Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College · Courses
COMMS
10 courses with the subject COMMS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
COMMS 500Communications and Cultural Theory3
This course is designed to provide students a broad background in communications and cultural theory. COMMS 500 Communications and Cultural Theory (3) This course is an advanced study of various interpretive approaches and methodological tools that are central to the analysis of media artifacts, including newspaper articles, magazines, films, advertising, and television programs. It begins with an overview of various interpretive traditions, including culturalism, psychoanalytic theory, structuralism, ethnic and racial critiques, poststructuralism, postmodernism, feminism, postcolonial studies, and queer theory. It prepares students to critically examine philosophical assumptions regarding the relationship between the nature of knowledge, expression, writing and creative production on one hand, and conceptions of personhood, community, social structures and authority, on the other. Students are required to do significant reading and writing in this course, and to propose and conduct analyses of communication artifacts.
This course prepares students to conduct research in communications using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. COMMS 503 Research Methods in Communications (3) This course prepares students to conduct research in communications. It begins with an overview of the different strategies and philosophies of research methodology including scientific method, inference, skepticism, hypothetico-deductive reasoning, critical, humanistic, and naturalistic inquiry. The course focuses on four major types of communications research methodology: experimental, survey, textual analysis and naturalistic inquiry. Students are required to do significant reading and writing in this course, as well as propose and conduct a research project of their own design. This course is a fundamental element of the masters program curriculum in that it prepares students to conduct their thesis projects.
/Maximum of 9 This course supports the development of advanced writing projects in a range of different genres. COMMS 525 Media Writer's Seminar (3-9 per semester/maximum of 9) This course is an advanced study of narrative styles and research techniques used in various forms of writing, including journalism and creative non-fiction, memoir, opinion pieces, cultural criticism, copy writing, writing for interactive media, and writing for performance media. Offerings in different semesters will focus on different topics in these writing genres. The course prepares students to create original material in a variety of writing genres, and for a variety of media. It is well-suited for the development of creative master's projects, and for extending the student's graduate research into a professional portfolio. The first portion of the course defines the elements of the genre through textual analysis and establishes a theoretical framework. Students will then submit for peer review a project proposal that addresses the appropriateness of the subject to the genre, outlines research methods, defines the intended audience, and provides examples of potential outlets. Students will then submit a first draft for peer review, and finally a finished draft for peer review and evaluation.
COMMS 560Seminar on Global Culture and Communication3
This course explores the globalization of communication and communication technologies within a broad political, economic and cultural context. COMMS 560 Seminar on Global Culture and Communication (3) Developments in technology have led to new levels of interaction and interdependency of human groups and processes
/Maximum of 9 This course prepares students for the creation of advanced media projects in traditional and digital media. COMMS 568 Media Production Workshop (3-9 per semester/maximum of 9) This course is a workshop for the creation of advanced media projects in traditional and digital media. Workshop topics will alternate coverage of different media, and will include photography, graphic design, interactive media, video, audio, and other media to reflect the needs of the graduate program. Students will submit proposals that address their project objectives, production plans, and intended audiences. After submitting proposals for peer review and faculty evaluation, students will begin a three-stage process of pre-production, production, and post-production in the creation of their work. This process will require the organization of production elements, the acquisition of media, and the creation of the finished project. This seminar is intended for graduate students who wish to gain experience with new media technologies, pursue creative outlets for their research interests, or develop their professional portfolios. It is an intensive workshop with demanding writing and technology requirements.
