Digital games have a wide-ranging impact on our culture and society and are one of the fastest-growing sectors of the entertainment media industry, generating enormous profits for the game companies. In this course, you will: (1) be introduced to the academic study of video games; (2) examine digital games as forms of communication and interactive storytelling, as well as games of entertainment, commerce, social activism, professional training, and education; (3) consider the impact of mobile media, particularly for games and gameplay; (4) discuss next-generation virtual reality technology that may change the way we think about immersive media experiences; and (5) study the history, ethics, and socio-cultural impact of digital games and related technologies.

Digital media enterprises have uprooted many established industries and continue to be among the most important factors shaping our economy and society today. Where do these innovations come from? Why do some startups prosper while others fail? How do legacy firms respond to disruptions to their business models? What makes adaptations possible? What makes them risky? Learn to analyze and evaluate the economic strategies of existing digital media firms across various sectors of society including news, entertainment, social media, mobile, and retail. Assess their impacts on cultural and civic life for better and for worse. Use these skills to incubate your own ideas for the next great media innovations of the future.

This course examines the various ways in which technology continues to evolve, and to have a role in ongoing societal changes. The course focuses on unpacking the specific ways in which technology are evolving, and connecting those changes to impacts on communication and media A variety of theories or perspectives relevant or related to technology use and global communication will be considered to help make sense of the interplay between the technology use and societies in a global setting. The course is divided into three main parts: first, understanding of the specifics of relevant technology; second, connecting the technical features to theoretical views of technology; third, examining global patterns of technology use in media and communication. The readings and discussions place special emphasis on specific forms of technology, including mobile phones, Web, and social media. Grounded in a global context, we will investigate the political, cultural, social, technological, and economic conditions that shape and are shaped by the presence of the Internet at the national and cross-national levels; the effects of technology use on the form and content of mass communication at the global level; and the implications of technology use for human and social relations across national borders.

In the past 20 years, mobile communication has emerged as a rapidly-growing, popular, and economically and socially significant mode of communication around the world. First as voice-only devices intended for business use, mobile devices have proliferated and gained new functionalities. Smartphones are now the most common means of internet access in many countries, and mobile devices have brought together the capabilities of watches, computers, GPS trackers, and many other specialized tools. Today, two-thirds of the world?s population has reliable mobile phone access, and there are more mobile devices in existence than there are people on earth. In light of these rapid developments, this course introduces students to scholarly analysis of mass mobile phone communication in the United States and globally. Beginning with a set of foundational discussions about mobile communication, the course moves through a series of thematic units examining mobile crowdsourcing, social movements, social life, development, media, and the future of mobile communication. Throughout, the course explores how mobile devices have been put to use and what new possibilities and risks lie ahead.

How have digital media innovations like social media, mobile phones, artificial intelligence, drones and games shaped and been shaped by a culture and society globally? Learn to critically examine the function of digital media in your life. Take away a socio-historical understanding of digital media innovation, and the social, political, and economical impact of new media in creativity, industry, and culture from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Topics range from the concept of branding in an online context, to the varied uses of digital media in the context of journalism, social mobilization, law and privacy, business, globalization, content creation, and beyond. You will read, discuss, and debate cutting edge material from documentaries, podcasts, popular press, and academic literature. This course balances local contexts with global perspectives, and provides details into the practicalities of working and living in a new media environment.

This course introduces you to the fascinating and ever-changing world of digital advertising and marketing. Learn its history and evolution, current trends, future possibilities, and legal/ethical issues. We'll study the innovative research and theories explaining the practice and effects of various forms, including social media, search marketing, gaming, native, viral, online video advertising, online behavioral advertising, and mobile. Through a combination of lectures, in-class discussions, and guest presentations by industry professionals, you'll learn the basic theories for developing effective and socially-responsible digital advertising campaigns in the increasingly diverse and global media environment.

Sharpen your understanding of public opinion and its role in political and civic life: What does it mean? Where does it come from? How is it measured? What impact does it have? How are the public's preferences shaped by the larger communications environment and the strategic messages of politicians, interest groups, and other actors in society? What are polls really measuring, and why do they seem so unreliable sometimes? How are social media technologies giving voice to new segments and dimensions of public opinion? But how are they vulnerable to manipulation from bots and other efforts designed to alter perceptions of collective opinions? Examine the theories of communication, psychology, political science, and sociology that underlie these dynamic questions. We?ll consider cutting edge approaches used by market researchers, political analysts, and data scientists to harness new forms of data about what the public thinks. We investigate theories that explain how people form their opinions, deliberate with others, change their minds, and reveal their preferences, and we apply these frameworks to understand contemporary public opinion issues and campaigns.

In a world of images, what are ways you can use digital photography? This class explores those possibilities. You will consider your own image making in the context of contemporary art, current events, photographic history, and the universe of imagery in which we live. This class builds on 1701 Intro to Photography, approaching photography as a means of expression, investigation, critical inquiry, and interaction. The emphasis is on finding your personal voice and direction as a photographic artist. Students come to this class with a working knowledge of basic camera operation and photographic principles, from technical to aesthetic and conceptual. Students will learn and use advanced digital tools and workflow in the service of their own creative exploration. We will examine the changing role of digital image production and distribution in society. This class is organized around a series of project assignments and exercises. These prompts are opportunities to engage with both your own physical surroundings and the larger world. Smartphone cameras, social media and mass dissemination of images have changed people's everyday lives. These tools have been at the forefront during the pandemic and to highlight long-standing systems of violence. This class engages with these topics. Projects will be completed with manually controlled advanced digital cameras, cell phone cameras, found images (print, negatives and / or digital), and more. Prerequisite: ARTS 1701

In this class, students have the opportunity to deepen and expand their creative practice, conceptual and technical skills they have developed so far in Photography and/or Moving Image. The class is structured around two individual, advanced projects of the student's choice over the course of the semester. The first body of work will be presented in an exhibition or installation. Students will learn skills in developing a project all the way through to sharing it with the public. They will develop skills in preparing and mounting an exhibition. They will have the chance to reflect on their exhibited works in order to develop their second, smaller project, which launches from, rethinks, or is an entirely different direction from the first. To this end, all types of digital, analog photographic, film and video media, and installation are welcome and any mix thereof. The class includes studio time, image lectures, discussions, critique, selected readings, field trips, demonstrations determined by the class needs, one-to-one meetings and visiting artists. In this advanced class, students use the cameras, tools and methods necessary for their work and their ideas. prereq: previously completed a 3XXX course in Photography or Moving Images.

Historical development and current issues in electronic media technologies and programming. Effects of governmental, industrial, and public organizations on message content. Problem areas of electronic media.

Applying concepts/theories from philosophy and social science to ethical issues in interpersonal, group, organizational, intercultural, and media communication.

Development and current status of new telecommunication media such as cable TV, satellites, DBS, MDS, and video disk/cassettes. Technology, historical development, regulation, and programming of these media and their influence on individuals, organizations, and society. prereq: 3211 or instr consent

People working outside of mainstream media institutions who find creative/provocative ways to use media as space for cultural, political, or economic critique/resistance.

Impact of computers on society. Computer science perspective of ethical, legal, social, philosophical, political, and economic aspects of computing. prereq: At least soph or instr consent

Introduction to theories/principles of human interaction with designed objects. Focuses on affect/emotional quality of designs. Objects, interfaces, environments. Digitally mediated experiences.

Explore/evaluate impact of technology/design on humans, societies. How design innovation shapes cultures. How people use technology to shape design, adoption, use of designed products/environments through consumerism/ethical values.

Cultural history of American technology. Social values that technology represents in shifts from handicraft to mass production/consumption, in modern transportation, communication, bioengineering. Ethical issues in power, work, identity, our relation to nature.

This course explores how written texts help to shape modern art and cultural movements. Writ 3381 first develops an understanding of the manifesto form by reading primary examples written by artists from such movements as Cubism and Expressionism. Students study the complex written and visual strategies of those texts and how they contributed to social and political change in the modern world. Out of those attempts to change culture, students will be challenged to consider how particular writing strategies developed in the U.S. aimed at bringing about change in 1960s culture in areas such as the women's movement, the move toward racial equality, and the environmental movement. Toward the end of the course, the writings of current movements are taken up as building on and departing from past writing and rhetorical strategies. Students both read about and practice writing strategies studied in the course.

This course examines the rich and complex ways people are seeking to inform and persuade others via the internet. Western rhetorical theories have adapted to address spoken, written, visual, and digital communication. The internet incorporates aspects of all of these modes of communication, but it also requires us to revisit how we have understood them. Students in Rhetoric, Technology, and the Internet will reinforce their understandings of rhetorical theories and the internet as a technology. The class will also ask students to read current scholarly work about the internet, and develop the critical tools needed to complement, extend, or challenge that work.

Usability is concerned with how people interact with design and technology; usability is commonly known as the "ease of use" of products and technologies by a range of users. This course emphasizes usability and user research and will explore the intersection of usability and technical communication. We will investigate definitions of usability and user-centered design principles, and we will explore a variety of usability research methods including heuristic evaluation, personas, and usability testing. The course will focus heavily on usability testing of web sites, a common technical communication task that involves observation and interviews of human participants interacting with a web site.

The class approaches Filmmaking as an art form and is designed to heighten students' awareness of the variety of ways narratives can be constructed and developed through moving images and sound. Students will spend the semester making an original short fictional narrative or documentary film which they shoot and edit. Through development, pre-production, production, and post-production processes, students work with original ideas and material to discover alternative ways of telling their stories. The first section of the class is dedicated to developing their ideas, studying scene design, character development, and various forms of narrative filmmaking that they will use to write a short original screenplay. The second section of the class is dedicated to pre-production and production, including planning for and shooting their screenplay and applying innovative cinematography and audio techniques to tell their stories in image and sound. The last section of the class is devoted to post-production, including editing video and audio and finishing the film. When editing, students will edit various versions of scenes to explore interesting and unplanned changes in tone and flow in their films. Finally, students will finish their films and participate in an end-of-semester public screening. Prerequisite: 1704 or instructor consent

The class approaches Filmmaking as an art form and is designed to heighten students' awareness of the variety of ways narratives can be constructed and developed through moving images and sound. Students will spend the semester making an original short fictional narrative or documentary film which they shoot and edit. Through development, pre-production, production, and post-production processes, students work with original ideas and material to discover alternative ways of telling their stories. The first section of the class is dedicated to developing their ideas, studying scene design, character development, and various forms of narrative filmmaking that they will use to write a short original screenplay. The second section of the class is dedicated to pre-production and production, including planning for and shooting their screenplay and applying innovative cinematography and audio techniques to tell their stories in image and sound. The last section of the class is devoted to post-production, including editing video and audio and finishing the film. When editing, students will edit various versions of scenes to explore interesting and unplanned changes in tone and flow in their films. Finally, students will finish their films and participate in an end-of-semester public screening. Prerequisite: 3750 or Graduate Student

Experimental moving image practice is increasingly prevalent within contemporary art and cinema. This class is designed to heighten your awareness and experience of the variety of ways feeling and perception can be explored through moving images and sound. We will step beyond traditional narrative structures and conventions of camera use to explore the spiritual, conceptual, and emotional potential of the medium. There will be individual and collaborative group work on elements of film production - character design, location and scene design, writing, improvisational and scripted acting and shooting, camera and sound recording tools and techniques, editing, and post-production. The class will include screenings, readings and discussion of experimental films from the inception of the avant-garde through the most contemporary experimental work being produced today. You will explore the visual and aural experience of moving image and sound through a variety of alternative shooting, recording, editing and interdisciplinary installation and presentation options. Students begin the semester by developing a film concept and planning production. Working individually and collaboratively, you will then shoot the film and complete a preliminary edit. Through critiques and further editing and shooting, you will work, re-work, and start over with your material to discover unplanned changes in tone, flow, experience, and meaning. Students need to provide their own portable drive and 1-2 SD cards for each class, and may choose to purchase their own subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud if they wish to use their own computer. Prerequisite: ARTS 1704

Experimental moving image practice is increasingly prevalent within contemporary art and cinema. This class is designed to heighten your awareness and experience of the variety of ways feeling and perception can be explored through moving images and sound. We will step beyond traditional narrative structures and conventions of camera use to explore the spiritual, conceptual, and emotional potential of the medium. There will be individual and collaborative group work on elements of film production - character design, location and scene design, writing, improvisational and scripted acting and shooting, camera and sound recording tools and techniques, editing, and post-production. The class will include screenings, readings and discussion of experimental films from the inception of the avant-garde through the most contemporary experimental work being produced today. You will explore the visual and aural experience of moving image and sound through a variety of alternative shooting, recording, editing and interdisciplinary installation and presentation options. Students begin the semester by developing a film concept and planning production. Working individually and collaboratively, you will then shoot the film and complete a preliminary edit. Through critiques and further editing and shooting, you will work, re-work, and start over with your material to discover unplanned changes in tone, flow, experience, and meaning. Students need to provide their own portable drive and 1-2 SD cards for each class, and may choose to purchase their own subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud if they wish to use their own computer. Prerequisite: ARTS major, ARTS 1704

In this course, students will be introduced to a variety of techniques of digital animation. Through short exercises and longer projects, students gain experience with digital 2D animation in Photoshop and After Effects as well as 3D animation in Maya. Through practice and application, students explore the tools and methods of animation. The course begins with focused exercises and culminates in an independent project. Classes consist of demonstrations, independent work time, historical and contemporary animation screenings, in-progress and final critiques, and self-assessments. This course strives to further the student?s knowledge, skills, and artistic achievement in animation. This is a class for undergraduate (3770) and graduate (5770) students of varied experience and skills, and the outcomes above are evaluated on progress and participation. All students successfully completing the class will have created one, in?depth, short animation and several short animation exercises. They will leave the class with a working knowledge of Photoshop, Maya, and other animation skills and techniques. prereq: ARTS 1704 or Instructor Consent

In this course, students will be introduced to a variety of techniques of digital animation. Through short exercises and longer projects, students gain experience with digital 2D animation in Photoshop and After Effects as well as 3D animation in Maya. Through practice and application, students explore the tools and methods of animation. The course begins with focused exercises and culminates in an independent project. Classes consist of demonstrations, independent work time, historical and contemporary animation screenings, in-progress and final critiques, and self-assessments. This course strives to further the student?s knowledge, skills, and artistic achievement in animation. This is a class for undergraduate (3770) and graduate (5770) students of varied experience and skills, and the outcomes above are evaluated on progress and participation. All students successfully completing the class will have created one, in?depth, short animation and several short animation exercises. They will leave the class with a working knowledge of Photoshop, Maya, and other animation skills and techniques. prereq: ARTS 3770 or Instructor Consent

Developments in last 150 years; evolution of hardware and software; growth of computer and semiconductor industries and their relation to other businesses; changing relationships resulting from new data-gathering and analysis techniques; automation; social and ethical issues.

Developments in the last 150 years; evolution of hardware and software; growth of computer and semiconductor industries and their relation to other business areas; changing relationships resulting from new data-gathering and analysis techniques; automation; social and ethical issues.

Introduction to the critical and theoretical study of media and technology from Aristotle to the modern world. The first half of the course emphasizes theoretical readings in dialogue with historical apparatuses (printing press, photography, radio, cinema, television) and various expressive objects (the bible, early film, ethnographic sound recordings). The second half turns to the modern culture industry since World War II, and introduces students to the critical study of mass culture, the concept of ideology, and of the relationship between corporate power and media conglomerates.

Introduction to the critical and theoretical study of media and technology from Aristotle to the modern world. The first half of the course emphasizes theoretical readings in dialogue with historical apparatuses (printing press, photography, radio, cinema, television) and various expressive objects (the bible, early film, ethnographic sound recordings). The second half turns to the modern culture industry since World War II, and introduces students to the critical study of mass culture, the concept of ideology, and of the relationship between corporate power and media conglomerates.

Screens increasingly define the ways that we communicate with one another and how we encounter the world. This course will offer a critical, historical approach to the emergence of ?screen cultures? from the beginning of photography and cinema to our own age of ubiquitous touch screen displays. We will pay a great deal of attention to the ways that such technologies drive our patterns of consumption and production as well as how they create and define our social environments.

Screens increasingly define the ways that we communicate with one another and how we encounter the world. This course will offer a critical, historical approach to the emergence of ?screen cultures? from the beginning of photography and cinema to our own age of ubiquitous touch screen displays. We will pay a great deal of attention to the ways that such technologies drive our patterns of consumption and production as well as how they create and define our social environments.

WRIT 4662W is an advanced level Writing Studies course that explores various digital writing technologies and provides multiple opportunities to assess writing situations and make appropriate decisions about digital form and production. Students will learn the basic building blocks of writing in Internet environments (text, sound, images, video) as well as the vocabularies, functionalities, and organizing structures of Web 2.0 environments, how these impact understanding and use of information, and how to produce these environments (i.e., multimedia internet documents) for interactivity and use. This course includes design projects and practice with apps, markup language, content management systems, video, and social media. prereq: Jr or sr or instr consent

This course explores current and emerging digital writing technologies and teaches students to assess writing situations and make appropriate decisions about digital form, production, and scholarship. Students learn the basic building blocks of writing in Internet environments (text, sound, images, video, interactivity); the vocabularies, functionalities, and organizing structures of Web 2.0 environments and how each impacts understanding and use of information; and how to produce Web 2.0 environments (i.e., multimedia internet documents) that facilitate interactivity and use. This course includes design projects and practice with apps, markup language (html and xml), and content management systems.