influence?

SM 439. Media Criticism. (M) Zelizer.

Criticism has at its core an assumption of judgment about the target or performance being evaluated.  Yet whose judgment is being articulated?  On which basis and authority?  To which ends?  And with which effects?  This course examines the shape of contemporary media criticism, focusing on its meaning function in different domains of popular culture (including music, television, news, and film) and the patterns by which it is produced. Students will become acquainted with theories and ongoing debates about contemporary media criticism themselves.  The course aims to sensitize students to the nuances of their own consumption of criticism and patterns by which it is typically produced.

SM 462. Visual Communication and Social Advocacy. (M) Messaris. Prerequisite(s): COMM 262.

This course examines the uses of visual media in campaigns for various social causes.  Students choose their own areas of interest, conduct relevant background research, and design a project based on that research.  The course uses a seminar format, and class size is limited to fifteen students.

495. COMPS Capstone Thesis. (D) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Written proposal approved by both thesis supervisor and major chair.

Offered for credit in the senior year, the capstone thesis is the project goal for all Communication & Public Service Program participants.  Students choose the topic of the capstone thesis from a range of public policy/public service issues.  Research may involve funded travel to selected archives or fieldwork sites.  For students graduating with a 3.5 cumulative GPA, the capstone project may be designated as a senior honors thesis in public service.

SM 496. (SOCI430) Leisure, Communication and Culture. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Katz.

Ever since God created the six-day work week, humans have been trying to decide how to use leisure.  This course focuses on the allocation of time among different social functions, with particular reference to the idea that culture and communication may be considered the content of leisure.  Readings range from empirical studies of "time budgets," to studies of the production and consumption of the arts, entertainment, holidays and tourism.  "Culture policy," especially the role of government in the arts, will be considered comparatively and historically.

499. Senior Honors Thesis. (D) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Written proposal approved by both thesis supervisor and major chair.

The senior honors thesis provides a capstone intellectual experience for students who have demonstrated academic achievement of a superior level. Students should consult with and arrange for a supervisor from the standing faculty no later then the middle of the term that precedes the honors thesis. Students must file a designated form, approved and signed by the supervising faculty member and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, which includes a topic proposal.  This form must be received by the Undergraduate Office no later than the last day of classes in the semester that precedes the thesis.

Graduate Courses  

500. Proseminar. (A) Staff.

Introduction to the field of communications study and to the graduate program in communications.  Required of all degree candidates.  Open only to graduate students in communication.

522. Introduction to Communication Research. (A) Hornik/Price, V.

The logic of scientific inquiry and the nature of research.  Problem-oriented approach to research design, field and laboratory observation and experimentation, sampling, systematization of observation, instrument construction, interviewing and content analysis, and basic statistical analysis.  Required of all degree candidates.  Open only to graduate communication students.

SM 523. Field Methods in Communication Research. (M) Sender.

This course is designed to introduce graduate students in the social sciences to ethnography as a formal research method, drawing on case studies, "how to" materials, and writings from a variety of disciplines.  We will focus on the theory, logic, and practice of fieldwork, specific methodological and ethical issues associated with studying people at first-hand, and current debates about what constitutes the bounds and limits of the ethnographic enterprise more generally.  This course presumes some introductory undergraduate training in qualitative methods.

524. Introduction to Statistical Analysis. (C) Hennessy.

This course is designed for students with no previous statistical experience or past courses.  It starts with descriptive statistics, graphs, and plots, covers probability and confidence intervals, and ends up with bivariate regression and measures of association for tables.  The course is "hands-on" using Stata, a personal computer program.

525. Politics and the Media. (M) Delli Carpini. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

An examination of theory and research regarding the role of mass communication in the political process.  Topics will include: the development of the field; the role of communication in campaigns and elections; the impact of communication on alternative forms of civic and political engagement; the role of communication in the policy-making process; new media and the political process; and issues of media regulation.

530. Advertising and Society. (M) Turow. Fulfills ASC Institutions Distribution.

Advertising and Society will explore the development of the advertising industry in the U.S., the relationship between the advertising industry and the U.S. mass media, and historical as well as contemporary discussions of advertising's social and cultural roles.

SM 539. Journalism and the Academy. (M) Zelizer. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

Contemporary journalism remains one of the most studied yet unexplained agents of reality construction.  This course tracks theories of journalism across academic disciplines, exploring what is common and disparate about the varied perspectives they invoke.  Topics include the development of journalism as a field of academic inquiry, histories of news, organizational research on the newsroom, narrative and discourse analytic work on news-texts, and recent work in cultural studies.

SM 545. Children and Media. (C) Linebarger. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

This course will explore the nature of television and new technologies and investigate how these technologies influence children and families.  Course content will be approached from both an industry perspective as well as a social scientific perspective.  That is, we will explore the child audience as present consumers, as influencers of purchasing decisions, and as future consumers.  We will examine how marketers target the child audience.  From a researcher's perspective, we will examine the history of children's media use, the effects of television on children, children's cognitive and emotional interactions with television, and the design of educational TV programs and media products.  Current social policy concerns will also be addressed.

SM 550. Mass Media Industries. (M) Turow. Fulfills ASC Institutions Requirement.

Through theoretical readings and case studies, this course will provide an introduction to the study of media institutions from the standpoint of business processes, legal frameworks, and public policies.  The first part of the course will sketch the history of major US media and present conceptual frameworks for understanding industrial, legal and policy approaches to US media institutions.  Part 2 will explore key contemporary industrial, legal and policy issues relating to particular US media industries.  Part 3 of the course will use case studies to apply and deepen understanding of the frameworks and issues.

SM 555. Social Networks. (M) Hampton. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

This course is a non-mathematical introduction to the social network perspective.  The social network approach is the study of the relations linking persons, organizations, interest groups, states, etc.  Network analysis examines how the structure of social relations allocates resources, constrains behavior, and channels social change.  Participants in this course will discuss the application of classical and contemporary theories and methods of network analysis to sociological questions.  Topics include community, social capital, the flow of information and resources, and computer networks as social networks.

562. Fundamentals of Visual Communication. (B) Messaris. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

Introduction to the study of picture-based media: film, television, web, print, and other images.  Theory and research on visual culture, visual "literacy," and visual persuasion.

SM 566. New Media and Society. (M) Hampton. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

This seminar provides an overview of recent research on how "new media," such as the Internet and mobile phones, influence community, social relationships, and public and private spaces.  This subject is heavily weighted towards the evaluation of empirical work, the study of social networks, and research that address sociological research questions.  Examples of questions that will be explored in this course include: Will new media replace existing forms of communication, such as face-to-face and telephone contact?  Does the use of mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs) increase privatism? Are people cut off from their social networks as a result of in-home computer and Internet use?  Will public participation and civil society atrophy as a result of new media use?

575. Social Psychology of Communication. (A) Cappella. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

Contributions of social psychology to understanding communication behavior: message systems; social cognition; persuasive communications; attitude formation and change; face-to-face interactions and small group situations; strategies of attributional and communicative interpretation; mass communication effects; social influence and networks.

SM 576. (PSCI576) Communication & Public Opinion. (C) Price, V. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

An exploration of enduring research questions concerning mass communication and American public opinion.  The course introduces students to the literature on public opinion, with a focus on the role of communication in public opinion formation and change.  Important normative, conceptual and theoretical issues are identified and examined by reviewing some early writings (ca.  1890-1930) in social philosophy and social science.  These issues are then investigated further through a review and discussion of relevant research in sociology, political science, social psychology and mass communication.

SM 577. (PSYC774) Attitude and Behavioral Prediction. (C) Fishbein. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

An introduction to the concept of attitude and its role in behavioral prediction.  The course will cover standardized attitude measurement instruments (e.g., Thurstone, Likert, Guttman and Semantic Differential Scales), expectancy-value models, psychological or individual-level theories of behavior and behavior change, and will consider the implications of attitude theory and measurement for developing effective behavior change communications.

580. Cybernetics, Systems and Media. (M) Krippendorff/Staff. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

An introduction to cybernetics, systems, information, and complexity theory, whose concepts are fueling the present information revolution.  The course develops the formal building blocks for constructing operational models of communication and complex systems, whether these concern causal, cognitive, or social phenomena, and whether these are mathematical, computational, or conceptual in nature.  The course embraces theories of human interfaces with technology: cyborg, information, coordination, and autopoiesis; and involves second-order cybernetic concepts, which offer a reflexive approach to understanding.  The interdisciplinary scope of the course invites students from fields other than communication to draw on knowledge from their own backgrounds.

SM 602. Media Ritual. (M) Marvin. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

Examines the relationship between ritual, a 'traditional' and essential mode of group communication and the pervasive media environment of post-traditional society.  While societies seem eager to ritualize with all media at their disposal, the historical innovation of mass mediated ritual appears to offer a significant challenge to the body-based social connectedness that has long been regarded as definitive for ritual communication.  Students will read from religious, anthropological and media traditions of ritual scholarship to consider what rituals do, how they do it, how they can be said to succeed or fail and how mediated ritual modifies or transforms older systems of ritual communication.

SM 608. Children & Media: Cognitive Development. (M) Linebarger. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

This course is designed to investigate the relationships between children's cognitive development and their use of media (i.e., television, computers, the Internet, video games, electronic toys, museums, and books).  We will examine normal patterns of children's thinking and how these patterns are situated in children's lives (e.g., contextual factors that mediate cognitive functioning).  Cognitive development will be examined via both basic functions (i.e., attention, comprehension, representation, memory, problem-solving) and applied functions (i.e., literacy, language, numeracy).  Within each topical area, various contextual factors will be explored including gender, people (e.g., parents, peers, caregivers/teachers), and perceptions.

SM 619. (CINE619) The Politics and Practices of Representation. Sender. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

This course engages with the following question from both theoretical and practical perspectives: Who says what about whom, under what circumstances, in which medium, with what effects?  We will spend the first two thirds of the semester investigating different approaches to this question, looking at insider accounts, processes of othering, realism and other narrative conventions, the ethics of consent, "objective" and "biased" shooting techniques, the politics of editing, the role of the intended audience in the production of a work, and so on.  We will simultaneously cover the technical aspects of production that will enable you to produce digital video projects: shooting (Canon GL1s), lighting, sound, editing (Final Cut Pro on Mac), graphics, music, and so on.  During the final third of the semester all students will produce short (5-10 minute) documentary and/or experimental digital videos.

SM 622. (COML797) Communicating Memory. (M) Marvin/Zelizer. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

This course considers the theoretical and empirical literature concerning the construction of social memory in relation to media products and processes. Students will undertake individual research projects investigating memory constructions in professional media routines and through ritual processes of group maintenance.

SM 623. Health Psychology Seminar. (M) Jemmott. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

Seminar members shall critically review current applications of psychosocial theory and methodology to health-related issues with the goal of suggesting new directions that research might take.  Preventive health behavior, HIV risk-associated behavior, psychosocial factors and physical health, practitioner-patient interactions, patterns of utilization of health services, and compliance with medical regimens are among the topics that will be studied.

624. Applied Regression Analysis. (M) Hennessy.

This course focuses on the use of regression analysis and other related statistical methods that are appropriate when experimental control is low or nonexistent.  The main purposes of the course are: to convey complete familiarity with regression techniques to enable students to understand the application of regression in communication research literature, to be able to apply these procedures at the most advanced level properly in their own research, to be able to diagnose when violations of regression assumptions are present in data and correct for these conditions, and to lay the foundations for more advanced studies in categorical data analysis (e.g. binary and multinominal logit and probit) and structural equations modeling (SEM).  The course assumes knowledge of introductory statistics through summary statistics, confidence intervals, t-tests, F tests, scatter diagrams, and the logic of statistical association.  The course begins with a detailed review of bivariate regression.  Students can use either STATA or SPSS to analyze artificial and actual data sets.  However, there are some procedures and tests that are not available in SPSS, so if you are indifferent to thechoice between the two, use STATA.

SM 628. (SOCI629) Sociology of Mass Communications. (A) Wright. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

Mass communications viewed from sociological perspective.  An examination of the sociology of the communicator, audience, content, effects, communication as a social process, linkage between personal and mass communication.

SM 630. Historical Trends of Mass Communication Research. (M) Turow. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

An introduction into the field of mass communication research covering classic studies from the late 19th century through 1970s.  Emphasis is on the societal, organizational, political, and other considerations that shaped the field.

SM 631. (PSCI731) Public Opinion and Elections. (M) Johnston.

This is a readings course on the mainstream of research about elections and public opinion.  The focus tends to be on material originating in and concerned with the United States, but due attention is paid to classic work from or on onther countries, and the propositions are meant to be quite general.  Historical, social, or institutional context intrude mainly as they are necessary to test or condition otherwise general propositions.  The books and articles occupy the theoretical or empirical high ground and constitute a sort of canon.  Topics include the key early voting studies, success or failure in the export of those early ideas, the rational choice incursion into electoral studies, the multifaceted debates over the quality of democratic choice, the foundations of opinion as expressed in survey responses, communications factors and campaign dynamics, and the current state of the field.

SM 632. Conceptualizing Media Effects. (C) Katz. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

The course is a critical review of the major theories of mass communication extracting from each its conception of the audience, the text, and especially the nature of effect.  Conceptions of effect are shown to range from short-run change of opinion and attitudes ("what to think") to proposals that the media offer tools "with which to think" (gratifications research; cultural studies), "when to think" (diffusion research), "what to think about" (agenda setting), "how to think" (technological theories), "what not to think" (critical theories), "what to feel" (psychoanalytic theories), and "with whom to think" (sociological theories).  Students study the key texts of each theoretical approach, and reappraise the field in the light of new concepts and new evidence.

SM 633. Consumer Culture. (M) Sender. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

Why do we consume?  What is consumption for?  By exploring a range of theoretical and empirical approaches to consumer culture, this course investigates the contexts and effects of consumption on social participation, identities, and communities.  In addition to looking at existing studies of consumer culture, students complete a modest, originally-conceived research project.

637. Public Health Communication. (B) Hornik. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

Theories of health behavior change and the potential role for public health communication; international experience with programs addressing behaviors related to cancer, AIDS, obesity, cardiovascular disease, child mortality, drug use and other problems, including evidence about their influence on health behavior; the design of public health communication programs; approaches to research and evaluation for these programs.

SM 639. (COML639, FOLK639) Issues In Cultural Studies. (M) Zelizer. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

This course tracks the different theoretical appropriations of "culture" and examines how the meanings we attach to it depend on the perspectives through which we define it.  The course first addresses perspectives on culture suggested by anthropology, sociology, communication, and aesthetics, and then considers the tensions across academic disciplines that have produced what is commonly known as "cultural studies." The course is predicated on the importance of becoming cultural critics versed in alternative ways of naming cultural problems, issues, and texts.  The course aims not to lend closure to competing notions of culture but to illustrate the diversity suggested by different approaches.

640. Analysis of Data in Large-Sample Communication Research. (I) Hornik. Prerequisite(s): COMM 522 and 524, or the equivalents.

Statement of measurement and substantive models, and strategies for examining the fit of data to those models. Examples and data are drawn from the media effects literature. Application of data reduction procedures, contingency table analysis, and correlational approaches including regression and structural equation models.

SM 642. Diffusion of Innovation. (M) Katz. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

SM 644. Communication and Space. (M) Marvin. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

Physical public space is a communicative mode that supports and conveys multiple codes.  Historical public space has always been mediated.  Indexical public space exists in dialogue with other mediated forms.  In a world of communicative instability fostered by rapid technological change, iconic, indexical and symbolic aspects of public and mediated space as such are ripe for reconsideration.  Course participants will examine relevant theoretical and empirical literatures and develop research ideas in light of such a reconsideration.

SM 645. Children & the Media: Evaluation Techniques. (M) Linebarger. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

We will explore a variety of evaluation methods used in children's media research including formative evaluation, summative evaluation, and usability/appeal studies.  Time will also be spent discussing the special challenges associated with conducting research with children.  Students will develop formative and summative research plans based on a media product of their choosing.  We will also attempt some pilot data collection to solidify your research plans.  As part of the course, students will help develop additional course materials for each topic.

SM 660. Content Analysis. (M) Krippendorff.

An introduction to content analysis, the analysis of large bodies of textual matter, also called message systems analysis, quantitative semantics, propaganda analysis, and (computer-aided) text analysis.  The course inquires into the theories, methods, and empirical problems common to these analytical efforts: sampling, text retrieval, coding, reliability, analytical constructs, computational techniques, and abductive inference.  It illustrates these problems by studies of mass media content, interview or panel data, legal research, and efforts to draw inferences from personal documents typical in psychology and literature.  Students design a content analysis and do the preparatory work for an academic or practical research project.  They may also use the opportunity of forging available theories into a new analytical technique and test it with available texts, or solve a methodological problem in content analysis research.

SM 662. Research in Visual Communication. (M) Messaris. Prerequisite(s): COMM 562 or permission of instructor. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

Research on the structure and effects of visual media.  Movies, video, the web, photography, etc., as objects of analysis and as research tools. Students design and carry out their own projects.

SM 666. Communication and Taboo. (C) Marvin.

Taboo considered as refusing various possibilities for cultural communication and practice.  How the forbidden is conveyed, consented to, imposed or challenged by situated participants.  Topics may include taboo aspects of identity, politics, speech, art, religion, food and bodily practice.  Students may choose from a variety of topics for individual investigation.

SM 675. Message Effects. (M) Cappella. Prerequisite(s): COMM 575. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

Current research, theory and statistical methods for assessing the effects of messages.  Specific focus on messages designed to have a persuasive effect on attitudes, beliefs, opinions, or behaviors.  Experimental and non-experimental research from mass and interpersonal communication, health, social psychology, advertising, political science and journalism will be considered.  Unintended effects--such as the consequences of violent pornography--are not considered.

699. Advanced Project in a Medium. (C) Staff.

Proposal written in specified form and approved by both the student's project supervisor and academic advisor must be submitted with registration.  Open only to graduate degree candidates in communication.

SM 703. (LAW 914, PSCI703) International Communication: Power and Flow. (C) Price, M./Katz. Fulfills ASC Institutions Distribution.

This course will address old and new patterns of communications flow across national and societal borders, taking account of media technologies, mutual perceptions, rhetorical forms, and the balance of power and influence in a globalizing world.

SM 704. Canonic Texts. (C) Katz. Fulfills ASC Influence or Culture Distribution.

Canonic Texts in Media Research: Are there any?  Should there be?  How about these?  Reading for this course centers on 13 essays, each of which nominates a text for "canonization." This course will deal with (1) the original texts and their critiques, (2) the schools which the texts represent, and (3) the debate over canonizing texts in social science.

SM 709. (LAW 903) Media and Sovereignty: Comparative Approaches to Regulation of the Media. (M) Price, M. Fulfills ASC Institutions Distribution.

This course examines the idea of "models" of media regulation.  We look at varying techniques and contexts for shaping media policy.  One focus will be on transformations of public service broadcasting.  Another will be on media in conflict zones.  Another theme will be state responses to the permeability of the Internet (and other new technologies).  Depending on various research activities, there may be a focus on media reform in the Arab Middle East. We'll use my book, Media and Sovereignty, published by MIT in 2003 and materials produced by BBC Monitoring World Media.

SM 726. (PSCI726) Seminar in Political Communication: The Internet and Civic Engagement. (M) Price, V. Fulfills ASC Influence Distribution.

This seminar explores debates over the potential of the Internet to affect community and political engagement.  The nature and contours of civic participation will be examined from normative, theoretical and empirical perspectives, with a focus on the functions of communication media generally and Internet-related technologies specifically.  Students in the seminar will canvass available studies, experimental projects and online initiatives, and will undertake original research projects.  Topics addressed include: ways in which Internet-related technologies might be used as tools for citizens to interact, organize, and participate in democratic life; possible psychological and social effects of Internet use, and their implications for civic engagement; connections between civic engagement, social capital, and the Internet; and implications of the Internet for public opinion.

SM 730. Public Space. (M) Katz/Marvin. Fulfills ASC Culture Distribution.

The object of this course is (1) to identify public spaces, physical and virtual-- past, present, and future; (2) to review the terms of admission and participation in the public sphere, (3) to consider the nature of interaction and influence within these spaces; (4) to relate such participation (and non- participation) to the media of communication; (5) to explore the policy implications of public spaces for participatory democracy.

SM 734. Seminar in Political Economy of Communication. (M) Staff. Fulfills ASC Institutions Distribution.

Public policy issues regarding personal privacy, intellectual property and the new communication technologies are explored from the perspective of the political economist. Problems of theory, conceptualization and measurement are addressed in the attempt to evaluate alternative models of market and non-market communication behavior.

SM 740. Mass Media Research Design. (M) Hornik. Prerequisite(s): COMM 522 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

Design strategies for research on mass media effects.  Consideration of observational designs as well as field and laboratory experimental designs. Close attention to typical problems in matching design to research questions and to methods for the study of situations in which media effects are contingent on other influences.

SM 750. Seminar in Media Industries. (M) Turow. Prerequisite(s): COMM 550 and/or COMM 530. Fulfills ASC Institutions Distribution.

Selected topics in the processes that shape mass media material. Close attention to both theoretical approaches and research methods.

SM 760. Social Constructions of Reality. (M) Krippendorff. Fulfills ASC Institutions or Culture Distribution.

This seminar inquires into the principles and processes by which realities come to be socially constructed and discursively maintained.  It serves as an introduction to the emerging epistemology of communication, which is concerned less with what communication is than with what it does, constitutes, and actively maintains, including when being studied.  The seminar develops analytical tools to understand how realities establish themselves in language and action, how individuals can become entrapped in their own reality constructions, how facts are created and institutions take advantage of denying their constructed