Graduate Courses

Course Descriptions
Required Courses
Analytical Courses
Professional Courses
Special Topics, Fall 08 / Spring 09


Required Courses:
 
CMGA 5000 Foundations of Communication (4)
An introduction to the main theoretical and analytical approaches to the study of communication and media studies, and the intellectual schools of thought that influence perspectives of media critique and analysis. Debates in the field, divergent perspectives and multilayered intellectual views engage a range of concepts from audience to fans, publics and citizens, exploring the cultural practices, economic constraints and social forces on media into the 21st Century.

CMGA 6050 Media Research Methods (3)
Provides an overview of the wide range of research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative, available to the communication researcher, and examines historical trends in the application of research methodologies in a variety of case studies that have helped shape the current body of communication research. Provides scholars with the tools necessary to design and conduct communication and mass media research.

CMGA 6851 Communication Ethics (3)
Examination of media practices from the perspectives of owners, producers and publics, with particular focus on intellectual property, privacy, confidentiality, conflict of interest, censorship, corporate responsibility and new technologies. Students will discuss philosophical approaches to ethics and public life, place these approaches in historical context, and engage in informed media criticism.
 

Analytical Courses:

CMGA 5005 Theories of Public Communication (3)
Examination of the political, economic, social, and cultural processes that led to the development of modern public life, and the ways in which art, politics and media have converged and diverged at specific historical moments. Formulations of public life from classical liberal perspectives to models of civic virtue, and from Marxist to Habermasian approaches are examined as the dialectic of creation and destruction at the core of public life.

CMGA 5010 Role of Public Communication (3)
Pursuit through case study and appropriate theory of the distinctive yet derived role of public (as opposed to commercial-business and to commercial-entertainment) communication in modern democratic discourse. Various attempts to integrate the American public interest model and the European public sphere model will be examined. Finally these concepts and models and past histories of public communication will be applied to Dollar-Down campaign tactics of the traditional "mass media" parties compared with the web-empowered progressivism and the talk radio-fueled populism of contemporary partisan public communication. Print, video, and radio formats off and online will be exploited along with texts.

CMGA 5020 The Communication Industries (3)
Overview of media industrial structures and operations. Primary theoretical perspectives will include political economy (structures of ownership and regulation) and production of culture (decisionmaking processes within industries), with focus on the ways in which the structures and constraints of media industries determine their products.

CMGA 5125 Media Entertainment & Social Awareness (3)
Through examining a variety of genres from television, film, the Internet, print, and other media, this course explores the social, cultural, and political value that entertainment has, and the value that it might have. The narrative, strategies and codes with which entertainment addresses issues of social and political importance will be discussed. Media structures, audience wants and uses for the media, marketing and technological innovation, will be considered within the context of the prevailing political system, cultural sensibilities, and social realities.

CMGA 5155 Political Communications (3)
An examination of the complex interconnections between the symbolic, visual and narrative strategies of political rhetoric, with actual political practices, policies and democratic governance. Expectations about information, knowledge and the public interest are brought to bear on the landscape of political communication including; electoral campaigns, investigative journalism, hybrid formats of news and entertainment, “militainment,” presidential stagecraft, political identity, and narratives of national character.

CMGA 5160 Propaganda & Persuasion (3)
An exploration of the history, techniques, motivations and complex interactions between propaganda and persuasion, and their consequences for citizenship, information and public knowledge. The modes, language and visual strategies of persuasive communication, as they are applied to advertising and public relations will be compared and contrasted to the historical uses of persuasion in war propaganda, and other forms of contemporary information management. 

CMGA 5165 Social and Cultural Communication (3)
Survey of the history and uses of mass media analysis. Students will examine original studies and essays by social scientists and critics, and discuss the ways in which empirical and critical analyses of the media have been informed by political, cultural, social and economic contexts.

CMGA 5180 Problem of News (3)
An analysis of the changing role and character of news media in providing information and a framework for knowledge about the world. "Problems" include: the eclipse of news as a form of public communication, the questionable practice of objective reporting, the influence of entertainment formats and bottom line management, the lack of interest in news by the "under-40's," and the challenge of digital technology to traditional news media. The influence of new formats such as “meta-news” and satirical commentary will also be explored.

CMGA 5460 Think-Tank Media Strategy (3)
Examination of the evolution of think tanks, from centers of long range research and development for both technologies and social sciences into partisan policy promoters and pundit providers for the media. The course offers an instructive history of case studies in intellectual public relations and the role of ideology in the cutting-edge propaganda of current political discourse.

CMGA 6135 The Arts & Communications (3)
Utilizing multiple theoretical frameworks, students will explore the meanings and roles of art and entertainment in their cultural contexts. We will ask questions concerning the social, political and personal uses of the arts. We will study the effects of changing technology on the traditional fine arts. Finally, we will turn our critical attention to the varied products of modern, technological media.

CMGA 6155 Government & Its Publics (3)
From constituencies to special interests, this course examines the various publics and sub-publics that influence government, its policies and discourses, and in turn, the strategies by which government and its agencies appeal in difference ways to increasingly stratified social, cultural and economic sectors. Media techniques such as marketing segmentation, message design and media targeting, as well as the variety of ways in which public opinion is measure as well as shaped through polling, are considered as they influence national discourse, policies and governing, and electoral strategies. Amid media targeting and message fragmentation, questions of citizenship and participation will be addressed.

CMGA 6165 Communication & Community (3)
An analysis of the use of media, traditional and new, to define and maintain communities, from the ethnic press to trade publications and on to the new cyber-communities of Facebook, Linked-in, and others. Traditional sociological analysis of primary and secondary group formation will be wedded to new notions of interest-publics and massive multi-player online gaming.

CMGA 6250 International Communication (3)
An exploration of the aesthetics, politics, economics, ethics, and cultural impact of information and entertainment flows across national borders, and a study of the nature and interaction of various media production and reception cultures in an age of rapid globalization and technological innovation.

CMGA 6400 Critiques of Advertising (3)
Advertising and consumer culture are assessed from psycho-social, business and environmental perspectives. Promotional messages and their visual and textual strategies are examined as cultural icons, popular media genres and economic forces. Marketing strategies from broadcast models to consumer subgroups and consumption publics are included with case studies of campaigns, products and services, and their relationships to various media formats.
 
Professional Courses:

CMGA 5500 Media Workshop (4)
An overview of media in action. The work-shop will use case studies to examine the way communications organizations do their jobs. The course will feature direct contact with media professionals and their organizations.

CMGA 5520 Practice of Public Broadcasting (3)
Analysis of the history of not-for-profit, community, and alternative broadcasting in the United States, with particular emphasis on the ways in which PBS, NPR, Pacifica and other public broadcasting entities have defined the "public.” The class will discuss how internal and external pressures have shaped the goals and practices of these institutions, and how public broadcasting may serve as a metaphor for public life.

CMGA 5969 Targeted Writing (4)
A Workshop in writing for specific purposes and results: press releases for public, government and commercial venture, op-ed pieces and columns, think pieces and scholarly essays and fiction for genres. Professional writing is the underlying emphasis throughout.

CMGA 6190 Communication Policies and Practices (3)
Critical study of US communication policies and their application to electronic media. Conflicting interests of the media and public are studied in detail, and means for the public to gain access to media are examined and tested.

CMGA 6210 Communications & the Law (3)
From the First Amendment to copyright law, this course provides an in-depth look at key court rulings, statutes and regulations that have shaped the development and operations of the print, broadcasting, cable, satellite and cyberspace industries, and our understanding of free expression in the U.S.

CMGA 6300 Public Communication & Digital Environments (3)
An exploration of computers, the Internet, and cyberspace as new media of communication and new environments for social interaction. Topics covered will include: the characteristics of digital medial and computer-mediated communications; the functions, forms and culture of cyberspace; mind and identity in a networked environment; the legal, political and social issues related to new media; and human relationships in an electronic environment.

CMGA 6500 Media Methods & Messages (3)
Comparative analyses of the structures, techniques and operating conditions of the media. Through hands-on production assignments, readings and discussions, students will explore how media forms may influence media content, address issues of media control and convergence, and begin to examine the cognitive and cultural implications of living in a multi-media age.

CMGA 6580 Public Relations (3)
An examination of the operations, techniques, and media interconnections to public relations with particular emphasis on the multiple ways is has and can be practiced in ethical and unethical circumstances. Of particular interest will be its influence on media content and public discourse, in addition to its potentially beneficial uses in public-interest and non-profit service campaigns.

CMGA 6600 Communication on the Net (3)
An examination of the uses and potential uses of the Internet for public communication purposes to create or maintain social, cultural, and political groups or communities. Students will be introduced to features and applications of Internet communication that do more than just inform, entertain, or mass advertise, but also help create public space for various community purposes. These include: social networking; blogging; online politics; barter and auction commerce; and the building of dialogue, public advocacy, education, etc. around various public issues.
 
CMGA 6630 Cybermedia Messages (3)
An exploration of how online messages that promote public awareness are utilized in various public forums, organizations and agencies. Attention will be paid to the way governments at federal and local levels use the Internet to promote participation and awareness among the governed, including the new arena of e.gov, from the US Congress Thomas database to NYC agencies, to park service alerts.

CMGA 6700 Video Environments (3)
An examination of the basic production principles, aesthetics and epistemology of video applications in corporate, public and creative communication environments.

CMGA 6705 Special Topics (3)
Special courses of study offered by faculty engaged in research and publication on current topics of interest.
see below for details

CMGA 6555 Internship Seminar (3)
A requirement for those pursuing the Internship Option. The Internship Seminar should be taken concurrently with the Internship.  Students read texts and lead discussions pertinent to their Internships.

CMGA 6880 Thesis Research I (3)
A one-on-one mentor-student course in the student finds a mentor, develops a thesis proposal and outline, commences research, and learns the guidelines for proper thesis development.

CMGA 6888 Thesis Research II (3)
A one-on-one mentor-student course in which the thesis proposal and early research are developed into a final written thesis in proper form.
 

Special Topics: Fall 2008 and Spring 2009

Religion and the Media in America (3)
Michael V. Tueth, S.J. Offered Fall 08

This course examines the confluence of the mass media and religion, in terms of both the use of the media by religious groups to promote their messages and the role of the media in reporting on religious issues. The methods of religious propaganda in the liberal tradition of the “marketplace of ideas” and the context provided by the constitutional prohibition of religious establishment and protection of free speech will be examined. Guest speakers will recount their experiences in the fields of newspaper and magazine journalism, radio and television, film, and the Internet. Students will research media coverage of specific religious topics.

Politics and New Media (3)
Paul Levinson. Offered Spring 09

An examination of the impact that new media - blogging, YouTube, Digg, Wikipedia, podcasting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc - are having on the political process in America and world-wide. The key characteristics of new media include the empowerment of readers and viewers as writers and producers, and the viral marketing of political candidates and ideas.  Students not only look at these media and their impact, but work on the Web with blogs, videos, and audio files.

World Cinema (3)
Robin Andersen. Offered Spring 09

Covers the emergence of film as a global art form, economic force and cultural phenomenon, in a variety of national and international settings. Covers the potential for film, and the discourse and theory of cinema, to effectively encourage cultural awareness, political dialogue and social commentary. Examines issues of film production including, funding, collaboration, training, and problems of censorship, as well as issues of reception by global publics.