First-Year Writing Seminar
First-Year Writing Seminar falls under the Communication Capacity.
Writing is fundamental, the most important form of expression that BU undergraduates must develop.
In almost every professional setting, BU graduates must be able to express their ideas in clear, coherent prose. Effective writing demands the honing of skills, but it also cultivates ways of thinking, evaluating evidence, constructing responsible and convincing arguments, and generating creative ideas. As effective writers, BU graduates will pay close attention to the potential readers of their writings; as responsible writers, they will take ownership of their message and the means of communicating it, and hold their writing to high standards of truth, accuracy, validity, and humaneness.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to craft responsible, considered, and well-structured written arguments, using media and modes of expression appropriate to the situation.
Students will be able to read with understanding, engagement, appreciation, and critical judgment.
Students will be able to write clearly and coherently in a range of genres and styles, integrating graphic and multimedia elements as appropriate.
Courses
Search for currently scheduled courses with combinations of other Hub requirements in MyBU Student .
College of Arts & Sciences
CAS CC 101
Core Humanities I: Ancient Worlds
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Creativity/Innovation First-Year Writing Seminar
An interdisciplinary study of the origins of narrative, epic, tragedy, and philosophical thought including works from ancient Mesopotamia, the Hebrew Bible, and classical Greece. Focusing on close reading and effective writing, we consider the contrasting values of different cultures and explore the long-standing narrative and visual traditions motivated by creative readings and interpretations of these texts. A visit to the MFA Boston enables students to explore the rich interpretive visual traditions that follow these texts. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Creativity/Innovation. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, a First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 120).
CAS CC 101S
The Ancient World
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Creativity/Innovation First-Year Writing Seminar
Begins in the ancient Near East with the origins of Mesopotamian civilization and the Hebrew Bible. Continues with an overview of the beginning and development of Greek civilization and careful study of Homer, Greek tragedy, and Plato. Students also examine architecture and the visual arts, as well as the relation of beauty and mathematics, with a study of the Parthenon and its role in Athenian Imperialism. Students will be asked to listen to additional online lectures to augment class discussion. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Creativity/Innovation. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, a First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 120).
CAS EN 120
Freshman Seminar
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Limited enrollment. Variable topics. Through discussions and frequent writing assignments, students develop skills in the close reading of literary texts and learn to express their interpretive ideas in correct and persuasive prose. Satisfies CAS WR 120 requirement. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: First-Year Writing Seminar.
CAS WR 120
First-Year Writing Seminar
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASWR 112, placement results, or transfer credit for WR 02TR (for English language learners only). - Topic-based seminar in critical reading and writing. Engagement with a variety of sources and practice in writing in a range of genres with particular attention to argumentation, prose style, and revision, informed by reflection and feedback, including individual conferences. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: First-Year Writing Seminar.
CAS WR 120S
First-Year Writing Seminar
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASWR 112, placement results, or transfer credit for WR 02TR (for English language learners only). - Topic-based seminar in critical reading and writing. Engagement with a variety of sources and practice in writing in a range of genres with particular attention to argumentation, prose style, and revision, informed by reflection and feedback, including individual conferences. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: First-Year Writing Seminar.
College of General Studies
CGS RH 104E
Rhetorical Practices from The Industrial Revolution through the Digital Revolution
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Digital/Multimedia Expression First-Year Writing Seminar
Through class discussion and learning experiences, students explore connections between readings assigned in Rhetoric and those in other courses, focusing on themes drawn from the two units that comprise the semester's curriculum. The course further develops skills in expository writing and introduces exploratory essay writing. Students continue to explore the contemporary relevance and meaning of the interdisciplinary curriculum. Students refine their skills in grammar, style, organization, and document design. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: First-Year Writing Seminar, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Critical Thinking.
CGS RH 104S
Rhetorical Practices from The Industrial Revolution through the Digital Revolution
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Digital/Multimedia Expression First-Year Writing Seminar
Through class discussion and learning experiences, students explore connections between readings assigned in Rhetoric and those in other courses, focusing on themes drawn from the two units that comprise the semester's curriculum. The course further develops skills in expository writing and introduces exploratory essay writing. Students continue to explore the contemporary relevance and meaning of the interdisciplinary curriculum. Students refine their skills in grammar, style, organization, and document design. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: First-Year Writing Seminar, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Critical Thinking.
College of Communication
COM CI 477E
CONT SP CINEMA
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CONT SP CINEMA
COM CM 180
Understanding Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
During the semester, Understanding Media course will trace the development, survey the literature, and explore the impact of media--whether traditional, interactive, social or mobile--examining conceptual, theoretical, and practical aspects of today's global media environment. The course will also review the factors that have shaped the nature of contemporary media, including their content, uses, functions, and audiences. Understanding Media provides students with a broad understanding of the social and psychological impact of mediated communication and empowers students to think originally and critically about how media technologies evolve, function, advance, and shape society, industry, and professional practices. It makes dynamic connections between theoretical frameworks, everyday life, and industry practices in a manner that can engage undergraduate students in Advertising, Media Science, and Public Relations and can inform them of the significance of using strategic approaches to constructing, disseminating, and evaluating media initiatives and media messages. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 180S
Understanding Media
4 credits.
Traces the development, surveys the literature, and explores the impact of media--whether traditional, interactive, social, or mobile--examining conceptual, theoretical, and practical aspects of today's global media environment. Reviews the factors that have shaped the nature of contemporary media, including their content, uses, functions, and audiences. Provides students with a broad understanding of the social and psychological impact of mediated communication and empowers students to think originally and critically about how media technologies evolve, function, advance, and shape society, industry, and professional practices. The course makes dynamic connections between theoretical frameworks, everyday life, and industry practices in a manner that engages undergraduate students in Advertising, Media Science, and Public Relations and informs them of the significance of using strategic approaches to constructing, disseminating, and evaluating media initiatives and media messages. (Formerly COM CM 380. Students should not take COM CM 180 if they have already taken COM CM 380.)
COM CM 211
Professional Presentation
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Students will learn the essentials of effective presentation, from preparation, audience analysis, and content development to critical thinking when presenting. Students will incorporate theories and skills of effective communication in a variety of contexts (e.g., common business and social settings). Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Oral and/or Signed Communication. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 211S
Professional Presentation
4 credits.
Covers the essentials of effective presentation, from preparation, audience analysis, and content development to critical thinking when presenting. Students incorporate theories and skills of effective communication in a variety of contexts (e.g., common business and social settings). Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Oral and/or Signed Communication.
COM CM 215
Principles and Practices of Public Relations
4 credits. Fall and Spring
An introduction to the field of public relations: its theoretical origins, scope, and principles. Discussion focuses on researching problems, setting objectives, identifying audiences, designing messages, choosing communication channels, and evaluating results for all types of organizations. Ethical decision making, on-line communication, and career opportunities are also analyzed case studies in the field. The format is a combination of informal lecture and small-group discussion, case analysis, and guest lecture. Open the freshmen. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 215S
Principles and Practices of Public Relations
4 credits.
An introduction to the field of public relations: its theoretical origins, scope, and principles. Discussion focuses on researching problems, setting objectives, identifying audiences, designing messages, choosing communication channels, and evaluating results for all types of organizations. Ethical decision-making, online communication, and career opportunities are also analyzed through case studies in the field. The format is a combination of informal lecture and small-group discussion, case analysis, and guest lecture. (Formerly COM CM 301. Students cannot take COM CM 215 for credit if they have already taken COM CM 301.)
COM CM 217
Introduction to Advertising
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Explores the history, nature, function, and social and economic aspects of advertising: ethical responsibilities, psychological appeals, marketing, media research, product analysis, creative strategies, and agency operation. Students prepare comprehensive advertising plans, including marketing strategy and speculative advertising campaigns. Open to freshmen. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 217S
Introduction to Advertising
4 credits.
Explores the history, nature, function, and social and economic aspects of advertising: ethical responsibilities, psychological appeals, marketing, media research, product analysis, creative strategies, and agency operation. Students prepare a comprehensive advertising plan including a marketing strategy and speculative advertising campaigns. (Formerly COM CM 317. Students cannot take COM CM 217 for credit if they have already taken COM CM 317.)
COM CM 280
Persuasion Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM180) - This course examines the role that communication--and especially mediated communication--play in the social influence process. This course is organized around theoretical persuasive approaches to the study of attitudinal and behavioral change. It uses these theories as a basis for teaching about persuasive strategies that can be implemented to lead to changes in others' attitudes and behaviors--whether in the areas of media campaigns, marketing communication, advertising, or public relations. The course includes discussion of the strategies that "professional persuaders" use when peddling their ideas, products, services, and philosophies. Pre-req: COM CM180. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 305E
INSIDE BELTWAY
4 credits. Fall and Spring
INSIDE BELTWAY
COM CM 313
Corporate Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CM215 - Explores the trends and issues affecting corporations, crisis management, public affairs communication, consumer affairs, employee relations, environmental problems, and issues of multinationals. Uses case studies.
COM CM 313S
Corporate Communication
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CM215 - Prereq: (COM CM 215 or COM CM 301). Explores the trends and issues affecting corporations, crisis management, public affairs communication, consumer affairs, employee relations, environmental problems, and issues of multinationals. Uses case studies.
COM CM 321
Communication Research Methods
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM180 - CM321 Communication Research Methods is an introduction to the social scientific method of inquiry and the fundamental concepts and processes of social scientific methods that are used in media science, advertising, and public relations. Assorted research methods are covered, including both quantitative and qualitative. Also included are literature review, research design, research execution, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and reporting of findings.
COM CM 321S
Communication Research Methods
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM180 - Prereq: (COM CM 180). Introduction to the social scientific method of inquiry and the fundamental concepts and processes of social scientific methods that are used in media science, advertising, and public relations. Covers assorted research methods, including both quantitative and qualitative. Also includes literature review, research design, research execution, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and reporting of findings.
COM CM 331
Writing for Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CO201 AND First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Intensive exposure to some of the basic writing formats in the communications profession: news releases, letters, features, and profiles. Lead writing, editing, and techniques of interviewing. Extensive writing and rewriting. Develops basic writing skills for different audiences. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Writing- Intensive Course.
COM CM 331S
Writing for Communication
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CO201 AND First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Prereq: (COM CO 201) and First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or CAS WR 120). Intensive exposure to some of the basic writing formats in the communications profession: news releases, letters, features, and profiles. Lead writing, editing, and techniques of interviewing. Extensive writing and rewriting. Develops basic writing skills for different audiences. Effective Fall 2018, course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Writing-Intensive Course.
COM CM 334E
Advertising in the U.K.
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
Examines the structure and organization of the United Kingdom mass media from a commercial and business perspective. In particular, terrestrial and satellite TV, billboard and transport, newspapers and magazines, and radio and film are examined in a practical advertising context.
COM CM 335E
Advertising Strategy
4 credits.
Introduces advanced advertising and media theory, focusing on the role of advertising and its integration within contemporary marketing communications. To define the advertising management process, messages, media, measurement, and assess creative work critically in terms of strategy, objectives, and execution. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation.
COM CM 370E
MULTCULTRL WRLD
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry I Teamwork/Collaboration
MULTCULTRL WRLD
COM CM 405
Media Strategy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 OR COMCM317) - This course examines media planning, buying, and sales as performed by advertising agencies, clients and the media. Students will discuss the essential principles, measurements, procedures and problems encountered in determining appropriate media in which to place specific kinds of advertising messages designed to reach closely defined target audiences. Students will learn to use research sources that provide data on media audiences and product usage. The advantages and disadvantages of various media will be discussed from an advertising perspective. The course will examine contemporary trends in communications media and their effects on advertisers.
COM CM 406E
BRAND ADVT & PR
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BRAND ADVT & PR
COM CM 412
Advertising Strategy & Consumer Insights
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COMCM217 - Explores how to arrive at consumer insights that lead to better advertising and promotion. The course focuses on the set of skills necessary to create breakthrough advertising, including qualitative research, observation, interviewing skills, mapping, and presentation tools. Students learn to write effective, creative briefs.
COM CM 412S
Advertising Strategy & Consumer Insights
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisite: (COM CM 217). Explores how to arrive at consumer insights that lead to better advertising and promotion. The course focuses on the set of skills necessary to create breakthrough advertising, including qualitative research, observation, interviewing skills, mapping, and presentation tools. Students learn to write effective, creative briefs.
COM CM 413E
ADV/PR ENGLAND
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry I
PRB SOL BRIT PR
COM CM 414
Advertising Strategy and Consumer Insight 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM CM412. - This course offers advanced exploration in the art and science of advertising strategy, highlighting the skills and knowledge required for success in this rapidly changing segment of the industry. This class will extend the material learned in CM 412 through a deep dive into the tools and techniques used by top advertising agencies, consultancies, brands and digital platforms to uncover the insights that drive outstanding creative briefs and create breakthrough advertising strategies that yield business results. Note: A version of this course already exists at the graduate level.
COM CM 415E
MASS MED IRELND
4 credits. Fall and Spring
IRISH FILM/TV
COM CM 417
Fundamentals of Creative Development
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 OR COMCM317) - Focus is on the strategic creative process in advertising including concept development, copywriting, visualization, and design. Assignments require conceiving solutions to client marketing challenges across a range of media. Teaches foundations for development of effective advertising: problem definition, strategic development, and conceptual idea generation through tangible executions.
COM CM 417E
Fundamentals of Creative Development
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217) - Focus is on the strategic creative process in advertising including concept development, copywriting, visualization, and design. Assignments require conceiving solutions to client marketing challenges across a range of media. Teaches foundations for development of effective advertising: problem definition, strategic development, and conceptual idea generation through tangible executions.
COM CM 417S
Fundamentals of Creative Development
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 OR COMCM317) - Prereq: (COM CM 217 or COM CM 317). Focuses on the strategic creative process in advertising including concept development, copywriting, visualization, and design. Assignments require conceiving solutions to client marketing challenges across a range of media. Teaches foundations for development of effective advertising: problem definition, strategic development, and conceptual idea generation through tangible executions.
COM CM 419
Advertising Management
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM217 - Administration of a complete advertising program. Case-study method used to explore the marketing mix, budgeting, medial strategy, planning, coordinating advertising with promotion, working with client or agency, and the social responsibility of advertisers.
COM CM 419S
Advertising Management
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM217 - Prereq: (COM CM 217 or COM CM 317). Administration of a complete advertising program. Case-study method used to explore the marketing mix, budgeting, media strategy, planning, coordinating advertising with promotion, working with client or agency, and the social responsibility of advertisers.
COM CM 422
Advertising Research
4 credits. Fall
ADV RESEARCH
COM CM 423
Portfolio Development 1
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 & COMCM417) - A course for aspiring art directors/designers and copywriters interested in the creative side of the advertising industry. Students work in teams of two or three or individually to develop creative ideas, campaigns, and an entry-level portfolio of work (print, video, digital, mobile, experiential). A workshop-like environment, mirroring an advertising agency, is augmented with lectures and case studies.
COM CM 423S
Portfolio Development for Advertising
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 & COMCM417) - A course for aspiring art directors/designers and copywriters interested in the creative side of the advertising industry. Students work in teams of two or three or individually to develop creative ideas, campaigns, and an entry-level portfolio of work (print, video, digital, mobile, experiential). A workshop-like environment, mirroring an advertising agency, is augmented with lectures and case studies.
COM CM 424
Portfolio Development 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 & COMCM417 & COMCM423) - Expectations are that students in this class want a creative career. Or at least want to develop a professional portfolio. This course is designed to build your creative muscle through agency-level assignments as well as to help establish a broad-creative-spectrum web-based portfolio that will help to give you a leg-up in the hiring process when you're ready to enter the workforce.
COM CM 431
Brand Communication and Consumer Analytics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergrad prerequisites: CM180, CM321, and either CM215 or CM217. - This course provides a comprehensive understanding of brand communication through consumer analytics. Through a combination of theoretical frameworks and practical applications, it explores the foundational components of brand development and the effective strategies and tactics implemented across owned, earned, and paid media to build, manage, and reshape winning brands. The course examines a diverse array of global brands spanning various categories and representing different phases of their life cycle. Students will collaborate to launch a new global brand as a final project.
COM CM 434
Media Analytics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Prerequisite: COMCM321. - This course introduces students to the fundamental principles and techniques of social media analytics, focusing on the collection, analysis, and interpretation of social media data. Emphasizing practical, hands-on experience, students will learn to utilize social media analytics software to understand social media trends, audience behavior, and campaign effectiveness. This class prepares students to navigate the contemporary social media landscape. Pre-existing knowledge of programming languages is not required.
COM CM 439E
CAREER IN PROMO
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
CAREER IN PROMO
COM CM 440E
ENTERTAIN PROM
4 credits. Fall and Summer
ENTERTAIN PROM
COM CM 441
Media Strategies and Management
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215 & COMCM331) - Students study planning, implementing, managing, and measuring earned media and influencer strategies, as well as integrating earned media into an overall Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned (PESO) campaign. Involves lectures, in-class discussions, video cases, mock scenarios, and individual take-home cases.
COM CM 441S
Media Strategies and Management
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215 & COMCM331) - Prereq: (COM CM 215 & COM CM 331). Students study planning, implementing, managing, and measuring earned media and influencer strategies, as well as integrating earned media into an overall Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned (PESO) campaign. Involves lectures, in-class discussions, video cases, mock scenarios, and individual take-home cases.
COM CM 442
Business Fundamentals for Public Relations
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM215 - This course provides a foundation in business skills for public relations. Through readings and discussions, in-class exercises, guest speakers and a final team project, students will gain a strong foundation in the major concepts and issues at the intersection of business and public relations. The course will sharpen students' business acumen through increasing their business and financial literacy on topics such as public company reporting, reading financial statements, and the basics of S.E.C. filings.
COM CM 442S
Business Fundamentals for Public Relations
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM215 - This course provides a foundation in business skills for public relations. Through readings and discussions, in-class exercises, guest speakers and a final team project, students will gain a strong foundation in the major concepts and issues at the intersection of business and public relations. The course will sharpen students' business acumen through increasing their business and financial literacy on topics such as public company reporting, reading financial statements, and the basics of S.E.C. filings.
COM CM 443
Digital Media and PR
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM215 - Explores the effects of new media on the fundamental theories, models, and practices of public relations. Studies how websites, blogs, citizen journalism, social media, direct-to-consumer communication, podcasting, viral marketing, and other technology-enabled changes are affecting interpersonal, small group, and mass media relationships. Also covers and uses the interactive tools that are re-defining the practice of public relations. The course combines lecture, discussion, guest speakers, case study, and research to help students uncover and appreciate the power and potential of interactive media.
COM CM 443S
Digital Media and Public Relations
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM215 - Prereq: (COM CM 215 or COM CM 301). Explores the effects of new media on the fundamental theories, models, and practices of public relations. Studies how websites, blogs, citizen journalism, social media, direct-to-consumer communication, podcasting, viral marketing, and other technology-enabled changes are affecting interpersonal, small group, and mass media relationships. Also covers and uses the interactive tools that are re- defining the practice of public relations. Combines lecture, discussion, guest speakers, case study, and research to help students uncover and appreciate the power and potential of interactive media.
COM CM 447E
INTER BRAND MAN
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Oral and/or Signed Communication Social Inquiry I
INTER BRAND MAN
COM CM 457E
SEM GLOBL STRTG
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
SEM GLOBL STRTG
COM CM 461
Advertising Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Advertising Special Topics will have at least a prerequisite of COMCM 180.
COM CM 462
Media Science Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Media Science Special Topics will have a prerequisite of at least COMCM 180.
COM CM 463
Public Relations Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Public Relations Special Topics will have a pre-requisite of at least COMCM 180.
COM CM 464
Communication Cross-Dept. Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CM Cross-Dept. Special Topics will have a prerequisite of at least COMCM 180.
COM CM 471
Communication Internship
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM331) AND for Advertising: COMCM217; Public Relations: COMCM215; Media Science: one COMCM280, COMCM434, COMCM581, COMCM535, or COMCM539 - Students are placed in advertising and public relations agencies, communication departments of firms, sales departments of firms, sales departments of media, and sales promotion agencies. Minimum of 15 hours per week during school semesters, or full time during the summer. Instructor and sponsor oversee student work. A comprehensive final report completes coursework.
COM CM 471E
PR Internship London
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM331) AND Junior good academic standing, AND for Advertising: COMCM217; Public Relations: COMCM215; Media Science: COMCM280 - INTERN/ADV/PR
COM CM 471S
Communication Internship
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM331) AND Junior good academic standing, AND for Advertising: COMCM217; Pu blic Relations: COMCM215; Media Science: COMCM280 - COM INTERNSHIP
COM CM 474
Directed Study
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor and advisor. - Individual or group project on specific problems in communication. 2 or 4 cr.
COM CM 474E
Directed Study
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor and advisor. - DIRECTED STUDY
COM CM 474S
Directed Study
Var credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor and advisor. - DIRECTED STUDY
COM CM 481
Media Law and Policy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. - Study of the laws that apply to communication practitioners. Topics covered include the First Amendment, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright, regulation of advertising, obscenity, and indecency, and the emerging field of cyberspace law. Sophomore standing.
COM CM 501
Design Strategy & Software
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. - Provides knowledge and practice for effective graphic design for all media. Develops a foundation in design principles and creative software skills including Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Students create projects demonstrating how design strategies are used to engage audiences, and enhance comprehension of all forms of mass communication from traditional print to digital media. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
COM CM 501S
Design Strategy and Software
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. - Provides knowledge and practice for effective graphic design for all media. Develops a foundation in design principles and creative software skills including Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Students create projects demonstrating how design strategies are used to engage audiences and enhance comprehension of all forms of mass communication from traditional print to digital media. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation. (Formerly COM CM 323. Students cannot take COM CM 501 for credit if they have already taken COM CM 323.)
COM CM 502
Promoting Your Content Online
4 credits. Spring
The course teaches students how to market their creative works online. Students will learn to identify targeted marketing and distribution platforms for new websites, video channels, series, and blogs, etc., and how to use social media to find an audience, generate buzz and identify potential funding sources. Students will also learn practical entrepreneurial tools needed to organize their creative work as a business venture.
COM CM 502S
Promoting Your Content Online
4 credits. Summer
Teaches students how to market their creative works online. Students learn to identify targeted marketing and distribution platforms for new websites, pilots, video channels, series, and blogs. Explores how to use social media to find an audience, generate buzz, and identify potential funding sources. Students also learn practical entrepreneurial tools needed to organize their creative work as a business venture.
COM CM 505E
DESIGN THINKING
4 credits. Fall and Spring
DESIGN THINKING
COM CM 506
Governmental Public Affairs
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - This course focuses on specialized promotional activities of major and minor political campaigns, and the public relations activities of various government bodies at the national, state, and local levels. Some of the questions addressed by the course are: What are public relations roles in the intensity of the political campaign' How are statements prepared for public officials' How does one interpret policy' How does one handle political media relations' How to handle the inevitable crises that occur in politics and government' (This course was formerly CM444; if you have taken CM444, you cannot take CM506) (Undergrad prereq: CM215.)
COM CM 508
Video Production for Marketing Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
An introduction to the techniques and principles used in designing and directing video productions for advertising and public relations purposes. Use of videography, composition, color, lighting, editing, sound, and special effects in producing news releases, interviews, talk shows, and commercials.
COM CM 510
Media Expression and Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. - This course introduces students to using new media tools as a source and vehicle for creating expression and media communication. Students will acquire building blocks for design thinking and hands-on skills to successfully communicate ideas using media technology. Students will experience the design process: ideation to execution. Topics on media technology, interface design, information architecture, and interaction design will be covered. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Digital/Multimedia Expression.
COM CM 510S
Media Expression and Communication
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. - Introduction to the personal computer as a tool for human communication. Shows how computers are used to design, produce, and deliver communication in publishing, advertising, entertainment, and education. Students learn to use basic computer tools to build works of communication in a variety of media, including text, images, numbers, sound, and video.
COM CM 511
Design & Art Direction
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217, CM417, CM501) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM501, CM717, CM708) - The assignments you'll work on in Art Direction this semester are structured to provide you with the firsthand experience of managing and developing brands for a range of clients. You'll assume responsibility for the strategic insight and discovery necessary to shape the brand's image development and then go on to determine and implement the advertising's consistent, overall design aesthetic. Successful work from these assignments, showcased in your portfolio, will demonstrate your ability to manage the brand development process for 21st century clients.
COM CM 513
Investor Relations
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Students examine the challenges of marketing a company to the financial community. The course is broken down into three areas: the development of IR as a profession; the tools of the trade, such as bonds and stocks; and the field's communication techniques. Students prepare case analyses as a way of understanding various SEC disclosure requirements, communication with analysts and the media, and financial marketing techniques.
COM CM 514
New Communication Technologies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Course prepares students for careers in an environment of constant technological development and institutional change. Provides an overview of current and near-future developments in telecommunications; a theoretical base and exercise in systems analysis for assessing the potential uses and importance of these technologies in media-related institutions; and consideration of legal, regulatory, and social issues which these technologies and their uses may raise for telecommunications and media industries and society in general.
COM CM 518
Creative Video Development
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 & COMCM417) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708 & COMCM717) - Students develop concepts, create scripts and storyboards, and study execution-based challenges of video production. Students will create extendable advertising concepts for video, designed to succeed in a changing media landscape on multiple platforms.4 cr. Either sem. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation, Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM CM 518S
Creative Video Development
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 & COMCM417) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708 & COMCM717)
COM CM 519
Interactive Marketing Strategy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215 OR COMCM217) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701 OR COMCM708) - Students study how interactive marketing strategy integrates communication objectives with consumer insight and digital execution. How social, digital and experiential media are used to achieve branding, engagement and behavioral goals for organizations in a wide range of business categories. The impact of interactive marketing strategy on the advertising and public relations sectors.4 credits.
COM CM 519S
Interactive Marketing Communications
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215 OR COMCM217) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701 OR COMCM708) - Overview of the theories, practices, and techniques in the field of interactive marketing communicates (IAMC). Students gain an understanding of the strategy and tactics of IAMC and its place in the more comprehensive business of marketing communications. In addition, students review IAMC's relationship to and effect on society, culture, and the economics system.
COM CM 520
The COMmunicator
2 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM331) Consent of Instructor Required - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM707) Consent of instructor required - Students write, edit, develop multimedia and social media, as well as work as photographers and graphic designers for the COMmunicator, a website for the Mass Communication, Public Relations and Advertising department. Students also create marketing communication plans for the site. As an online publication, The COMmunicator is updated/ refreshed on an on-going basis, giving students numerous opportunities throughout a semester to submit their work for publication. Editors review and critique all COMmunicator items; students develop/polish their skills as they build portfolios across a multitude of communication writing formats. This course is open only to students in the Mass Communication, Public Relations and Advertising Department. 2 cr.
COM CM 521E
International Marketing Communications and Public Relations
4 credits.
A comprehensive overview of integrated marketing communications in the U.K. Focuses on advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing. Using British and European case studies, students examine marketing strategy; brand identity; and market segmentation and product positioning within the framework of pricing, promotion, and placement relative to competition.
COM CM 522
Managing Corporate Crises
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Students learn about the strategy and tactics associated with effectively preventing, preparing for, managing, and responding to a variety of crisis scenarios that stretch an organization's vital relationships and resources. The course will focus on the options and opportunities available to communication professionals and leaders as they manage a wide range of crisis scenarios. Students will be instructed on how to navigate and provide executive counsel before, during, and after a crisis, while also preparing detailed crisis plans. The course includes lectures, in-class discussions, guest speakers, case examples, and crisis simulations. Students will be challenged to investigate and gain a command of the critical thinking skills, tools and strategies required for successful crisis management and communication in 21st century corporate, non- profit, and government settings.
COM CM 522S
Managing Corporate Crises
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215), Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Students learn about the strategy and tactics associated with effectively preventing, preparing for, managing, and responding to a variety of crisis scenarios that stretch an organization's vital relationships and resources. The course will focus on the options and opportunities available to communication professionals and leaders as they manage a wide range of crisis scenarios. Students will be instructed on how to navigate and provide executive counsel before, during, and after a crisis, while also preparing detailed crisis plans. The course includes lectures, in-class discussions, guest speakers, case examples, and crisis simulations. Students will be challenged to investigate and gain a command of the critical thinking skills, tools and strategies required for successful crisis management and communication in 21st century corporate, non- profit, and government settings.
COM CM 523
Design and Interactive Experiences
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: CM501 or CM510 or consent of instructor - This course introduces students to principles of interactivity through a hands- on experience designing and building an interactive project (website/app). Students will learn to apply design thinking for interactivity while building a device-agnostic package using modern web technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and related libraries, plug-ins, frameworks and tools as necessary. Students will experience the full design and development process (concept ideation, prototyping, user testing and iteration) in building a functional project. Topics on media technology, animation, accessibility, interface design, information architecture, interaction design, networking, performance, prototyping, responsive design and usability will be covered.
COM CM 523S
Design and Interactive Experiences
4 credits. Summer
Graduate Prerequisites: CM501 or CM510 or consent of instructor - Focuses on designing communications that combine several media and are interactive on the computer. Using the software tools used in the multimedia industry, students learn to conceptualize, design, prepare, and program works for eventual publication on CD-ROM and the Internet. Topics include planning, animation, user interface design, prototyping, permissioning, and usability testing.
COM CM 524
Public Relations Career Management
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM215; Senior in the Public Relations track/major. - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) COM CM701 - This unique course provides students with a practical and theoretical overview of various principles of public relations career management. This class explores opportunities and requirements for work in the public relations industry. Through visits by leading industry professionals, readings and case studies, students who are about to set out on their PR careers (or reenter them) will receive a comprehensive view of the many paths open to them. Whether it is on a corporate communications staff, the agency track, in social/digital/analytics, taking an entrepreneurial direction, in content development, sports and entertainment or change communication, students will learn about the competencies required in each, begin to formulate their career objectives and build plans for getting there. More broadly, through in-class lectures and discussions, students also will explore the skills sets and characteristics necessary for success in the rapidly changing world of contemporary PR, as well as the differing work environments and cultures that are out there so that they can begin to assess the ones that might be a fit for them. 4 cr. 1st sem.
COM CM 525
Public Relations Ethics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CM215 or CM701 - This course will acquaint students with ethical standards and expectations society has for public relations practitioners. Through the study of case studies and other readings it will prepare students so they can adequately wrestle with ethical complexities, dilemmas and ambiguities so as to form personal ethical underpinnings for their future careers. 4 credits. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Ethical Reasoning.
COM CM 525S
Public Relations Ethics
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CM215 or CM701 - Acquaints students with ethical standards and expectations society has for public relations practitioners. Through the study of case studies and other readings, the course prepares students to adequately wrestle with ethical complexities, dilemmas, and ambiguities so as to form personal ethical underpinnings for their future careers.
COM CM 527
Brand Experience Marketing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 & COMCM417) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708 & COMCM717) - Today's rapidly changing digital and media landscape calls for strategic and creative solutions that take into consideration emerging consumer behaviors and the new technologies that enable them. In this course, students create content and campaigns that consider the many different ways in which brands engage with their communities - paid and earned media, mobile apps, and branded utility. 4 credits.
COM CM 528
Advertising Copywriting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 & COMCM417) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM717 & COMCM708) - This course builds on the concept development and copywriting foundations learned in prerequisite courses. Assignments will require the creation of copy for a range of audience segments and media channels. Students will learn to shape copy for video, digital, print, and social media. 4 cr. 1st semester
COM CM 529
Design Strategy & Software 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM501) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM501) - In this course students develop advanced design and new media skills while participating in multi-media lectures, critiques, and hands-on software skill building. While implementing individualized creative processes, students develop strategic projects from concept through to functional new media campaigns. The projects are continually updated to prepare students for emerging opportunities in the communication industry. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 529S
Design & New Media 2
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM501) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM501) - Prereq: (COM CM 323 or COM CM 741). Students develop advanced design and new media skills while participating in multi-media lectures, critiques, and hands-on software skill building. While implementing individualized creative processes, students develop strategic projects from concept through to functional new media campaigns. The projects are continually updated to prepare students for emerging opportunities in the communication industry.
COM CM 530
Public Relations in Nonprofit Settings
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CM215 - Graduate Prerequisites: CM701 - This course will provide a kaleidoscopic view of the fundamentals nonprofit public relations. Students will study the processes, effects and influences of media relations practices, related to both traditional and new media, in a nonprofit environment. They also will learn the essentials of fundraising and volunteer recruitment/retention and how these can be influenced, in part, by politics locally--as well as across the nation and around the world. The course also will explore types of nonprofit organizations and the breadth of communication management careers available within them. Additionally, the course will study the benefits and cautions of nonprofit-corporate partnerships and the communication management techniques related to forming and managing such agreements.
COM CM 531
International Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
International Communication is a niche field that encompasses wide-ranging and interconnected subjects in communication and international relations. This course is intended to introduce relevant concepts and real-world practices in the broadly defined field, which is an important dimension of higher education for students aiming to specialize in a host of communication and socio-political areas. As the world has become immensely internationalized and intricately related, a good grasp of the world¿s communication systems, their underlying concepts, and the potential impact of practices may prove pivotal to one¿s edge in building successful careers in any field that involves any facet of communication, including news, campaign, public relations, or public diplomacy. Empowered with the knowledge and understanding beyond national borders, professionals in communication and public affairs are better prepared to fulfill their professional responsibilities, advocate the ideals they embrace, and the interests they represent. To all students, the knowledge of how global communication works indisputably can enhance their appreciation, enrichment, and engagement with different parts of the world.
COM CM 535
Political Campaigns
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. - Critical evaluation of political campaign strategies and tactics within the sociopolitical environment. The roles of campaign managers, media consultants, pollsters, press secretaries, and field operatives are studied. Analysis of the impact of press coverage, political advertising, and candidate debates on the electorate. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 535S
Political Campaigns
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisite's: Sophomore standing. - Critical evaluation of political campaign strategies and tactics within the sociopolitical environment. The roles of campaign managers, media consultants, pollsters, press secretaries, and field operatives are studied. Analysis of the impact of press coverage, political advertising, and candidate debates on the electorate.
COM CM 537E
COM CLT&CONF MG
4 credits.
COM CLT&CONF MG
COM CM 539
Health Campaigns
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. - Health Campaigns involves the principles and practices of designing media campaigns to promote health behavior change, whether related to smoking and alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, physical activity and diet, condom use, public safety, and environmental issues. It centers on how health organizations and initiatives can achieve their goals for population-based health behavior change by strategically creating, distributing, and evaluating media campaigns and media messages. At the nexus of communication and public health, this course uses theory and persuasive elements as a basis for designing and implementing health media campaigns and media messages via different media, including traditional media, new media, and social media. With this foundation, students are tasked to evaluate extant health media campaigns and campaign messages and design their own original health media campaigns and campaign messages.
COM CM 541
Brand Communication and Consumer Analytics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergrad prerequisites: CM180, CM321, and either CM215 or CM217. - This course provides a comprehensive understanding of brand communication through consumer analytics. Through a combination of theoretical frameworks and practical applications, it explores the foundational components of brand development and the effective strategies and tactics implemented across owned, earned, and paid media to build, manage, and reshape winning brands. The course examines a diverse array of global brands spanning various categories and representing different phases of their life cycle. Students will collaborate to launch a new global brand as a final project.
COM CM 548
International Public Relations
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215 or CM701) - This course focuses on the global practice of public relations with an emphasis on corporate and agency practice. A major goal of the course is to help students become knowledgeable about the ever-increasing development of public relations throughout the world and the opportunities it offers within corporations, government, business, and non-governmental organizations. (This course was formerly CM448; if you have taken CM448, you cannot take CM548.) (Undergrad prereq: CM215.)
COM CM 551
Children and Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
In this course, we will work to synthesize and critically examine some of the major contemporary considerations for children¿s and teens¿ media use today. Are media bad for kids' Good for kids' Or does the answer depend on a variety of factors and what outcomes we are measuring' Together we will apply an interdisciplinary lens to examine (a) what we know ¿ and don¿t yet know ¿ about media in the lives of youth, and (b) where we envision the field of children¿s media needs to go. As we consider nuances and trends across the media uses and effects of diverse youth, we will carefully examine extant research, focusing on four angles: developmental considerations, media and education, media for well-being and connection, and the navigation and creation of media landscapes. We will consider how technological advancements, such as AI, and the evolving needs and priorities of young people come into play for child media use ¿ and how the research and industry worlds should respond. This class aims to prepare students to navigate topics around youth and media, to help build students¿ foundation for a variety of media-, education-, and research-related careers, and to hone students¿ ability to innovate in the design, use, study, and conversations around media for youth in an ever-expanding digital world.
COM CM 555
Advanced Media Writing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM331) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM707 OR COMCM703) - In-depth focus on promotional, client-based writing. Course includes developing story ideas and angles; writing off- and on-line feature stories and slide shows for trade, business, and special-interest market as well as researching and writing a treatment/script video package with accompanying brochure. Also includes numerous multimedia workshops. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM CM 556E
STR DEV POLICY
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
STR DEV POLICY
COM CM 557
Media Effects
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM180 & COMCM321) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM710) - This course introduces the study of the effects of media on individuals and on society. This course will overview a broad range of media theories that have examined media as a social force, that have explored factors that affect individuals' selection of and perceptions of media messages, and that have studied how media affect viewers' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. These theories will be used to examine a variety of different types of content, including media violence, portrayals of race and gender, politics, advertising, and entertainment, among others. 4 cr., 1st sem.
COM CM 561
Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Each section of this course will explore a different relevant topic in the field of mass communication, public relations, or advertising. Pre-requisites for each topic can be found in the class notes. Please contact the MCADVPR Department at mcadvpr@bu.edu for more information.
COM CM 561E
Special Topics
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: CM722 - SPECIAL TOPICS
COM CM 561S
Special Topics in Mass Communication
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: CM722 - Topics for Summer 2020: Summer 1: A1 Global Marketing Communication; A2 Professional Project
COM CM 563E
ENTERTAINMTMKTG
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
ENTERTNMNT MKTG
COM CM 564E
ENTERTAINPROMO
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
MEDIA/ENT IND
COM CM 580
PRLab
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215 & COMCM331) sophomore standing - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701 & COMCM707) - PRLab at Boston University is the nation's oldest student run public relations agency. PRLab allows students to gain valuable industry experience in an agency style setting, working in the corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Students engage in media relations, event planning, branding, copy editing, content creation and social media management. Over the course of the semester, students create professional portfolios. 2 or 4 cr. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM CM 581
PRLab Executive Board
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM215 & COMCM331) consent of instructor - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701 & COMCM707) - This course represents the management function of the student run PRLab. The PRLab Executive Board consists of a President, Vice President and several Account Supervisors, who work together to facilitate the overall success of the student- client interactions and PRLab as a whole. The E-Board is also responsible for PRLab's branding and new business acquisition. 2 or 4 cr. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM CM 585
AdLab
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217 or CM708) - Experience in student-run, full-service advertising agency. Students organize, manage, and perform all functions: solicit business, perform market and consumer research, contact clients, write plans, create advertising campaigns, evaluate media, and prepare campaign evaluations for community service agencies. Variable credit. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in the following Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM CM 586
AdLab E-Board
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMCM217) Consent of Instructor - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708) Consent of Instructor - Experience is a student run, full service advertising agency. Students organize, manage and perform real world functions: solicit business from real world clients, perform market and consumer research, collaborate with clients, write strategic plans, create advertising campaigns that run in the real world, evaluate media and prepare client presentations. Student leaders operate as agency management collaborating with other students. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in the following Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM CM 700
Financial & Strategic Management for Communication Professionals
4 credits. Fall and Spring
The focus of the course is on two critical domains of modern business: financial and strategic management. Through lectures, readings, case studies, and team projects, the course will introduce students to the complexities and challenges facing today's communications industry manager along with practical understanding of how businesses operate and even succeed despite the obstacles. The goal of the course is to help students understand the fundamentals of business enterprise with an emphasis on how these apply to the media industries. The course covers the fundamentals of a business plan, including revenue models, marketing, venture capital, finance, and accounting in the context of the media landscape. 1st sem.
COM CM 701
Contemporary Public Relations
4 credits. Fall
Foundations of professional principles and practice in public relations for corporate, governmental, and nonprofit organizations. Includes history, organization, and scope of the field; its roots in social science; types of campaigns and programs; and professional ethics. Theories, strategies, and tactics in current practice emphasized. Explores opportunities and requirements for work in the field. 1st sem.
COM CM 702
Advertising and Society
4 credits.
Analyzes the impact of advertising on individuals and society and evaluates the ethical, moral, and legal questions relating to the advertising industry. The history of advertising and the rise of consumerism will be studied to create a paradigm for understanding the social effects of advertising. Students will study the issues of advertising in cyberspace and question of privacy and protection from intrusive communication messages. 1st sem.
COM CM 703
Basic Media Writing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CM 703 Begins a graduate level, two-semester immersion in American English communication writing. Portfolio finale serves as a bridge assignment to CM 707 Writing for Media Professionals in the spring semester. Introduces basic communication writing formats, including news releases, social media, features, profiles. Emphasizes interviewing, target marketing and publication options. Stresses tenets of plagiarism across media. Strong focus on creating quality copy in American English, which necessitates extensive work in grammar exercises and brainstorming workshops, quizzes, presentations, class participation, collaborative projects. Students fine-tune their writing and speaking skills as they analyze and rewrite their own copy.
COM CM 704
Contemporary Mass Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
The history, practices, business models and technologies of contemporary mass media. Topics include mass media's forms, content, audiences and social effects; the state and fate of the printed word; the ups and downs of the Internet; media consolidation and the growing movement toward synergy; the future of independent media; and ethical and moral issues created by new technologies and old economic pressures. 1st sem.
COM CM 706S
ORGANIZTNL COMM
4 credits. Summer
ORGNZTIONL COM
COM CM 707
Writing for Media Professionals
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Serves to provide an in-depth understanding and proficiency in communication writing and transmedia storytelling skills across a wide variety of off and online formats, including news releases, social media, features (off and online), Q & A interviews, websites, broadcast PSA's, slide shows, videos. Stresses plagiarism prevention, collaborative workshops, reading aloud, media strategies, editing, and interview techniques. Extensive writing and rewriting. Develops comprehensive writing skills for media professionals. Both semesters. Prerequisite CM 703, unless waived via writing placement test or consent of the instructor.
COM CM 707S
Writing for Media Professionals
4 credits. Summer
WRTG MEDIA PROF
COM CM 708
Principles and Practices of Advertising
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Overview of the nature, function, practice, and social, economic, and behavioral aspects of advertising. Student teams develop advertising plans, create campaigns, and explore problems of account management, creativity, production, and ethics. 1st sem.
COM CM 709
Corporate Public Affairs
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Monitoring sociopolitical environment, managing corporate crises and confrontations, analyzing issues, formulating political strategies, developing programs of advocacy advertising, constituency communication, and public involvement. Case studies used. 2nd sem.
COM CM 709S
Corporate Public Affairs
4 credits. Summer
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Monitoring sociopolitical environment, managing corporate crises and confrontations, analyzing issues, formulating political strategies, developing programs of advocacy advertising, constituency communications, and public involvement. Case studies used.
COM CM 710
Media Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines origins, nature, and consequences of mediated communication and related processes and contexts. Reviews traditional theories of mass communication, derivative and developing theories on various communication media, including social and mobile. Furthermore, the course considers the application and utilization of theories for media professionals.
COM CM 712
Advertising Strategy & Consumer Insights
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Explores how to arrive at consumer insights that lead to better advertising and promotion. The course focuses on the set of skills necessary to create breakthrough advertising, including qualitative research, observation, interviewing skills, mapping, and presentation tools. Students learn to write effective, creative briefs.
COM CM 713
Media Law and Policy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course covers the laws that apply to communication and media practitioners and the policies that underlie them. Topics include the First Amendment, defamation, invasion of privacy, liability for physical and emotional harm, national security, copyright, trademark, regulation of advertising, obscenity and indecency.
COM CM 714
Professional Presentations
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course covers the essentials of effective presentation, from preparation (audience analysis, content development) to critical thinking when presenting. It is designed to place students in business and social settings that require a mastery of presentation skills in order to be successful. A combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on practice and simulation, this course helps students exercise leadership through oral communication.
COM CM 716
New & Traditional Media Strategies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708) - Examines media planning, buying and sales as performed by advertising agencies, clients and the media. Research sources providing data on media audiences and product usage are evaluated. Examines contemporary trends in communication media and their effects on advertisers.
COM CM 717
Fundamentals of Creative Development
4 credits. Fall
Focus is on the strategic creative process in advertising including concept development, copywriting, visualization, and design. Assignments require conceiving solutions to client marketing challenges across a range of media. Teaches foundations for development of effective advertising: problem definition, strategic development, and conceptual idea generation through tangible executions. 1st sem.
COM CM 717S
Fundamentals of Creative Development
4 credits. Summer
Focus is on the strategic creative process in advertising including concept development, copywriting, visualization, and design. Assignments require conceiving solutions to client marketing challenges across a range of media. Teaches foundations for development of effective advertising: problem definition, strategic development, and conceptual idea generation through tangible executions.
COM CM 718
Advertising Strategy & Consumer Insights 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM CM712 - Graduate Prerequisites: COM CM712 - This course offers advanced exploration in the art and science of advertising strategy highlighting the talent and knowledge required for success in this rapidly changing segment of the industry. We will extend the material learned in CM 712 through a deep dive into best practices and evolving techniques used by top advertising agencies, consultancies and the big three platforms, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple to gather and apply information about consumers and brands for use by creative teams and a variety of departments in the advertising and marketing industry.
COM CM 721
Advertising Management
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708) - Administration of complete advertising program. Case study method used to explore the marketing mix, budgeting, media strategy, planning, coordinating advertising with promotion, working with client or agency, and the social responsibility of advertisers.
COM CM 722
Communication Research
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CM722 Communication Research Methods is an introduction to the social scientific method of inquiry and the fundamental concepts and processes of social scientific methods that are used in media science, advertising, and public relations. Assorted research methods are covered, including both quantitative and qualitative. Also included are literature review, research design, research execution, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and reporting of findings.
COM CM 723
Advanced Communication Research
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM722) - Provides skill training for data analysis with SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Students will obtain hands-on experience by carrying out actual analyses using real data acquired via different research methods. Techniques covered include correlation, regression, t-test, ANOVA, and factor analysis. Students also learn how to translate the results of their analyses into data-driven narratives that provide actionable solutions to problem cases.
COM CM 724
Sampling Design and Measurement Techniques
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COM CM 722 and CM 723) - Discusses various issues related to sampling, such as design, sample size, methods of selection, sampling error, and sampling sources for applied research projects. Also teaches about the various types of questionnaires and measurement procedures commonly used in communication research, including those used for assessing such factors as attitudes, beliefs, media use, and consumer behavior. 2nd sem.
COM CM 726
Strategic Brand Solutions
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708) - Explores the impact of current advertising/marketing issues through the lens of strategic branding and brand building best practices from business, economic, political, social, legal, and ethical perspectives. Modified case method looking at real world solutions, with lectures from experts on selected issues.
COM CM 730
Marketing Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Addresses basic marketing and promotion principles used to increase awareness of and change in attitudes and buyer behavior about products, services, and organizations. Students learn to evaluate appropriate promotional mixes, examine the role of communication, and develop marketing communication strategies through the use of case studies and classroom discussion. 1st sem.
COM CM 734
Governmental Public Affairs
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Governmental public relations in this century; primary attention to current programs of public relations at national, state, and local levels. Public contact problems, including personnel recruitment, agency purpose, agency publics, and executive direction. Research participation in the field.
COM CM 738E
INTL MKTG COMM
Var credits.
GLOB MKTG COMM
COM CM 739
Social Media Strategy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: CM722 - Students will utilize social media analytics software as the basis for assessing and developing strategies to elevate the social media presence of brands, organizations, and campaigns. Students will learn how to collect social media data, convert data for analysis with SPSS, and apply cutting edge AI tools such as topic analysis and sentiment analysis across an array of platforms. This class prepares students to navigate the contemporary social media landscape.
COM CM 741
Design & New Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Provides knowledge and practice for effective graphic design for all media. Develops a foundation in design principles and software skills including Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Students create projects demonstrating how graphic design is used to engage an audience and enhance comprehension of all forms of mass communication from traditional print to new media.
COM CM 742
Strategic Media Relations and Management
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: CM701 AND CM707 OR CM703 - This advanced course explores the role and practice of media relations in an integrated media landscape (PESO) to create an authentic and unified organizational narrative. Students learn the strategic and proactive approach to gaining third-party credibility among journalists, influencers, targeted audiences, and stakeholders. Topics include research & media planning/evaluation, relationship building, content development & engagement, spokesperson role & training, proactive and reactive media counseling, and leveraging innovative media strategies. This course involves lectures, reading assignments, writing projects, case studies, and real-world simulations to create an interactive and engaging learning environment.
COM CM 742S
Media Relations
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: CM701 AND CM707 OR CM703 - Students learn publicity techniques used in media of mass communication, including daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and film. Practitioners are invited to class to present publicity problems. Includes case study method and workshop sessions with informal discussion.
COM CM 743
New Media & Public Relations
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Explores the effects of new media on the fundamental theories, models, and practices of public relations. Studies how websites, blogs, citizen journalism, social media, direct-to-consumer communication, podcasting, viral marketing, and other technology-enabled changes are affecting interpersonal, small group, and mass media relationships. Also covers and uses the interactive tools that are re-defining the practice of public relations. The course combines lecture, discussion, guest speakers, case study, and research to help students uncover and appreciate the power and potential of interactive media.
COM CM 743S
New Media and Public Relations
4 credits. Summer
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM701) - Explores the effects of new media on the fundamental theories, models, and practices of public relations. Studies how websites, blogs, citizen journalism, social media, direct-to-consumer communication, podcasting, viral marketing, and other technology-enabled changes are affecting interpersonal, small group, and mass media relationships. Also covers and uses the interactive tools that are re-defining the practice of public relations. Combines lecture, discussion, guest speakers, case study, and research to help students uncover and appreciate the power and potential of interactive media.
COM CM 744E
BRIT/EUR MEDIA
Var credits.
INTL POL&MED SY
COM CM 745E
BRIT/EUR PO SYS
Var credits.
COMP POL SYST
COM CM 750
Advanced Writing for Media Professionals
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CM703 or CM707 - Building on writing skills and formats presented in CM703 or CM707, students work individually and in-depth on challenging writing assignments: essay analyses/critiques (drawn from The Best American Essays series); a Q & A interview; and a website, which includes a wide variety of writing formats and critical thinking --this major individual project provides students with a substantial portfolio showcase. Several collaborative workshops complete the course requirements.
COM CM 752
Advanced Copywriting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708 & COMCM717) - This course builds on the concept development and copywriting foundations learned in prerequisite courses. Assignments will require the creation of copy for a range of audience segments and media channels. Students will learn to shape copy for video, digital, print, and social media.
COM CM 753
Portfolio Development 1
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708 & COMCM717) - Course is for graduate students who intend to work in the creative area of the advertising industry. Focus is on the principles needed to understand, conceptualize, and create an entry-level portfolio of work (print, video, digital, mobile, experiential). A workshop-like environment, mirroring an advertising agency, is augmented with lectures and case studies.
COM CM 753S
PORF DEVELPMENT
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708 & COMCM717) - PORF DEVELPMENT
COM CM 754
Portfolio Development 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM708 & COMCM717 & COMCM753) - A continuation of Portfolio Development I, this course continues the iterative process required to construct a competitive advertising portfolio. Students work to refine concepts, revise and strengthen the impact of the art direction and copywriting, and determine how the work should ultimately be displayed.
COM CM 761
Advertising Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Advertising Special Topics change each semester.
COM CM 762
Media Science Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Media Science Special Topics will change each semester.
COM CM 763
Public Relations Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Public Relations Special Topics will change each semester.
COM CM 764
Communication Cross-Dept. Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CM Cross-Dept. Special Topics will change each semester.
COM CM 809
Graduate Internship
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: one semesters of graduate study. - Students are placed in public relations, advertising, or communication departments of business, educational, philanthropic, or governmental institutions. Fifteen hours per week of supervised work. Students with a comprehensive report evaluating internship experience at end of semester. 2 or 4 cr.
COM CM 809E
Graduate Internship
Var credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: one semesters of graduate study. - GRAD INTERNSHIP
COM CM 809S
Graduate Internship
Var credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: one semesters of graduate study. - GRAD INTERNSHIP
COM CM 824
Technical Writing for Communication Research
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMCM722 & COMCM723 & COMCM724) - Teaches students to develop clear and concise research proposals and write detailed research reports incorporating appropriate methodological sequences, techniques, and strategies. Teaches students to interpret the results of quantitative analyses in a layperson's terms and relate their implications to a client, as well as to analyze the standards and pricing structure of competing agencies and available subcontractors in a given market. 1st sem.
COM CM 831
International Communication
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Factors of international communication; cultural, economic, political, and social influences. Role of communication media in effecting social change in a wide variety of countries. 1st sem.
COM CM 901
Directed Studies
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of advisor and instructor. Supervised reading, fieldwork, or r esearch for student's specific needs. - Supervised reading, fieldwork, or research for student's specific needs. 2 or 4 cr.
COM CM 901S
DIRECTED STUDY
Var credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of advisor and instructor. Supervised reading, fieldwork, or r esearch for student's specific needs. - DIRECTED STUDY
COM CM 909
Thesis or Project Research
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor - Course credits slated for students writing a thesis.
COM CM 909E
THES/PRJ RESRCH
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor - THESIS RESEARCH
COM CM 909S
THESIS RESEARCH
4 credits. Summer
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor - THESIS RESEARCH
COM CO 101
The World of Communication: The Human Storyteller
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Corequisites: Students must have taken or be taking CAS WR120 or equivalent while ta king COM CO101. - Introduces students to many fundamental principles of communication. Students also learn about the intertwined nature of communication professions as they explore the major fields of study in communication. Guest lectures from various industries inform students of potential future career paths. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Digital/Multimedia Expression.
COM CO 101S
The World of Communication
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Corequisites: Students must have taken or be taking CAS WR120 or equivalent while ta king COM CO101. - Introduces students to many fundamental principles of communication. Students also learn about the intertwined nature of communication professions as they explore the major fields of study in communication. Guest lectures from various industries inform students of potential future career paths. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Digital/Multimedia Expression.
COM CO 145
COM Career Readiness
1 credits. Fall and Spring
This career readiness course will provide students with career development skills needed to enter a career in communication after graduation. Topics covered in this class include career resources, career exploration, LinkedIn, networking, resume writing, cover letter, interview preparation, and salary negotiation. This class fulfills CO575 credit.
COM CO 145S
COM Career Readiness
COM Career Readiness
COM Career Readiness
1 credits. Summer
This career readiness course will provide students with career development skills needed to enter a career in communication after graduation. Topics covered in this class include career resources, career exploration, LinkedIn, networking, resume writing, cover letter, interview preparation, and salary negotiation. This class fulfills CO575 credit.
COM CO 201
Introduction to Communication Writing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - The College of Communication's core undergraduate writing course. Students refresh their grammatical and stylistic skills and apply those skills to professional writing assignments. Prepares students to write with clarity, conciseness, precision, and accuracy for the communication fields. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy. (Students on the Hub cannot take WR100 as a pre-requisite.)
COM CO 201S
Introduction to Communication Writing
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or CAS WR 120) or equivalent. - This is the College of Communication's core undergraduate writing course. Students refresh their grammatical and stylistic skills and apply those skills to professional writing assignments. The course prepares students to write with clarity, conciseness, precision, and accuracy within communication fields. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy. (Students on the Hub cannot take CAS WR 100 as a prerequisite.)
COM CO 305
Photography Fundamentals
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course welcomes all students from the College of Communication as well as those throughout Boston University. In this course, students will learn traditional shooting and editing skills using a DSLR. Students can also use a smart phone and cloud-based editing to cover photo assignments. CO305 Photography Fundamentals covers: camera operation, image processing, image tagging, caption writing, and publishing. Assignments will be processed in black and white during the first half of the semester, color is introduced later in the course. We will cover the basics of file management and creating a photo portfolio. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
COM CO 305S
Photography Fundamentals
4 credits. Summer
Open to all students. Introduces students to traditional shooting and editing skills using a DSLR. Students can also use a smart phone and cloud-based editing to cover photo assignments. The course covers camera operation, image processing, image tagging, caption writing, and publishing. Assignments are processed in black and white during the first half of the course; color is introduced later. Students learn the basics of file management and creating a photo portfolio. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
COM CO 350E
Mass Media in Australia
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
Examines the development of Australian media phenomena, with special reference to current events. Introduces students to the media in Australia and to critical approaches to media studies through an account of the history of the various media and a consideration of contemporary media issues.
COM CO 452E
POL CAMP & COMM
4 credits. Summer
POL CAMP & COMM
COM CO 500
Directed Study
Var credits.
DIRECTED STUDY
COM CO 500S
DIRECTED STUDY
Var credits.
DIRECTED STUDY
COM CO 501
Communication Internship
1 credits. Fall and Spring
COM INTERNSHIP
COM CO 501S
Communication Internship
1 credits. Summer
COM INTERNSHIP
COM CO 520
Communication Co-op
0 credits. Fall and Spring
This course is a paid, full-time, 6-month undergraduate work opportunity, typically offered through the Boston Globe or another publication. Students are not allowed to be registered in academic courses while participating in the Co-op. Students are considered full-time and can live in University housing, but are not eligible for financial aid while participating. Due to visa requirements, it is not available to international students. Counts for CO575 undergraduate requirement.
COM CO 520E
Communication Co-op
0 credits. Fall and Spring
COM CO 532
Copyediting Fundamentals
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Part grammar lab and part editing workshop, Copyediting Fundamentals offers a deep dive into developing effective prose style for different areas, including reports, articles, essays, and press releases. Students get instruction in grammar, usage, and copyediting--beyond the AP Style Guide and across genres. The course provides an in-depth look at changes in usage over time and equips students with necessary skills for using various style guides or creating their own. Writers and editors across the university will gain an understanding of how closely their reputations are linked to clean copy. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Research and Information Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM CO 540
COM Core Special Topics
2 credits. Fall and Spring
Topics vary each semester.
COM CO 575
Communication Professional Experience
0 credits. Fall and Spring
COM PROF EXP
COM CO 575S
Communication Professional Experience
0 credits. Summer
COM PROF EXP
COM CO 576
Communication Professional Experience
Var credits. Fall and Spring
COM PROF EXP
COM CO 576S
Communication Professional Experience
Var credits. Summer
COM PROF EXP
COM CO 599S
Communication Internship
0 credits.
COM INTERNSHIP
COM CO 610
Science Storytelling
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course gives program participants experience in preparing information to engage and connect with multiple audiences, including both journalistic and promotional/persuasive communication.
COM CO 610S
Science Storytelling
4 credits. Summer
This course gives program participants experience in preparing information to engage and connect with multiple audiences, including both journalistic and promotional/persuasive communication.
COM CO 611
Engaging and Persuading Audiences
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course examines how humans perceive information and, in turn, how best to actively engage those audiences. A heavy focus will be placed on interpersonal and mass communication theories, evidence, and applications, including examples of effective campaigns from the areas of health, risk, and science communication.
COM CO 611S
Engaging and Persuading Audiences
4 credits. Summer
This course examines how humans perceive information and, in turn, how best to actively engage those audiences. A heavy focus will be placed on interpersonal and mass communication theories, evidence, and applications, including examples of effective campaigns from the areas of health, risk, and science communication.
COM CO 613
Transformative Data Storytelling
4 credits. Fall and Spring
We are surrounded by raw data from both primary and secondary sources. This course will focus on using this data to best share information with various audiences. A secondary component of this course will focus on making scientific information consumable by non-scientific audiences.
COM CO 613S
Transformative Data Storytelling
4 credits. Summer
We are surrounded by raw data from both primary and secondary sources. This course will focus on using this data to best share information with various audiences. A secondary component of this course will focus on making scientific information consumable by non-scientific audiences.
COM CO 614
Advocating Science
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Advocacy today is much more than just disseminating information. It involves the ability to collaborate with and persuade journalists, various publics, and policymakers to make informed, fact-based decisions and changes to behavior. Case studies and discussions in communication management and advocacy leadership will be a significant part of the course. Participants will gain practical experience in media training and engagement, public presentation (in-person, virtual, and mediated), and reciprocal communication.
COM CO 614S
Advocating Science
4 credits. Summer
Advocacy today is much more than just disseminating information. It involves the ability to collaborate with and persuade journalists, various publics, and policymakers to make informed, fact-based decisions and changes to behavior. Case studies and discussions in communication management and advocacy leadership will be a significant part of the course. Participants will gain practical experience in media training and engagement, public presentation (in-person, virtual, and mediated), and reciprocal communication.
COM CO 704
Teaching Techniques
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Required for and open only to COM CO 101 graduate teaching assistants. Designed to acquaint teaching assistants with strategies for effective teaching and equip them with techniques for conducting the basic undergraduate communication course. Students increase their proficiency in leading discussion sections, appraising student progress, and handling problem situations.
COM CO 706
Tutoring Techniques for COM Writers
1 credits. Fall and Spring
This tutoring course prepares selected COM graduate students to be effective writing tutors for all students, grad and undergrad, taking courses across all COM programs. The course will train tutors throughout their first semester as Writing Fellows in the WritingLab. While in the course, tutors will be actively working with students in the WritingLab, allowing them to practice and develop their tutoring methodology. The course will address a variety of aspects of tutoring, such as working with multilingual writers; learning to be flexible with different learning styles; honing their knowledge of different COM writing genres across the college¿s departments; and explaining various grammar rules and stylistic formats.
COM CO 990
Continuing Study
0 credits. Fall and Spring
CONTINUING STDY
COM CO 990S
Continuing Study
0 credits.
CONTINUING STDY
COM EM 700
Introduction to Emerging Media Studies
4 credits. Fall
Drawing on scientific research and relevant news & industry examples this course will examine topics related to new media and communication technologies. The first portion of the course will explore key dimensions related to new communication technology. The latter portion will include deep dives into particular media technologies (ranging from smart phones and laptops to newer, emerging media formats such as social games, mobile virtual reality, and wearable sensors), each characterized to varying extents by these dimensions. Throughout the course we will explore relevant theoretical concepts and processes related to new media and communication technologies. Along the way we will identify patterns of media usage and, in turn, review the psychological effects and social consequences of that usage. Additionally, we will consider the larger context in which these technologies -- and the means for empirically studying their use and effects -- have developed.
COM EM 747
Trending Insights: Social Data Analysis and Visualization
4 credits. Spring
This course familiarizes students with social -scientific methods for large scale data analysis and visualization, including the application of relevant user and concept networks, time and spatial models, sentiment mapping, and comparison of matrices. In addition, the use of germane software in emerging and digital media research is developed. Most importantly, however, this course has a dual structure where students learn to not only carry our advanced analyses of large datasets, they also engage with how to visually represent with a wide-ranging skillset to scrape data, mine data, and present data in fields of specific areas of inquiry.
COM EM 747S
Trending Insights
4 credits.
TRENDNG INSGHTS
COM EM 755
Measuring Media Effects
4 credits. Fall and Spring
EM 755 provides training in the logic, design, and implementation of experimental research methods for measuring media effects on individual users. The course includes a practicum component, in which students employ biometric research tools in the Communication Research Center (CRC) to conduct original research on the use and effects of emerging media technologies. To this end, the course will consist of a combination of regular class meetings and laboratory activity. By the end of this workshop course, students will have a sound understanding of the underlying rationale and purpose of experimental research and hands-on experience completing data collection and analysis related to media processing and effects.
COM EM 757
User-Producers 2.0: Developing Interactivity
4 credits. Fall and Spring
The shift in medial production toward dynamic user-production is harnessed in this class. Students will evaluate and critique prevailing practices in co- creative media output as well as become proficient in developing online media with cutting edge and open source software tools. Technical aspects of this class include HTML, CSS, and Wordpress, as well as audience interfaces and analytics.
COM EM 761
Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Specific issues in emerging media are brought into focus allowing for a thorough investigation. This course's content offers faculty and students an opportunity to explore the particular question. When the course is offered, the particular topic of focus will depend on the interests of faculty members, and will not be standardized.
COM EM 777
Masters Collaboratory Project
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This year long course introduces students to the theories, method and conventions of applied research in communication and the social sciences. It aims to do this through reading, practical applications and in-class discussions. Students will have the opportunity to work with local organization (the "project sponsor") in the Boston area to design and implement a research project. Throughout the process, students will work closely with their peers, the sponsor and the course instructors to develop the project and to evaluate work in progress.
COM EM 777S
Masters Collaboratory Project
4 credits. Summer
MASTERS COLLAB
COM EM 793
Psychology of Emerging Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course examines the psychological aspects of emerging media. Theories and empirical research from communication, psychology, and human-computer studies will be used to explore: psychological responses to new media technologies; uses and effects of technological features, such as agency, navigability, and modality, on users' thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; the nature and dynamic of interpersonal and group interaction when mediated by new media technologies; cognitive and emotional processing of new media; issues of source, self, and privacy altered by new media.
COM EM 797
Connecting Humans: Networks, History and Social Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course offers a critical survey of the cultural, social, and political impacts of emerging communication technologies, as they have advanced over time to contemporarily include online, mobile and social media. Special attention will be paid to networks and their relationship to the ways individuals, groups and organizations communicate within society. Our work here situates the changing nature of networks in media from broadcast network models to social network ones. As such, it is both historically informed and theoretically inclusive. An important component of study also incorporates an immersive social network experience as part of this class, which is to say that the class becomes its own online social network and students are peer collaborators.
COM EM 797S
Network History
4 credits. Summer
NTWK SOC MEDIA
COM EM 808
Upper-level Seminar
2 credits. Fall and Spring
The seminar will aim to enhance the core competencies in the areas of teaching, project management and leadership, communication, and self-awareness. Further, it will aim to add new perspectives in the areas of research skills and discipline-specific knowledge. Designed to develop and refine professional skills among graduate students. This course entails reflexive consideration of teaching practices and praxis, methods of professionalization, skills for success in the academic and non- academic intellectual environments, and effective self-presentation in higher- level settings. Additionally, on an intermittent basis, researchers and speakers from a variety of backgrounds present their views about research, theory, and professional achievement.
COM EM 831
Critical Studies, History and Philosophy of Emerging Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course develops a high level of sophistication for students in the emerging media studies field concerning critical studies of emerging media as well as philosophical perspectives on emerging media. It aims to do this through readings, in-class discussions and analytical writing assignments. Through group discussion and classroom lecturers and analysis, students will develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between critical approaches and philosophical and historical studies of emerging media. The merits and limitations of different methodological approaches and intellectual approaches are probed.
COM EM 831S
Critical Studies Media
4 credits. Summer
CRITICAL STUDY
COM EM 847
Time, Place & Social Data: Advanced Issues in Large Scale Analysis & Visualization
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course provides a specialized emphasis on data processing and predictive modeling through time series and panel regression modeling. In doing so, it trains students in advanced social-scientific methods for large-scale data analysis and visualization. This course also incorporates approaches that integrate the analysis and graphing of social data and corresponding networks using both time and spatial models.
COM EM 847S
Large Scale Analysis & Visualization
4 credits.
LRG-SCL ANLYSIS
COM EM 850
Advanced Communication Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Explore and discuss a range of classic communication theories and models through seminars. The enduring theme of the course is to use and advance the communication theories and models to explicate the emerging media uses and effects.
COM EM 855
Computer-Assisted Text Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Given the large volume of text data available in different social media sites, computer-assisted analysis has become extremely important in the field of media and communication, be it industry or academia. This course introduces students to several advanced approaches of computer-assisted text analysis, including semantic network analysis, sentiment analysis, topic modeling and text visualization. The objective of this course is to teach students to apply these methods to test/advance/develop theories or to solve real world problems. The focus of this course is on media and communication. Students can apply the knowledge and skills acquired to any social science research that deals with text-based data.
COM EM 855S
Computer-Assisted Text Analysis
4 credits. Summer
COMP TXT ANALYS
COM EM 861
Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Through this course, students can explore and deepen their understanding of various relevant topics in the field of emerging media studies. Offerings vary each semester.
COM EM 861S
Special Topics
4 credits. Summer
In this course, students will learn about the emerging field of internet studies. We begin the course by reading classic texts from the sociology of technology, highlighting theories and methods of science and technology studies from a range of critical perspectives. The main focus of the course will be a survey of contemporary books and articles engaging with the study of information and communication technologies. The final project for the course will include students designing and scripting a rigorously researched episode for a podcast series called ¿This is Internet Studies.¿
COM EM 877
Policy & Politics in Emerging Media Environments
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course focuses on government-media relations with a focus on the new frontier of media, and as such it largely examines the role of media in politics, policy formation and political campaigns. This is a seminar that attempts to acquaint you with studies of the relationship between politicians and journalists and other media professionals, the nature of news media coverage of politics and the effects of news coverage on the public and policy, with consideration given to a variety or national contexts and media environments.
COM EM 877S
Policy & Politics in Emerging Media
4 credits. Summer
PLCY&POLIT EMER
COM EM 888
Doctoral Collaboratory Project
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course, which takes place during years 1 and 2 of the PhD program, provides the student with a higher level of sophistication for students in the emerging media studies field in terms of the theories, methods, and conventions of applied research in communication and the social sciences. Emphasis is given to enhancing students' pedagogical and professional practices.
COM EM 888S
Doctoral Collaboratory Project
4 credits. Summer
DOC COLLAB PROJ
COM EM 889
Advanced Issues in Emerging Media Content Production
4 credits. Fall and Spring
The object of this course is to provide students with substantial theoretical training to understand and interpret the emerging media creation and co-creation activities. We will explore and discuss a range of contemporary theories and concepts, which cut across economical, sociological, cultural and psychological dimensions of analysis. Special attention will be paid to how collaboration takes part in content creation practices. Students are also encouraged to take a step forward developing their own concepts, models and theories to explain the emerging communication phenomena. The enduring theme of this course is to examine how new communication technologies affect the ways people create media content, and how that process changes our lives at the individual, institutional, and societal level.
COM EM 889S
Advanced Issues in Emerging Media
4 credits. Summer
ADV ISSUE IN EM
COM EM 901
Independent Study
Var credits.
By special arrangement, the student may work independently under the supervision of an EMS professor.
COM EM 901S
Independent Study
Var credits. Summer
IND STUDY
COM EM 902
Directed Study Emerging Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of advisor and instructor. This course is for PhD students who have completed all required coursework, prior to completion of their qualifying examination. Supervised reading or research for student's specific needs, particularly in addressing the qualifying examination. Directed studies EM 902, which offers four credits, is designed to provide an environment in which the doctoral student supervisor, aided by members of the student's qualifying committee, will oversee the reading and intellectual exploration of the doctoral student taking this course. One of the goals of this course is to assist the student in comprehending and assimilating major works of the field that are relevant to the doctoral- level qualifying examination. Regular class room meetings are not foreseen; rather it will be operated like an independent study course.
COM EM 902S
Directed Study Emerging Media
4 credits. Summer
DIRECTED STUDY
COM EM 909
Thesis Project
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Under the close supervision of a faculty member, Masters students will produce an original research publication that makes a contribution to the body of knowledge in the field.
COM EM 909S
Thesis Project
Var credits. Summer
THESIS PROJECT
COM EM 911
EMS Internship
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Under the supervision of a media professional, and monitored by a faculty member, students will make a contribution to an industry partner or other organization. This contribution might be in capacities that could include, but are not limited to, roles such as social media management, market research, and data analysis.
COM EM 911S
EMS Internship
Var credits. Summer
EMS INTERNSHIP
COM EM 993
Thesis Research
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of advisor. This course is only taken after the student has successfully passed their qualifying examination and has advanced to PhD candidacy. This research course is designed to provide the doctoral student with close supervision by the thesis advisor, aided by the thesis committee members, as the doctoral student pursues work on the dissertation. It is a 4 credit hour course which may be repeated.
COM EM 993S
Thesis Research
4 credits. Summer
THESIS RESEARCH
COM FT 099S
AMP SUM PROGRAM
0 credits. Summer
AMP SUM PROGRAM
COM FT 201
Screen Language: The Aesthetics, Grammar and Rhetoric of the Moving Image
4 credits. Fall and Spring
In this course, students study and practice the art and craft of expressing themselves persuasively through audio-visual media. The aim is both to familiarize students with the conventions of screen language and to test the validity of those norms. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
COM FT 201S
Screen Language: The Aesthetics, Grammar, and Rhetoric of the Moving Image
4 credits. Summer
Students study and practice the art and craft of expressing themselves persuasively through audio-visual media. The aim is both to familiarize students with the conventions of screen language and to test the validity of those norms. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
COM FT 250
Understanding Film
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Understanding Film introduces students to key aesthetic aspects of film. Students study a variety of historical and contemporary examples of fiction and nonfiction films that illustrate the expressive possibilities of image and sound. Students learn to analyze, explain and write about these formal elements. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking.
COM FT 250S
Understanding Film
4 credits. Summer
Introduces students to key aesthetic aspects of film. Students study a variety of historical and contemporary examples of fiction and nonfiction films that illustrate the expressive possibilities of image and sound. Students learn to analyze, explain, and write about these formal elements. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking.
COM FT 303
Understanding Television
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Critical Thinking Historical Consciousness
This course examines television (and its foundation in radio) as it emerged, stabilized as an aesthetic and technological form, interacted with other media, was regulated and deregulated, and was shaped by and shaped the culture around it. We will use the sitcom and soap opera genres as aesthetic through-lines for this study and examine their evolution in historical contexts. Throughout the semester, we focus on broadcasting's beginnings, expansion, establishment as the national, mass medium in America, and eventual fracturing into niches. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
COM FT 303S
Understanding Television
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Critical Thinking Historical Consciousness
Examines television (and its foundation in radio) as it emerged, stabilized as an aesthetic and technological form, interacted with other media, was regulated and deregulated, and was shaped by and shaped the culture around it. Uses the sitcom and soap opera genres as aesthetic through-lines for this study and examines their evolution in historical contexts. Throughout the semester, we focus on broadcasting's beginnings, expansion, establishment as the national mass medium in America, and eventual fracturing into niches. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
COM FT 304
Film Industry
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - A survey of current business trends in the motion picture industry. Focuses on script development; studio structure; agents, attorneys, and contracts; independent filmmaking; and distribution.
COM FT 310
Storytelling for Film & Television
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - An introduction to the art and craft of storytelling through the moving image. Particular emphasis will be given to writing short scripts. Topics covered include character development and narrative structure as it applies to shorts, features and episodic television. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
COM FT 310S
Storytelling for Film and Television
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - An introduction to the art and craft of storytelling through the moving image. Particular emphasis is given to writing short scripts. Topics covered include character development and narrative structure as it applies to shorts, features, and episodic television. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
COM FT 315E
HISTOFITALCINEM
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
HISTOFITALCINEM
COM FT 316E
The Impact of Film and Television in Modern Britain
4 credits.
Examines selected elements of British film, television and other broadcast media, marketing, promotions and new technologies. Students will study major trends and trans-Atlantic influences in media.
COM FT 317E
British Cinema and Society
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
Surveys the changing nature of modern British culture and society, using cinema as the main source of evidence. The course is theme-oriented, focusing on issues including social class, regionality and ethnicity, racism, gender and sexuality, youth culture, and popular culture. Students screen one or two films per class meeting and augment their understanding of cinematic themes with assigned reading.
COM FT 318E
BRIT TV STUDIES
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BRIT TV STUDIES
COM FT 325
Creative Producing 1
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - This course takes students through the process of creating non-fiction TV programming. Think talk shows, reality programs, and documentaries. How to create a concept, write a proposal, cast a program, and develop a marketing reason to do the program. It's all part and parcel of being a creative producer.
COM FT 325S
Creative Producing I
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - This course takes students through the process of creating non-fiction TV programming. Think talk shows, reality programs, and documentaries. How to create a concept, write a proposal, cast a program, and develop a marketing reason to do the program are all part and parcel of this class.
COM FT 340E
PRSS/MED/POL WE
4 credits.
PRSS/MED/POL WE
COM FT 344E
EUROPEAN CINEMA
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
EUROPEAN CINEMA
COM FT 345
Australian Cinema
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
An introduction to Australian cinema by examining the relationship between Australian social history, cultural history, art history, and cinema. In order to understand the "national" nature of Australian films, the course addresses two periods of film production: the first wave from the late 1910s, '20s, and '30s; and the restructuring of the film industry with the so-called new wave of the 1970s and '80s. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
COM FT 345E
Australian Cinema
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
An introduction to Australian cinema by examining the relationship between Australian social history, cultural history, art history, and cinema. In order to understand the "national" nature of Australian films, the course addresses two periods of film production: the first wave from the late 1910s, '20s, and '30s; and the restructuring of the film industry with the so-called new wave of the 1970s and '80s.
COM FT 352E
FILM PROD/VIDEO
4 credits.
FILM PROD/VIDEO
COM FT 353
Production 1
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT201) with a grade of B- or higher - An intensive course in all the fundamental aspects of motion picture production. Students learn to use cameras, sound recording equipment and editing software and then apply these skills to several short productions. The course emphasizes the language of visual storytelling and the creative interplay of sound and image.
COM FT 353S
Production I
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT201) with a grade of B- or higher - An intensive course in all the fundamental aspects of motion picture production. Students learn to use cameras, sound recording equipment, and editing software and then apply these skills to several short productions. Emphasizes the language of visual storytelling and the creative interplay of sound and image.
COM FT 401
Romantic Comedies and Melodramas
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - This class will view and discuss romantic comedies and domestic melodramas made in Hollywood in the 1930's and 1940's. these films were some of the most popular and culturally significant of their time, involving many of the era's best screenwriters and directors and most prominent stars. The films set standards for dialogue writing, rich characterization, film performance and story structure.
COM FT 402
Production II
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: FT353 with a grade of B- or higher and one of the following: FT502 or FT508 or FT526 or FT565 or FT592 or FT 593 - Intermediate motion picture production with an emphasis on narrative storytelling, high definition cinematography, sync-sound location recording, and multi-track editing. Students develop, produce, direct, shoot, record and edit medium-length productions that are of film festival quality, and which can be incorporated into highlight and demo reels. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM FT 409E
BR MDIA/CULT/SO
4 credits.
BR MDIA/CULT/SO
COM FT 411
Screenwriting 1
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT310) - Developing your first feature-length narrative screenplay; creation of characters, narrative outline, and scenes. . Each student will create a step outline, develop a treatment and write the first act of a feature- length screenplay. First draft screenplay pages will be discussed in class, and will be revised for the final project. Students will be advised to either work on a major rewrite of Act One or go deeper into Act Two, while outlining the remainder of the story. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
COM FT 412
Screenwriting 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT411) - Further study of narrative screenwriting, dramatic structure, and character development. Each student will develop and write a full feature-length screenplay. First draft materials will be discussed in class and will be revised for the final project.
COM FT 415
Screening Ireland
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Teamwork/Collaboration Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASWR120) - Ireland has a rich history of media production, stretching back to the early twentieth century and more recently has become a hub of animation, digital games and other 'new media'. Through the combination of critical theory and media praxis, this course will provide not only an introduction to screen media in Ireland but will also train students to be the next generation of influential media producers that shape public discourse. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive, Aesthetic Exploration, Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM FT 415E
IRISH FILM/TV
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Teamwork/Collaboration Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASWR120) - SCR'INGIRELAND
COM FT 417
TV Management
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course will examine current management and leadership issues facing television executives. Research, content development, revenue models, consolidation, regulatory restrictions, distribution and ethical considerations are explored using lectures, readings/screenings, case studies, and discussion.
COM FT 420S
Writing the Fiction to Film Adaptation
4 credits. Summer
Prereq: COM FT411 or completion of feature film screenplay. Explores the fundamentals of adapting prose fiction into narrative feature films through analysis of contemporary American film adaptations. Following the analysis component of the course, students design their own adaptation--treatment and set of pages-- based on a short story. Lecture/discussions, screenings, student presentations and workshops.
COM FT 425
Creative Producing 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Course takes the student through the process of creating a fictional program or film. The course covers comedy and drama series and movies-of -the week from development through production and post-production. The student learns the complexities of the industry, the layers of decision makers to be dealt with, the place of agents, the nature of negotiation, and the fundamentals of hiring crews, scheduling and budgeting.
COM FT 428
Creating New Ideas With Existing Content
4 credits. Fall
Introduces students to the tools and techniques used to produce multi-platform content. Students learn multimedia concepts, elements, and production to extend the brands of properties and to attract new audiences. Training in the use of computer-based hardware and software for multimedia creation. 4 cr. Fall/spring
COM FT 428S
Transmedia Producing
4 credits. Summer
You're a huge fan of Mad Men, but do you have an app for that' How about developing an interactive experience for your favorite feature film' This course analyzes the how and why of developing content for new distribution platforms. Also creates new audience experiences using popular films, TV, music, etc.
COM FT 430
Producing the Short Script
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Developing a producible student film begins with a solid short screenplay that takes all parameters into account. Students will watch, analyze, and discuss successful short films while examining screenplay structure, plot, genre, theme, and character. Based upon short film analysis, feedback received during workshops, and one-on- one consults with the professor, students will write and revise two short screenplays (under10 pages & 10-15 pages). Students will be expected to have a firm grasp on narrative structure, character development, and cinematic storytelling. Final body of work will be two polished scripts that could potentially be produced either independently or within one of The Department of Film & Television's advanced production courses (i.e. Prod. II - FT 402 or Prod. III - FT 468). Pre-req FT310
COM FT 438E
TALENT REP
4 credits. Fall and Spring
TALENT REP
COM FT 454
Pitch to Pilot
4 credits. Fall and Spring
First class in a series which will culminate in a collaborative project with CFA to produce a live action sitcom pilot, to be filmed at the Booth theater in Spring 2023. This is a writing class. more information in the FTV newsletter or email filmtv@bu.edu. Pre-req FT 512 or FT 522
COM FT 454S
Special Topics
4 credits.
Online offering. Topic for summer 2021: Super Heroes in Film. Focusing on films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), this course explores the thematic and aesthetic aspects that have made super hero films so popular. Students learn and utilize basic film studies terminology (the close-up, the long take, cross- cutting, etc.) in order to understand how filmmakers create meaning through the use of specific cinematic techniques. In addition, the course contextualizes MCU films by explaining how each has operated within Marvel's cinematic history and its competition with DC. Taking the films themselves and their historical context into consideration, students are introduced to a basic understanding of the field of film studies and the types of analyses those working in the field undertake.
COM FT 455
Special Topics
Var credits. Fall and Spring
SPECIAL TOPICS
COM FT 458
International Masterworks
4 credits.
An eclectic and unsystematic survey of a small number of the supreme masterworks of international film created by some of the greatest artists of the past eighty years. The focus in on cinematic style. What does style do' Why are certain cinematic presentations highly stylized' What is the difference from realistic, representational work' We will consider the special ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling that highly stylized works of art create and devote all of our attention to the function of artistic style and form to create new experiences and ways of thinking and feeling.
COM FT 460S
Super Heroes in Film
4 credits. Summer
Online Offering. Focusing on films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), this course explores the thematic and aesthetic aspects that have made super hero films so popular. Students learn and utilize basic film studies terminology (the close-up, the long take, cross-cutting, etc.) in order to understand how filmmakers create meaning through the use of specific cinematic techniques. In addition, the course contextualizes MCU films by explaining how each has operated within Marvel's cinematic history and its competition with DC. Taking the films themselves and their historical context into consideration, students are introduced to a basic understanding of the field of film studies and the types of analyses those working in the field undertake.
COM FT 466
MASTR CLSS/PROD
4 credits. Fall and Spring
SPECIAL TOPICS
COM FT 466S
SPECIAL TOPICS
4 credits. Summer
SPECIAL TOPICS
COM FT 468
Production 3
8 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT402) application required - This is an honors thesis class for undergraduates who have taken Production II as well as other high-level production classes, such as Directing, Cinematography, Sound Design, Motion Picture Editing, etc. Students apply to the class as either as producers, directors, cinematographers, editors, sound designers and production designers. Directors submit scripts for consideration. The production faculty then selects eight directors, based on the scripts and each candidate's previous work. Faculty then selects the producers, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, and production designers based on their previous production work and their ability to work as members of a team. The class forms production teams to make eight thesis- quality films that can compete with the best student films in America. Maximum running time for each film is fifteen minutes. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM FT 491
Directed Studies
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - Individual projects; opportunity for advanced students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
COM FT 491E
Directed Studies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - DIRECTED STUDY
COM FT 491S
Directed Studies
Var credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - Individual, supervised study for advanced students wishing to undertake a screenplay or research project, or to develop an in-depth reading program.
COM FT 492
Directed Studies
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - Individual projects; opportunity for advanced students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
COM FT 492E
Directed Studies
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - DIRECTED STUDY
COM FT 492S
Directed Studies
Var credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - This is an opportunity for students to get hand-on experience with a film or television internship for summer credit. The department of Film and Television department internship office has many terrific summer internships available to qualified students. Internships are located in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and throughout the country at companies like MTV, Miramax, FilmColony, ESPN, local television stations, etc. Open to Juniors and Seniors with a least a 3.0 g.p.a. in their major. Visiting students must submit a copy of their transcript for approval.
COM FT 493
Internship
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing, a 3.0 GPA for COM courses, completion of COM FT 201 & COM FT 310. This includes Film/TV internships through abroad programs - Opportunity for students to gain professional experience at television and radio stations, film and video production houses, and other media institutions. Responsibilities vary. Availability depends on market needs.
COM FT 493E
Internship
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing, a 3.0 GPA for COM courses, completion of COM FT 201 & COM FT 310. This includes Film/TV internships through abroad programs - INTRN FLM/TV/RD
COM FT 493S
Internship
Var credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing, a 3.0 GPA for COM courses, completion of COM FT 201 & COM FT 310. This includes Film/TV internships through abroad programs - This is an opportunity for students to get hand-on experience with a film or television internship for summer credit. The department of Film and Television department internship office has many terrific summer internships available to qualified students. Internships are located in Boston New York Los Angeles and throughout the country at companies like MTV Miramax FilmColony ESPN local television stations etc. Open to Juniors and Seniors with a least a 3.0 g.p.a. in their major. Visiting students must submit a copy of their transcript for approval.
COM FT 494
Internship 2
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing, a 3.0 GPA for COM courses, completion of COM FT 201 & COM FT 310. This includes Film/TV internships through abroad programs - Opportunity for students to gain professional experience at television and radio stations, film and video production houses, and other media institutions. Responsibilities vary. Availability depends on market needs.
COM FT 494E
Internship 2
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing, a 3.0 GPA for COM courses, completion of COM FT 201 & COM FT 310. This includes Film/TV internships through abroad programs - INTRN FLM/TV/RD
COM FT 494S
Undergraduate Internship 2
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing, a 3.0 GPA for COM courses, completion of COM FT 201 & COM FT 310. This includes Film/TV internships through abroad programs - This is an opportunity for students to get hands-on experience with a film or television internship for summer credit. The department of Film and Television internship office has many terrific summer internships available to qualified students. Internships are located in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and throughout the country at companies like MTV, Miramax, FilmColony, ESPN, local television stations, etc. Visiting students must submit a copy of their transcript for approval. Internships may be taken for either two or four credits.
COM FT 500
Writing Film Criticism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course examines the art of film and television criticism and gives students extensive practice in writing about film and TV in a way that balances informed, insightful analysis and lively writing. Students write several film and TV reviews, each covering a different type of film or TV show, as well as a longer think piece. Students will review films currently playing in local theaters and TV shows currently available on broadcast, cable or other internet platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and the like. Key critics discussed include James Agee, Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert, Emily Nussbaum, Matt Zoller Seitz, Anthony Lane, Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking.
COM FT 501E
DESIGN THINKING
4 credits. Fall and Spring
DESIGN THINKING
COM FT 502
Sound Design for Film and Television
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - A comprehensive technical examination of the role of sound as an emotional motivator and major storytelling component in both fiction and nonfiction films. Covers location sound recording, acoustic theory, track building, foley and dialog replacement, and mix preparation, as well as music editing and composition. Introduces a variety of postproduction pathways and technologies, including current digital innovations in the field and in audio postproduction, and provides an ongoing workshop for solving editing and track building problems.
COM FT 503
Video Games: Industry and Culture
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Once a niche industry, gaming has grown into a dominant force in entertainment, generating billions of dollars annually and shaping global culture, with a projected 3.3 billion players worldwide by 2025. While games are primarily known for entertainment, gaming technologies, aesthetics, and design principles are also widely applied in teaching, training, and driving social impact. This class explores the history and evolving landscape of gaming, examining the industry’s ecosystem, player communities, technologies, genres, business models, and global trends. Students will gain an understanding of the video game industry, including its key players, challenges, and opportunities, while exploring the fundamental concepts of games, play, and fun. They will also learn about game design, production, technology, branding, and franchise development, with hands-on opportunities to pitch and design game-related products, services, and brand extensions.
COM FT 504
Television Post Production Workflows and Techniques
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - This course is a survey of television post production workflows, tools, and techniques. The student will leave the class with a broad understanding of the various post production roles and responsibilities beginning with the Digital Imaging Technician and Assistant Editor, moving on to Colorist, and concluding with the Animator/Graphic Designer roles. The tools used are Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Media Encoder, Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe After effects. Familiarity with Premiere Pro is required. Familiarity with Photoshop and Illustrator is helpful but not required.
COM FT 505
Real World Productions
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) a 3.0 COM GPA - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) a 3.2 COM GPA - Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM FT 353; a 3.0 COM GPA Graduate Prerequisites: COM FT 707; a 3.2 COM GPA This is a class that operates as a student-run, client- driven production company. Projects include PSA's and web videos for local, national, and international non- profits. GPA of 3.0 or higher. 4 credits only. Application only. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU HUB area: Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM FT 505S
Real World Productions
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) a 3.0 COM GPA - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) a 3.2 COM GPA - Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM FT 353; a 3.0 COM GPA Graduate Prerequisites: COM FT 707; a 3.2 COM GPA This is a class that operates as a student-run, client- driven production company. Projects include PSA's and web videos for local, national, and international non- profits. GPA of 3.0 or higher. 4 credits only. Application only. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU HUB area: Teamwork/Collaboration.
COM FT 507
Television Studio Production
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT201) COM FT 201 or Instructor Consent - Course presents the requisite strategies, processes, technology, and skills training to successfully create live multi-camera productions. Emphasizes the roles and responsibilities of the director and producer. Intended outcome is for students to demonstrate proficiency in the academic, practical, and professional components established for the course. 4 cr, either sem.
COM FT 508
Line Producing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: FT353 - Any film- even a very short one- requires the making of thousands of decisions. How long do we shoot' How many mouths do we feed' How much will the props cost' This course offers systems for arriving at intelligent answers to these myriad questions. In covering logistics of getting a media production made, the course addressed how to catalog all the practical considerations that go into a production, how to schedule a shoot, how to budget a production and how to plan for distribution of the final product.
COM FT 509
Broadcasting Horror
4 credits. Fall
This seminar analyzes horror across radio, podcasting, broadcast, cable, and streaming outlets. In addition to studying horror as a genre with recurring anxieties and themes, this class engages with style as a strategy for creating horror in subtle and overdetermined ways.
COM FT 510
Social Activism Documentary
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - This course explores how documentary can be used as a tool for social change. A hybrid of studies and production, the class will be dually-devoted to looking at films that have successfully instigated change (social, corporate, political, etc.), and making socially-conscious, activism oriented films that tell stories about important issues in the local Boston community. It will take a three-pronged approach towards these objectives: 1. Documentary filmmaking techniques and practices 2. Social activism documentary theory and application 3. Local activism and community-based learning within the Boston community
COM FT 512
Writing Episodic Drama for Television
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT310) - Deals with the process and techniques of writing a dramatic series for commercial network and cable television. Students will select a current prime-time drama, develop A, B, and (possibly) C stories for an episode, and complete a Writer's Draft and polished First Draft, suitable for a Writer Portfolio. Lectures will include the life of a working television writer, one-hour story, structure, genres, and character development. We will view and analyze TV series from the past and present, and focus on proper drama script format, character development and voice.
COM FT 512S
Writing Episodic Drama
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT310) - Studies the process and techniques of writing a dramatic series for commercial network and cable television. Students choose a current series and pitch story ideas, write a short Treatment, a detailed Outline and a complete Spec Script for the series they have chosen.
COM FT 513
Global Queer Cinema
4 credits. Fall
The course is an overview of contemporary global queer cinema. We survey a cross-section of films engaging with various aspects of contemporary queer lives around the globe. The course is organized in a sequence of sections relating to diverse facets of queer worldmaking and to the trope of mobility, which is explored in its various bodily, material, philosophical, and metaphorical dimensions.
COM FT 514
Writing the Television Pilot
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 OR COMFT522) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 OR COMFT522) - Prereq FT 512 or FT 522. "Writing the TV Drama (or dramedy) Pilot," explores the creation and development of your very own "one-hour" Television Series Pilot. Each student will pitch a concept, write a treatment, outline and pilot script. Also, you'll create a "leave behind" document, which will consist of an overview of your series, complete with character descriptions, future episode ideas and much more. We will closely examine the ingredients of a pilot script through lectures, script analyses of successful pilots, written assignments and group workshops.
COM FT 514S
Writing the Television Pilot
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 OR COMFT522) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 OR COMFT522) - Explores the development and creation of the television series pilot. Each student pitches a concept and writes a treatment and a finished pilot script for an original series, either comedy or drama. Emphasis on premise, story structure, characterization, and originality. Lectures, screenings, script readings, written assignments, and critiques.
COM FT 515
International TV
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Survey of telecommunications in various nations; analysis of the impact of cultural, economic, demographic, and political factors on both their internal and external operation. Also explored is the dynamic international telecommunications field, its impact on understanding and commerce between nations, and its meaning for the United States.
COM FT 516
Writing The Sitcom Pilot
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 or FT522) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 or FT522) - Got a funny idea for a show' Let's see if it has legs. In "Writing the Comedy Pilot," students will develop an original concept for their own half-hour, TV comedy series. This includes pitching their idea, writing a beat sheet, an outline and the pilot script. We will also create a "leave behind" pitching document that will include an overview of your series, character bios, loglines for future episodes and much more. We'll screen pilot episodes, read produced pilot scripts and see why some worked and some didn't. Then we'll do some other things.
COM FT 518
Media Money Trail
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course examines the critical financial and strategic challenges that businesses face whether they are in start-up, expansion, or exit mode. Students will use case studies to delve into the lives of the founders and CEOs of some of the world's most innovative and enduring brands and industry game-changers. We'll delve into each company's business model(s) and learn why some evolve to become industry gold standards while others fail.
COM FT 518S
Media Money Trail
4 credits. Summer
This course examines the critical financial and strategic challenges that businesses face whether they are in start-up, expansion, or exit mode. Students will use case studies to delve into the lives of the founders and CEOs of some of the world's most innovative and enduring brands and industry game-changers. We'll delve into each company's business model(s) and learn why some evolve to become industry gold standards while others fail.
COM FT 519
Storyboarding
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Storyboards are essentially ʻdirecting on paper.ʼ They are the blueprint for live action or animation projects. This fun yet in-depth course teaches the fundamental skills needed to create dynamic storyboards and animatics (moving storyboards), skills that are crucial for filmmakers 2D & 3D animators and motion graphic designers. Storyboard Artists must think like a director, cinematographer storyteller and artist, yet you donʼt need to be any of those to take this course. Through progressive lessons youʼll learn visual storytelling, scene composition, timing, and transitions, camera angles, and cinema-graphic language. We cover basic drawing with Adobe Animate CC, color, perspective, character design, acting, and action poses. Youʼll complete numerous projects for your portfolio and demo reel.
COM FT 520
Television Studies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - As an omnipresent site of entertainment and information, "reality" and fantasy, "quality" and "trash," and commerce and the public interest, television requires an active, critical analysis of its texts, uses, and production of meaning. Students in this class will engage in such analysis, confronting television as a rich and contradictory site of entertainment, culture, politics, ideology, and signs. This discussion driven seminar sets aside evaluative considerations of TV in favor of theoretical and critical approaches that challenge widespread assumptions about the medium and expand our understanding of its role in our lives. These approaches, which constitute some of the dominant frameworks in Television Studies, include analyses of culture, industry, narrative, genre, images and sounds, liveness, and the television schedule. This course fulfills the additional TV Studies course requirement. Pre-req: FT303.
COM FT 521
Promoting Your Content Online
4 credits. Spring
The course teaches students how to market their creative content online. Students will learn how to identify targeted marketing and distribution platforms for new websites, pilots, video channels and series, blogs, etc. and how to use social media to find an audience, generate buzz and identify potential funding sources. Students will also learn practical entrepreneurial tools needed to organize their creative work as a business venture.
COM FT 521S
Promoting Your Content Online
4 credits.
Teaches students how to market their creative works online. Students learn to identify targeted marketing and distribution platforms for new websites, pilots, video channels, series, and blogs. Explores how to use social media to find an audience, generate buzz, and identify potential funding sources. Students also learn practical entrepreneurial tools needed to organize their creative work as a business venture.
COM FT 522
Writing Television Situation Comedy Scripts
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT310) - Intense writing workshop learning how to write professional sitcom scripts. Elements of character, dramatic story structure, how comedy is created, how scenes build and progress a story, formal story outlines, dialogue, the business of sitcom writing, pitching, arc, comedic premise are analyzed. The class becomes a sitcom writing team for a current hit series and writes an original class spec script to understand the process of group writing employed on most sitcoms. Also, students write their own personal spec scripts with individual conferences with the professor.
COM FT 522S
Writing Television Situation Comedy Scripts
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT310) - Intense writing workshop that teaches how to write professional sitcom scripts. Elements of character, dramatic story structure, how comedy is created, how scenes build and progress a story, formal story outlines, dialogue, the business of sitcom writing, pitching, arc, and comedic premise are analyzed. The class becomes a sitcom writing team for a current hit series and writes an original class spec script to understand the process of group writing employed on most sitcoms. Also, students write their own personal spec scripts with individual conferences with the professor.
COM FT 523
American Cinema to 1960
4 credits. Fall
This course offers a survey of American film history from the beginnings to 1960. The course is intended to help students familiarize themselves with key works of American film history from the beginnings to 1960. As it is impossible to cover this period comprehensively, the course represents a selection of major topics and artists that is supposed to provide students with a basic framework for future studies in American film. *Undergrad pre-req: FT250
COM FT 524
International Cinema
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course exposes students to a wide range of narrative, stylistic, and representational approaches in the film medium across the globe. Its broad, transnational, and transhistorical scope invites explorations of films and filmmakers seldom studied in traditional film history and offers students an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the many levels on which film creation and film reception operate. This course is designed to help emerging filmmakers locate their own craft and creative impulses among historical and stylistic cinematic traditions and to guide emerging film scholars to challenge gaps and silences produced in traditional film history. As such, it encourages students to contemplate their own responsibilities as storytellers, directors, producers, critics, and scholars of cinema. The course material aims to raise the question of what can be gained and learned from appreciating, analyzing, and discussing a diverse group of films from distinct cultures and time periods and to destabilize traditional canons of World Cinema. *Undergrad pre-req: FT250
COM FT 526
Directing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Students learn all aspects of directing, with particular emphasis given to script analysis and working with actors. The director's involvement in blocking action, composing shots, managing the production process and editing are also covered. Acting experience is helpful but not required.
COM FT 526S
Directing
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Students learn all aspects of directing, with particular emphasis given to script analysis and working with actors. The director's involvement in blocking action, composing shots, managing the production process and editing are also covered. Acting experience is helpful but not required.
COM FT 527
Crowdfunding and Distribution
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: FT201 - Whether you're producing web series, long or short format fiction, documentaries or video games, media makers are expected to build and develop their own audience, as well as raise the funds necessary to produce and get their work out in the world. In other words, a media maker must be more than just a creator. To be truly successful, you must also become a creative entrepreneur. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Oral and/or Signed Communication.
COM FT 528
Fundamentals of Interactive Media
4 credits. Spring
This course examines the history, evolution, and current scope of interactive media from the perspective of design, theory, business, technology, and impact. Global trends, patterns, and themes are identified and discussed within the context in which they are created and experienced.
COM FT 529
MICHAEL HANEKE
4 credits. Fall and Spring
MICHAEL HANEKE
COM FT 530
Nollywood/Bollywood
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course explores how Indian, West African, and North African filmmakers have responded to their countries' colonial histories. Examining a range of films, including musicals, dramas, and action films, this course attends to politics, aesthetics, and cultural and industrial history.
COM FT 531
Feminist TV Studies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergrad Pre-req FT 303 The men who crafted television--mostly broadcasting and advertising executives--rooted it firmly within the domestic realm. That is one reason why television is branded a feminized medium. What, then, of the women who circulate around and within it' How are they feminized' How have television texts represented women' How has the television industry conceptualized female viewers and female-oriented programming' In what genres have women dominated' How have race and class intersected with gender on television' Feminist Television Studies is a discussion-driven seminar designed to introduce students to the various ways in which television institutions have located and defined women and femininity. Using feminist television scholarship and its multiple methodologies, we will analyze specific television programs, time periods, and genres and formulate arguments about the complicated relationship between women and television.
COM FT 533
Producing the Social Purpose Short
4 credits. Spring
Film is both an art and one of the most powerful communication tools available. In this class, students will produce impactful narrative fiction short films that challenge thought, inspire conversation, and engage meaningfully with the pressing issues of the day. Graduate MFA writer/directors are chosen based on scripts developed in FT 720 Writing the Social Purpose Short. Undergraduate and graduate students who did not take FT 720 may apply to the class as producers, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, ADs, or production designers. The class will form production teams dedicated to the creation of exceptional short films for festival submission. Students will gain hands-on production experience, as well as high level instruction in directing, producing, and narrative technique.
COM FT 534
Critical TV Industry Studies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - Whether you want to work in the television industry or focus your research on it, your connection to it will be incomplete without a critical interrogation of its history and processes. Tv industry studies is a scholarly reading and discussion-driven seminar that conceptualizes the u.s. television industry as a complex site of negotiation between producers and audiences, labor and management, creativity and commerce, and government and corporations. Whereas other television studies courses might privilege the intricacies at work within specific programs or genres, this class asks students to locate those programs within the broader context of a capitalist media system.
COM FT 535
Film Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Focuses on a particular director (Godard, Hitchcock, Altman, Losey, Bergman, etc.), period, or style (film noir, suspense), and studies how meaning is structured and perceived in the screen image. Includes viewing and analysis of narrative strategies in selected films.
COM FT 536
Film Theory and Criticism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Undergraduate pre-req: FT250 - An introduction to classical and contemporary film and media theory. Topics include montage theory, realism, structuralism, post-structuralism, semiotics, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, and cultural studies. The course includes screenings of films that have contributed to critical debate and those that challenge theoretical presuppositions.
COM FT 538
City in Film
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course explores the relationship between the moving image and urban spaces in the 20th and early 21st century. We initially focus on a subgenre of avant-garde film and experimental media, the city film, which includes the European ¿City Symphonies¿ of the 1920s and numerous examples of experimental shorts made about the city in the big metropolises of the West. We continue into the post-World War II era with films rendering the impact of the war on European cities through the stylistic paradigms of realism and expressionism. The second half of the course focuses on narrative features and experimental (often digital) documentaries portraying life in cities around the globe.
COM FT 539E
PROF PROD METHO
4 credits. Fall and Spring
PROF PROD METHO
COM FT 540
Screenplay as Dramatic Literature
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Screenplays may be read as literature as well as be produced as films. In this course the literary and dramatic art of the screenplay is analyzed, and the screenplay as a form is perceived to be nothing less than a little brother to stage play.
COM FT 541
TV Genres
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - This class uses fan studies and genre studies approaches to critically analyze the ways that fan practices have shaped and been shaped by the television industry as well as how fans have used their position to influence the norms of television. We will focus on genres with extremely active and integral fandoms and how they are similar or distinct: science fiction/fantasy, melodrama/soap operas, and sports.
COM FT 542
Advanced Screenwriting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT412) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT713) - The student will write a first-draft screenplay and two sets of revisions. In addition to participating in weekly discussions on aspects of screenwriting that are tailored to student needs, each student will complete and revise a full length motion-picture screenplay. 4cr.
COM FT 543
Television Situational Comedy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - The American television situation comedy has been an enormously popular and powerful art form. This course traces the growth of the sitcom genre from the beginnings in the early 1950's up to the present time and analyzes how American life has been influenced by it. We look at how sitcoms affected popular perception of working class, race, ethnicity, idealized family life and then the growth of different family structures, fantasy and war. We study how sitcoms initially portrayed women and then the emerging changes in response to the feminist movement. We analyze Norman Lear's series which talked about the real things Americans were saying but in the privacy of their homes and the revolution that his series created. Finally we examine anti-family satire and take a close look at contemporary single life, both straight and gay.
COM FT 543S
TV Comedy
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - The American television situation comedy has been an enormously popular and powerful art form. This course is an historical analysis of the medium, tracing the growth and changes from the beginnings in the late 1940s up to the present times. We study the genre to see how it both influenced American life and was influenced by it.
COM FT 544
Documentary Production
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - This course is designed to develop skills necessary for producing long-form documentaries. There is an emphasis on exploring new, more engaging forms of storytelling and a broad range of stylistic approaches. It covers the entire process: finding a topic, developing a story structure, conceiving a style, shooting, editing, and post-production. Students develop their own ideas and form small groups to produce them.
COM FT 545
Television and Childhood
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Children represent an important target for mediated messages. However, there are important rules, ethics and differences we should keep in mind when creating content for this audience. In this class, we will consider the effects messages have on behavior and development in younger populations. We will also consider design and programming decisions that influence these effects.
COM FT 546
New German Cinema
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course surveys German cinema from the post-World War II period to the present. We will use the concept of national cinema as a way of investigating the relationship between films and various constructs of "the nation" through specific time periods, including the 1950s period of West German economic reconstruction, the 1960s and 70s rebellion of West German "New Wave" filmmakers against Papa's Kino (Daddy's cinema), the development of film in East Germany during the same period, the impact of German reunification on the film industry, and the cinema of a reunified Germany in relation to transnationalism and globalization. Subject areas include Germany's Nazi past and the Holocaust, capitalism vs. East German communism, art cinema vs. commercial cinema, the relationship to the U.S., feminist and queer cinema, and multiculturalism. Directors include Helmut K'utner, Alexander Kluge, Werner Herzog, R. W. Fassbinder, Ulrike Ottinger, Werner Schroeter, Helke Sander, Helma Sanders-Brahms, Margarete von Trotta, Wolfgang Petersen, Valeska Griesebach, Angela Schanelec, and Christian Petzold.
COM FT 547
Avant Garde Cinema
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - A survey of global avant-garde film and experimental media from the 1920s to the present. We will explore film, video, and digital video as mediums of unadulterated artistic expression resulting in daring, experimental forms and controversial contents. The course covers 1920s and early 30s high modernist cinema of "isms" (Dadaism, Surrealism, Impressionism), Transatlantic and international currents after World War Two including trance film, underground film, structuralism, and "psychedelic expanded cinema of split and multiscreen films (Kenneth Anger, Andy Warhol, Michael Snow, Peter Kubelka, Rudy Burckhardt), 1970s video art including feminist and gay/lesbian filmmakers, X-rated Europeans (Kren and the Vienna Secessionists) and international "trash" cinema auteurs, the digital video avant-garde, masters of found footage cinema, queer digital media, recent transnational trends. Disclaimer: Some of the films shown in this course contain sexually explicit and graphic bodily acts.
COM FT 549
The Profane
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Explores a wide variety of topics concerning censorship, feminist theory, feminism, psychoanalytical theories, pornography, voyeurism, repression, homosexuality, rape, body image, and national identities as exemplified through a large selection of films considered "Profane"/scandalous/ "X-rated", touching upon uncanny regions in which one is "never at home". Further discussion will include an examination of the cultural and historical factors that serve as background for the themes explored and presented in the selected films.
COM FT 551
Special Topics in Television Studies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Prerequisite: COMFT303 - Topics vary per semester. FT551 can fulfill the Undergraduate Additional Studies requirement..
COM FT 552
Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Relevant topics in Film and Television. Course information and descriptions sent out in the FTV newsletter. Email filmtv@bu.edu for more information.
COM FT 552E
Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Special Topics
COM FT 552S
Special Topics
4 credits.
Relevant topics in Film and Television. Course information and descriptions sent out in the FTV newsletter. Email filmtv@bu.edu for more information.
COM FT 553
Special Topics in Media Studies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Topics vary per semester.
COM FT 553E
Special Topics in Media Studies
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: . - SPECIAL TOPICS
COM FT 553S
Special Topics in Media Studies
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: . - Topic for Summer 2015: Gangster Films. This course studies the rise of the gangster film in America and its growth as a genre. We examine the conventions of the genre, drawing on early classic gangster films, and then discuss how later gangster films complicated those conventions. The course looks at gangster films in pairs, to see how similar material and themes have been handled at different points in film history. For example, we look at both versions of Scarface (1932 and 1983) to see how the Al Capone figure in each film reflected the social and political context of each film's era as well as the stylistic inclinations of the directors, Howard Hawks and Brian DePalma. As a film studies elective, this course emphasizes gangster films' historical, sociological, and stylistic importance. We look at the role of particular directors, actors, writers and producers (and real gangsters) in the genre's rich history. While not required, a background in film analysis, as taught in Understanding Film (FT 250) and in other film studies-oriented courses, is helpful.
COM FT 554
Special Topics in International Studies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Topics vary per semester. FT554 can fulfill the Undergraduate Additional Studies requirement. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression. Effective Summer 2025, this course carry's no Hub requirements.
COM FT 554E
Special Topics
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: only when specified. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression. Effective Summer 2025, this course carry's no Hub requirements.
COM FT 554S
Special Topics in International Studies
4 credits.
Topics vary. For summer course descriptions, please visit: /summer/courses/film-television/. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression. Effective Summer 2025, this course carry's no Hub requirements.
COM FT 555
Advanced Documentary Production
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Prerequisites: COMFT 544 or instructor permission. - This course will refine the technical skills and aesthetic sensibility learned in FT544 Documentary Production. In this advanced production course, students may continue or expand a project started in FT544, with the aim of creating a festival-worthy film. Students who have shown proficiency in documentary production may also choose to begin a new project. In either case, the emphasis will be on a vital sub-category of contemporary creative nonfiction: vérité documentary production and the unique challenges and opportunities of working within this cinematic tradition.
COM FT 556
American Independent Film-Part 1 The Foundational Masterworks
4 credits. Fall
The course comprises one unit of a four-semester survey (each part of which is free-standing and may be taken separately and independently of each other and in any order, with no prerequisites) of the major achievements of the most important artistic movement of the last sixty years in American film--the independent feature filmmaking movement, in which American narrative filmmakers broke away from the financial, bureaucratic, and (most importantly) imaginative influence of Hollywood values and entertainment story-telling methods to create the most important works in American film--a series of generally low-tech, low-budget, DIY, personal-expression films, made and distributed more or less outside the mainstream exhibition system. This section of the survey focuses on the foundational masterworks created by the first generation of American independent feature filmmakers. These are the works that not only changed film history at the point they were made but that continue to inspire generations of independent filmmakers with their example. Since women have made some of the best and most important works in this area, as many female filmmakers as possible are being included. Offered in the fall of odd numbered years.
COM FT 556E
INTERNATNL CRSE
Var credits. Fall and Spring
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM FT 557
American Independent Film-Part 2 The Second Generation
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - The course comprises one unit of a four-semester survey (each part of which is free-standing and may be taken separately and independently of each other and in any order, with no prerequisites) of the major achievements of the most important artistic movement of the last sixty years in American film--the independent feature filmmaking movement, in which American narrative filmmakers broke away from the financial, bureaucratic, and (most importantly) imaginative influence of Hollywood values and entertainment story-telling methods to create the most important works in American film--a series of generally low-tech, low-budget, DIY, personal-expression films, made and distributed more or less outside the mainstream exhibition system. This section of the survey focuses on the second generation of American independent feature filmmaking. Since women have made some of the best and most important works in this area, as many female filmmakers as possible are being included. Offered in the spring of even numbered years.
COM FT 558
American Independent Film'Part 3 Recent and Contemporary Work
4 credits. Fall
The course comprises one unit of a four-semester survey (each part of which is free-standing and may be taken separately and independently of each other and in any order, with no prerequisites) of the major achievements of the most important artistic movement of the last sixty years in American film--the independent feature filmmaking movement, in which American narrative filmmakers broke away from the financial, bureaucratic, and (most importantly) imaginative influence of Hollywood values and entertainment story-telling methods to create the most important works in American film--a series of generally low-tech, low-budget, DIY, personal-expression films, made and distributed more or less outside the mainstream exhibition system. This section of the survey focuses on the third generation of American independent feature filmmaking in the period running from approximately 2000 to the present. Since women have made some of the best and most important works in this area, as many female filmmakers as possible are being included. Offered in the fall of even numbered years.
COM FT 559
American Independent Film-Part 4 Mumblecore, the Voices of a Generation
4 credits. Spring
The course comprises one unit of a four-semester survey (each part of which is free-standing and may be taken separately and independently of each other or in any order) of the major achievements of the most important artistic movement of the last sixty years in American film--the independent feature filmmaking movement, in which American narrative filmmakers broke away from the financial, bureaucratic, and (most importantly) imaginative influence of Hollywood values and entertainment story-telling methods to create a series of low-tech, low-budget, personal-expression films. This semester will focus on the contemporary generation that has been referred to by reviewers as "mumblecore" filmmakers. The past fifteen years have seen the birth and development of a new kind of ultra-low-budget DIY filmmaking created by filmmakers in their 20s and 30s who write, shoot, edit, and often act in their own movies. The result is a series of works that have their finger on the pulse of contemporary sexual and social mores and communicate what it is to be young, restless, eager, and uncertain in the world as we actually experience it today. Since women have made some of the best and most important of these films, screenings will include many female filmmakers. No pre-requisites and no permission required.
COM FT 560
The Documentary
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Surveys the history of the documentary and the changes brought about by the advent of television. Examines the outlook for the documentary idea in national and international markets. Periodic highlighting of special areas such as the portrayal of war, historical events, drama-documentary, and propaganda. Students develop critical and professional skills. Lectures, screenings, discussions.
COM FT 560S
The Documentary
4 credits.
Surveys the evolution of the documentary genre from the 1920s to the present. Through regular screenings, students witness the spectrum of styles and voices in non-fiction filmmaking. The goal is to gain a sense of the documentary tradition while focusing more intently on contemporary styles that employ humor, imagination, personal perspectives, and unusual stories and structures. To develop professional skills, students also write a proposal for a documentary project of their own.
COM FT 561
Contemporary East Asian Cinema
4 credits. Fall
This course studies the astonishing artistic flowering of contemporary East Asian film, focusing on selected works from directors working in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Thailand. We will focus on post-1997 films, though we will occasionally look back at earlier films that these directors made or that influenced them.
The course aims to survey a variety of different genres, styles, and themes as we look closely at the significant output from key directors in these countries. Some of the notable directors we will discuss include Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Lee Chang-dong, Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke, Ann Hui, Wong Karwai, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Hayao Miyazaki, and Edward Yang. Our discussions will deal with their styles and themes as auteurs, industry developments in Asia that have affected the kinds of films produced and distributed, and cultural values and history embedded within these films.
A background in film/TV analysis, as taught in Understanding Film (FT250) and in other film/TV studies-oriented courses, will be essential. Prior knowledge of East Asian cultures, histories and language will help but is not essential. (The films will be screened in their native language whenever possible, with English subtitles.)
COM FT 561E
TV DRAMA
4 credits.
EAST ASIAN CINE
COM FT 562
International Horror
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - The horror film has a long history outside the United States, whether we are talking about British Dracula or Turkish Dracula; Nigerian, Hindi, or South Korean zombies; Spanish and Japanese ghost women; or even Norwegian troll hunters. This course asks students to engage with international horror films through their cultural and cinematic histories, as well as foundational academic theories about horror films.
COM FT 562S
International Horror
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - The horror film has a long history outside the United States. Examples include British Dracula and Turkish Dracula; Nigerian, Hindi, and South Korean zombies; Spanish and Japanese ghost women; and even Norwegian troll hunters. This course asks students to engage with international horror films through their cultural and cinematic histories, as well as with foundational academic theories about horror films.
COM FT 563
French New Wave
4 credits.
Studies the great 1960s movement in filmmaking that has stayed forever fresh and challenging and has influenced all filmmaking since. The class will view and discuss films of Resnais, Malle, Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Varda, and others. We will consider the directors' innovative production practices and film styles, their attitude to their times and to life in general, and what their films finally achieve as works of art. We will talk about this movement's influence and what has developed out of it. Readings will include writings by the filmmakers, many of whom were prolific as film critics and theorists.
COM FT 565
Motion Picture Editing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: FT353 - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - Given its central role in the filmmaking process, examining the way films are edited can reveal a lot about the inner workings of film and help students understand the art of filmmaking. Editing scenes from films, television shows, and other material in a classroom setting and then examining different versions of those scenes can help students become better editors and will help them evaluate/critique their future film and television work. The course is designed for students who have edited a number of exercises and films in previous classes. It provides an opportunity for students to develop advanced editing skills, while learning advanced digital editing techniques on the Adobe Premier. This is an advanced editing class, and not a course on how to use Premier. By editing scenes from episodic television shows, and other professionally shot footage, students will learn how to select (and reject) material, where and when to cut, how to create pace, how to control what the audience sees and does not see, how to add music and effects to increase the emotional content, and how to use visual effects to enhance the impact of the material.
COM FT 566E
Careers in Hollywood
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: only when specified.
COM FT 567
Film Styles
4 credits. Fall and Spring
The style of a stylized film is its strangest, most mysterious, and, often, most wonderful quality. Style begins where realism and representation end. It is all those things a film can do to reprogram our brains that have nothing to do with putting the world we see and hear in our ordinary lives on screen. It involves narrative distortions, weird photographic, editorial, and acoustic effects, strange events, and eccentric characters--all in the service of attempting to alter our definition of "reality." We will look at some of the most bizarre movies ever made, along with a few apparently (but only apparently) "normal" films that have more insidious designs on our consciousnesses, that aspire to change our understandings of experience in subtler ways. No pre-requisites and no permission required. (this course fulfills the foreign cinema requirement)
COM FT 568E
STUD FILM ADAPT
4 credits. Fall and Spring
STUD FILM ADAPT
COM FT 569
Holocaust on Film
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Holocaust on Film examines the aesthetics of filmic texts which place the experience of the Holocaust at the center of their investigation.
COM FT 570
Uncensored TV: The rise of Original Scripted Series on Cable TV
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - Using series like The Sopranos, Weeds, and Breaking Bad as case studies, this course will examine the current state of cable TV with regard to industry, "quality," genres, auteurs, and the so-called "post-network" era. Students will approach these cable series with a critical eye as they work to connect industry, political economy, and government regulation to issues of social class, television hierarchies, and artistry. Students will also emerge from the course with a thorough understanding of how to perform television-focused research and analysis.
COM FT 571
Religion and TV
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - Religion and Television critically engages with religious representation on television, focusing especially on American fictional television since the 1980s. The course examines both the representation of specific religious traditions as well as generalized and abstracted religion and spirituality. Using the framework of television studies in conversation with religious studies, Religion and Television analyzes religion as: a tradition, as a grouping of tropes and stories, a functional part of lived experience, a component of identity, a structure of sociocultural power, and a discourse with specific cultural assumptions attached to it. These televisual articulations of religion are shaped by television's history, ideology, industry, culture, and reception. Thus, this course critically analyzes and maps the relationships among television, religion, and American culture.
COM FT 572
Streaming TV
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT303) - This course focuses on the variety of ways we watch television beyond the cable subscription and/or broadcast antenna. Starting with VHS distribution and continuing through DVD distribution and eventually streaming and digital on-demand, the course will critically examine if and how these distribution shifts are changing television as we know it. This course will also make connections between these new distribution outlets and practices with antecedents and legacy industrial practices to historicize these shifts. In this class, we will explore ideas of on-demand television and its effects on how television is made and marketed, paying particular attention to narrative structures and assumptions about viewer attention and practices. Additionally, we will look at how taste, class, race, and gender are inflected through which audiences are targeted as cord-cutters or additional subscribers and which audiences and genres are left out of the streaming TV discourse. This course fulfills the additional TV Studies course requirement. Pre-req: FT303.
COM FT 573
BU TV 1
2 credits. Fall and Spring
BUTV1 is a credit-earning opportunity for members of BUTV10 & BUTV10.com, BU's student campus channel and website. Students work with at least one of the organization's productions or administrative departments. For undergraduates, one previous, not for credit, a semester in the organization is required, except with Faculty Advisor consent. This requirement does not apply to graduate students. All students must coordinate participation and be approved by the faculty advisor. 2 credits pass/fail, either semester.
COM FT 574
BU TV 2
2 credits. Fall and Spring
BUTV2 is a credit-earning opportunity for contributing members of BUTV10 & BUTV10.com, who have previously earned credit by successfully completing FT573: BUTV1. Students work with one of the organization's productions or administrative departments. All students must coordinate participation and be approved by the faculty advisor. 2 credits pass/fail, either semester.
COM FT 575
Renoir & Bu'uel
4 credits. Fall and Spring
A survey of the careers of two of cinema's greatest and most admired directors: Jean Renoir and Luis Bu¿uel. Both these directors had long careers, stretching from the late silent era into the 1970s, and both worked in various countries--France, Spain, the U.S., Mexico, India--taking in new situations and ways of life while maintaining their own attitude, philosophy of life, and artistic vision. The class will view and analyze such great films as Renoir's Grand Illusion, Rules of the Game, and The River and Bu¿uel's L'Age d'Or, The Exterminating Angel, and Belle de Jour.
COM FT 576
Global New Wave
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - Explores the interconnected production and reception of selected European, African, and Asian New Wave cinemas of the mid-1940s through the early 1970s. These films experimented with form and style to challenge classical Hollywood norms.
COM FT 582
Writing the Narrative Short
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT310) - Writing the Narrative Short class is an intensive writing workshop that focuses on the short form narrative screenplay. Students will write at a pace of roughly one script per three weeks, completing a minimum of FOUR (4) polished short screenplays: a personal film; a character driven film; and two "long shorts" of 10-25 pages
COM FT 584E
CREATIVLIFEINTV
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CREATIVLIFEINTV
COM FT 585E
CAREERHOLLYWOOD
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CAREERHOLLYWOOD
COM FT 586E
Writing for Hollywood 1
4 credits.
Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Writing Intensive Course.
COM FT 587E
WRTRIN HLLYWD 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
THE REWRITE
COM FT 588E
WRTR HLLYWD LAB
4 credits. Fall
WRTR HLLYWD LAB
COM FT 589
Advanced Directing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT526) - The focus of this class will be on story creation, performance, and filming strategies using small crews and lightweight equipment, culminating in the production of six short films. Working from approved scenarios with a core group of actors, directors will explore character and story development through an in-class workshop process of improvisation. Once committed to script form, these short films will be shot with a small crew made up of fellow class members in pods of three; Director, Cinematographer, and Editor. The class will be limited to 6 Directors and 4 to 6 Cinematographer/Editors.
COM FT 590
2D Animation Basics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT201) - Prereq:(COMFT201) From Hollywood movies to TV shows, the web, and more, 2D animation is more popular than ever, but how is it created' This fun yet intensive hands-on beginner course teaches all the fundamental skills needed to create great 2D character animation - the way it is done in the industry. Through progressive lessons you'll learn basic drawing, character design, visual storytelling, how to use Adobe Animate, and make characters walk, talk, and come to life. We also cover acting, timing, facial expressions, color, keying, tweening, and discuss animation history and industry trends. Many valuable skills learned in this class can also be applied to 3D and experimental animation, filmmaking, art, and broadcast design. Your final project is a show reel quality animated short film that will be shown in the FTV End of Term Screening. 4 cr. Either sem.
COM FT 590S
2D Animation Basics
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT201) - From TV shows to feature films and webisodes, 2D animation is more popular than ever, but how is it created' This fun yet intensive hands-on beginner course teaches all the fundamental skills needed to create great 2D character animation--the way it's done in the industry, with Adobe Animate CC. Through progressive lessons, students learn basic drawing and character design, storytelling, and how to make characters walk, talk, and come to life. The course covers acting, timing, and facial expressions, drawing "keys and in-betweens," scene composition, color backgrounds, and more. The history of animation and industry trends are also discussed. Students complete numerous projects including a fully produced animated short film. Many of the skills covered in this class can also be applied to 3D and experimental animation, filmmaking, art, and broadcast design.
COM FT 591
Media Business Entrepreneurship
4 credits. Fall and Spring
We are living in the golden age of entrepreneurship. With the never-ending march of new technology and a global media marketplace constantly at our fingertips, there has never been a better time for media business entrepreneurship. Media Business Entrepreneurship (FT591) provides students with an inside look at how the world's leading media innovators are changing the way the world connects, shares information, and conducts business. Students will learn the skills and strategies needed to heed the call of entrepreneurship and take an idea from seed to fruition. Please join us if you are interested in learning about emerging distribution platforms, want to create new ways to inform and entertain, and maybe even have an idea you are interested in validating and bringing to market. Come create media's - and your own - future!
COM FT 592
Production Design
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - The Production Designer, along with the Director and the Director of Photography, is one of the top three creative decision makers on any film. Of the three, Production Designers are the least heralded; their work is so intrinsic to the storytelling as to be virtually invisible to the lay audience. In this course, we explore this quiet yet powerful source of creative power through collaborative projects, studio tours, presentations and individual design concepts.
COM FT 593
Introduction to Cinematography
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - FT593 is an introduction course to the key fundamentals of Cinematography: Composition, Optics and Lighting. This course also emphasizes on applying those fundamentals in a storytelling context and as tools of on-set communications. This is the gateway course to Intermediate Cinematography.
COM FT 593S
Introduction to Cinematography
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites:(COM FT 353) Graduate Prerequisites: (COM FT 707).This course is an introduction course to the key fundamentals of Cinematography: Composition, Optics and Lighting. This course also emphasizes on applying those fundamentals in a storytelling context and as tools of on-set communications. This is the gateway course to Intermediate Cinematography.
COM FT 595
Intermediate Cinematography
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT593) - Intermediate Cinematography is focused on the required technical skillsets needed to work on a motion picture film set. Here, the concentration will be on training students to be proficient in working with the Steadicam, Gimbal,Dolly, Jib, Wireless Follow Focus, Wireless HD Transmitters and the various Lighting Fixtures. There will also be a class trip to local equipment rental houses to familiarize them with the industry equipment rental protocol as well as an introduction to the professional crew who work there. While it might come across as overly technical, the aim of the course is, in fact, to help students overcome all the technical handling and use them to heighten their visual storytelling capabilities. The course is designed to address the practical challenges when trying to achieve the best possible cinematic images through the design of advanced camera movement, camera techniques and lighting techniques.
COM FT 597
Advanced Cinematography
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT595) - Advanced Cinematography is an intensive hands-on and creative course that challenges students to draw from the knowledge they have gained in Basic and Intermediate Cinematography and their previous production experiences, and apply them in a structural yet artistic approach in creating a true cinematic image. The main objective of this course is to inspire students to create quality cinematographic images, not merely by just the creation of frame and light, but rather, by digging deeply into the subtext of the narrative and the subliminal elements of the music. COMFT597 will be conducted in four phases in accordance with the standard film industry practice: Training, Pre-production, Production, and Post-Production.
COM FT 700
Fundamentals of Interactive Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course examines the history, evolution, and present scope of interactive media and related technologies from the perspective of design, theory, business, technology, and impact. Global trends, patterns, and themes are identified and discussed within the context in which they are created, experienced, and transformed.
COM FT 701
Media in Evolution
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course examines how media businesses adapt or perish in the face of disruptive technologies. Students trace the history of the television industry and the emergence of new platforms to explore how technology has influenced consolidation, emerging revenue models, distribution options and audience consumption.
COM FT 701S
Media in Evolution
4 credits. Summer
Examines the business of entertainment media industries. History, structure, business models, regulatory and social issues are discussed. Provides an assessment of the emergence of new media businesses, and how technologies that offer many new content distribution options are changing the definition of traditional media.
COM FT 702
Script To Film
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Exclusive to Graduate Screenwriting students (required in 1st year). An introduction to the relationship between the written script and the image on screen. Through in-depth analysis, we will study screenplays, films and the mind of the screenwriter in order to decipher the process of developing story from character, plot and theme. Students will be required to write expository papers and present their own analysis of a chosen film.
COM FT 703
Media Business Entrepreneurship
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course will provide students with the practical knowledge and skills needed to heed the call of entrepreneurship. Classes will include guest speakers from various business sectors including venture capital professionals, angel investors, accountants, attorneys, marketing experts who are skilled in launch phases of PR, as well as media entrepreneurs who succeeded against all odds. Students will also participate in the development of a core business idea, from concept through the creation of a sound business plan as a final project/presentation. 4 cr. Fall
COM FT 704
Genre for Screenwriters
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course starts with the basics of genre theory, then identifies American genre conventions using the course's "study" films. Study films will be discussed in terms of the genre's conventions: theme, structure, characters, setting, subject matter, visual motifs or recurring icons, and tone/mood. Each student is then required to write a treatment and 10-15 pages of a feature script in a genre unfamiliar to him/her. Students' creative work will be workshopped.
COM FT 705
Comedies and Melodramas for Graduate Students
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This class will view and discuss romantic comedies and domestic melodramas made in Hollywood in the 1930's and 1940's.
COM FT 706
Acting for Directors and Writers
4 credits. Fall and Spring
For first-year graduates. Develops the director's knowledge and understanding of actors, the "human equipment" of filmmaking, through direct acting experience. Students learn the language and tools of the craft through sensory exercises, improvisation, text analysis, and scene study.
COM FT 707
Introduction to Video Production
4 credits. Fall and Spring
An introduction to the techniques of producing and directing video projects, including videography, lighting, editing, sound, and special effects. Emphasis is on execution and design of both "live" on tape and postproduced works using both field and studio equipment.
COM FT 708
ASIAN CINEMA FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course studies the astonishing artistic flowering of contemporary East Asian film, focusing on selected works from directors working in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand. The course focuses on post-1997 films, though it occasionally references earlier films made by the key directors or that influenced them. By examining a range of genres, styles, and themes, the course looks at a variety of important East Asian films during this period. Discussions deal with auteurist styles/themes, industry developments in Asia that affected the kinds of films produced and distributed, and the cultural values and history embedded in these films. Some notable directors discussed: Bong Joon-Ho, Park Chan-Wook, Lee Chang-Dong, Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke, Ann Hui, Wong Karwai, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Hayao Miyazaki, and Edward Yang.
COM FT 710
Film Production Screenwriting
4 credits. Fall
Exclusively designed for Film Production Graduate Students, an introduction to principles of drama, screenplay structure, characterization, screenplay description and dialogue through study or produced short screenplays. Some time spent studying the feature-length screenplay, preparing/writing the documentary and Fair Use practices. Student's begin with exercises, then write outlines/treatments in preparation for completing and rewriting two short films, one 5-7 pages , another 7-15 pages. Student screenplays will be discussed in workshop format.
COM FT 711
Screenwriting I
4 credits. Fall
Exclusively for screenwriting graduate students, an introduction to principles of drama, screenplay structure, characterization, screenplay description and dialogue through lecture and discussion of produced screenplays. Students begin with exercises and then write outlines/treatments in preparation for completing a first act (approximately 30 pages) and full treatment of an original feature screenplay. Student work will be discussed in workshop format.
COM FT 713
Screenwriting II
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT711) - Students compose a feature-length film and a set of revisions based upon the film outline created in COM FT 711. Further examples of dramatic structure are analyzed from the library of world cinema.
COM FT 715
Market Analysis & Research for Creative Ventures
4 credits. Fall
This course will provide Media Ventures students with the research tools, techniques, and methodologies required to explore, evaluate viability, test, and validate potential business ideas using design thinking and product strategy based principles. Students will learn the importance qualitative and quantitative approaches to understanding their industry, market, and audience in order to ensure their idea has considerable value and a competitive advantage in today's data-driven marketplace.
COM FT 717
TV Management
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course will examine leadership issues facing today's television executives and the varied management styles of high-profile decision makers. The current TV landscape, content development, revenue models, consolidation, negotiation, distribution and ethical considerations are explored using lectures, in-class discussions, readings, and special projects.
COM FT 718
Writing the Television Drama Spec Script
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Exclusively for Screenwriting MFA students, this is an advanced, reading- and writing-intensive course in which students develop and write a spec script for a current hour-long television drama or dramedy. Students begin by mapping out the various storylines for their episode, then move on to writing detailed beat sheets and outlines. After mastering those steps, students write a 50-55 page spec script, followed by a fully-revised second draft. All student work will be discussed in workshop format.
COM FT 719
Writing the Half-Hour Scripted Comedy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This class explores the creation of a solid situation comedy script. This is done through readings, screenings, writing exercises and writing your own sitcom spec. There is also a good deal of group work and even a "staff" writing gig for all to participate in. Your story begins with an idea to pitch for a current sitcom series. Embedded in the idea is a comedic premise that will drive the episode. From there we move into writing beat sheets, network outlines, and then scripted pages. The goal is a structurally sound thirty-minute episode. A lot of the humor doesn't show up initially and rewriting beyond the class is greatly encouraged for those who wish to pursue a career on a writing staff, and potentially use their spec as a calling card for the industry.
COM FT 720
Writing the Social Purpose Short
4 credits. Fall
Writing the Social Purpose Short is an intensive writing workshop class that focuses on mastering the short form narrative screenplay. This class gives particular attention to crafting narratives that are socially engaged, meaningful, and speak to the pressing issues of the day. Students will explore screenplay structure, watch a cross-section of global shorts, and write and revise FIVE (5) short screenplays, ranging from 10-20 pages. Students will write at a pace of roughly one script per two weeks. Each student will choose two shorts to hone and polish. Final projects will be eligible for production next semester.
COM FT 724
Screenwriting III
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Advanced screenwriting for 2nd year Graduate Screenwriting Students. Based upon lectured material, the feedback received during workshops, and one-on- one consults with the professor, students will write and revise a full feature-length screenplay. Students will be expected to have a firm grasp on narrative structure, character development, and cinematic storytelling. The material covered in the first year of the graduate screenwriting program will be applied to this intense workshop atmosphere.
COM FT 725
Creative Producing II
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CREATIVE PROD 2
COM FT 727
Creative Producing I
4 credits. Fall
This course takes students through the process of creating non-fiction TV programming. Think talk shows, reality programs, and documentaries. How to create a concept, write a proposal, cast a program, and develop a marketing reason to do the program. It's all part and parcel of being a creative producer.
COM FT 728
Creating New Ideas
4 credits. Fall
This course provides students with the practical entrepreneurial tools and strategies needed to test and refine a new venture concept or existing product innovation that will eventually serve as their Thesis Project for the Media Ventures program. Students will take this idea from concept to working model/wireframe and will present to investors and industry executives at the end of the Media Ventures Program.
COM FT 729
Script Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
A detailed and exhaustive analysis of selected screenplays through which we will focus on the cultivation of critical skills leading to a sharpened perception, and a heightened awareness of how a screenplay can be vastly improved. Utilizing these analytical skills, students will provide in-depth analysis for participating production companies who are in need of pre- production revisions. Each student will examine the chosen scripts, write coverage, write a more in-depth report for some of the production companies and meet with representatives from each project. Using the model of our workshops, the class will conduct story meetings with writers, directors and producers involved in each project. Students will be expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner through both their written reports and their verbal consultations. In addition, students will look at how source material, such as short films, stage plays and/or books can be adapted for the screen. Each student will then design a pitch based upon chosen source material and do pitch presentations.
COM FT 730
Screen Adaptation I
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT713) - More than half of Oscar nominated films are literary adaptations. This course analyses the current commercial and artistic reasons behind the surge in adaptations, touches upon adaptation theory, and studies novels and short stories that have been adapted for film. Students present papers on film adaptations and begin the adaptation of a short story.
COM FT 731
Screenwriting IV
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT730) - Restricted to Graduate Screenwriting students. Through a rigorous writing schedule, the students complete a feature-length screenplay. A solid first draft of a new feature-length screenplay and two sets of revision.
COM FT 736
Film Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
In-depth survey of key debates in film and digital theory between film practitioners, involved observers, and theoreticians and philosophers. Part I surveys theories of medium specificity and of film exhibition (cinema of attraction, film as mass culture) and of film as art (Gestalt theory, French Impressionism) and as a revolutionary tool (Soviet Montage). We study the debate around the relation between film and reality in theories of realism. Part II covers film theory form the 1960s to the 1990s. Topics include structuralism and semiotics, apparatus theory, genre and authorship, psychoanalytic film theory, and the impact of debates in gender, sexuality, and race on film theory. We survey theories of oppositional gazes in their struggles against sexism, racism, classism, and colonialism. Further, we cover discourses in phenomenology, cognitive film theory and the theory of affects. Part III focuses on recent developments related to digital media. We will investigate the relationship between the digital image and reality (theories of simulacra) and consider the role of infrastructures and economies of digital distribution.
COM FT 801
Avid Film Composer
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT565) - fgsmdfjhsa fgjhsdg fkhshgdf
COM FT 808
Line Producing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT849 & COMFT850) - CMP students only. This course will focus on the steps and procedures involved in the physical production of a project from development to wrap. We will review general production management tools and techniques; staffing the production; working with directors, cast and crew; choosing and managing locations; and dealing with the unexpected. We will use software to breakdown a script, schedule and budget the project and create a production binder. We will review contracts, union basic agreements, ethics, safety and risk management.
COM FT 810
Web Promotion and Development
4 credits. Spring
The course introduces students to entrepreneurial concepts and provides the practical tools needed to take a creative work to market. Students will learn about online funding sources, Web distribution platforms, social media marketing, legal issues relating to protecting creative work and the business side of the industry.
COM FT 812
CORE 1
6 credits. Fall
CMP students only. This section of Core 1 is an intensive workshop that will focus on Script Analysis, Performance, and Visual Story Telling. It is comprised of demonstrations, workshops, and a scripted project shot outside of class. It is attended by Directors, Producers, Cinematographers, and by invitation, Screenwriters who work with the program. Midway through the semester the class will be joined by a group of professional actors who will perform in the filmed exercise. Working together, this workshop seeks to foster a truly collaborative spirit of filmmaking.
COM FT 813
Core 2
6 credits. Spring
This course is designed for student preparing to shoot their thesis projects. There are many elements that go into preparing to shoot an award- winning film or media production. This course will cover all pre-production elements, including the casting process, rehearsing with actors, scene preparation, location scouting, production scheduling, conducting test shoots, equipment preparation, blocking and lighting diagrams, and a variety of pre-visualization techniques. Guest speakers will join the class to discuss topics such as production design, sound design and color grading. By the end of the class, students will have all the elements in place to begin production of their thesis film.
COM FT 814
Production Lab 1
4 credits. Fall and Spring
CMP students only. Production Lab 1 is a workshop-driven section of the CMP program that addresses the artistic and technical challenges of working in the modern filmmaking landscape. Students will work on developing 6 non- dialogue visual short films. In additional, they will be given weekly tasks and real on-set problems to solve as a team. These tasks will add up to a list of advanced technical skill sets that they will be able to employ on their short films. Students will also be able to tap into the Advanced Cinematography class as a crew resource.
COM FT 815
Production Lab 2
4 credits. Spring
CMP students only. Students will start to workshop the potential technical problems that they will face in their thesis projects. Each week, students will bring their ideas and issues of their thesis projects to the table and the class will work together to solve them. The Cinematographers will be given the additional tasks of doing the in-depth technical tests to achieve the look and quality of the thesis film.
COM FT 816
Weekly Review & Critique
2 credits. Fall
A vital part of exploring and developing as a filmmaker is to look critically at your work and the work of others. In the first semester of the program, there will be weekly screenings where all of the students and key faculty members will gather to view the results of the targeted filmmaking exercises. In the second semester, the weekly screenings will focus on practice segments from the thesis films in progress. The weekly critiques are designed to allow all students to share the process of solving cinematic story problems, and to allow them to directly or vicariously explore different strategies and styles. Both students and faculty will also take turns introducing scenes from notable films to demonstrate effective, inspiring or innovative filmmaking.
COM FT 817
Weekly Review & Critique 2
2 credits. Spring
A vital part of exploring and developing as a filmmaker is to look critically at your work and the work of others. In the first semester of the program, there will be weekly screenings where all of the students and key faculty members will gather to view the results of the targeted filmmaking exercises. In the second semester, the weekly screenings will focus on practice segments from the thesis films in progress. The weekly critiques are designed to allow all students to share the process of solving cinematic story problems, and to allow them to directly or vicariously explore different strategies and styles. Both students and faculty will also take turns introducing scenes from notable films to demonstrate effective, inspiring or innovative filmmaking.
COM FT 825
Thesis Project
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Creation of an original work in any one of four areas: producing; scriptwriting; directing/production; or a research paper. One-on-one advisor supervision throughout the entire process.
COM FT 825E
Thesis Project
Var credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
THESIS PROJECT
COM FT 825S
Thesis Project
Var credits.
THESIS PROJECT
COM FT 851
Thesis Preparation
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course, required of second semester film production graduate students, explores the aesthetic and technical parameters of the short film format with the goal of celebrating the short form as a genre unto itself. Students also develop and write their thesis scripts in preparation for thesis production the following year.
COM FT 852
Thesis Project
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Devoted to completion of thesis projects in film production and film studies.
COM FT 852E
Thesis Project
Var credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
THESIS PROJECT
COM FT 852S
Thesis Project
16 credits. Summer
THESIS PROJECT
COM FT 855
Telecommunication Seminars
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Seminars by individual faculty members on topics of their choice, normally ones in which they are engaged in research or special study. Not more than two such seminars are offered in any one semester. Subjects and instructors announced before registration.
COM FT 856
Telecommunication Seminars
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Seminars by individual faculty members on topics of their choice, normally ones in which they are engaged in research or special study. Not more than two such seminars are offered in any one semester. Subjects and instructors announced before registration.
COM FT 856E
TELECM SEMNR II
4 credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - MEDIA VENT SMNR
COM FT 896E
INTERNATNL CRSE
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM FT 951
Directed Studies
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair. - Individual projects: opportunity for advanced graduate students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
COM FT 951S
Directed Studies
Var credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair. - DIRECTED STUDY
COM FT 952
Directed Studies
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - Individual projects: opportunity for advanced graduate students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
COM FT 952S
DIRECTED STUDY
Var credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - DIRECTED STUDY
COM FT 953
Internship 1
Var credits. Fall and Spring
On the job professional experience in media industries: television stations, film and video production studios, networks, cable television operations, advertising agencies, digital media companies, and related corporations.
COM FT 953E
Internship 1
Var credits.
INTERNSHIP 1
COM FT 953S
Internship 1
Var credits.
This is an opportunity for students to get hands-on experience with a film or television internship for summer credit. The department of Film and Television internship office has many terrific summer internships available to qualified students. Internships are located in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and throughout the country at companies like MTV, Miramax, FilmColony, ESPN, local television stations, etc. Open to graduate students with a least a 3.0 g.p.a. in their major. Visiting students must submit a copy of their transcript for approval. Internships may be taken for either two or four credits.
COM FT 954
Internship 2
Var credits. Fall and Spring
On the job professional experience in media industries: television stations, film and video production studios, networks, cable television operations, advertising agencies, digital media companies, and related corporations.
COM FT 954E
Internship 2
Var credits.
INTERNSHIP 2
COM FT 954S
Graduate Internship 2
Var credits.
This is an opportunity for students to get hands-on experience with a film or television internship for summer credit. The department of Film and Television internship office has many terrific summer internships available to qualified students. Internships are located in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and throughout the country at companies like MTV, Miramax, FilmColony, ESPN, local television stations, etc. Open to graduate students with a least a 3.0 g.p.a. in their major. Visiting students must submit a copy of their transcript for approval. Internships may be taken for either two or four credits.
COM HW 998E
L.A. INTERN 12
12 credits. Fall and Spring
L.A. INTERN 12
COM HW 999E
L.A. FILM & TV
Var credits.
L.A. INTERN PRG
COM IP 400E
INTERNATNL CRSE
Var credits. Fall and Spring
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM IP 402E
INTERNATNL CRSE
Var credits. Fall and Spring
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM IP 403E
INTERNATNL CRSE
Var credits. Fall and Spring
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM IP 404E
INTERNATNL CRSE
Var credits. Fall and Spring
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM IP 490E
INTERNATNL CRSE
Var credits.
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM IP 491E
INTERNATNL CRSE
Var credits.
INTERNATNL CRSE
COM JO 100
Introduction to Journalism
2 credits. Fall and Spring
This course introduces the field of journalism to students. It will acquaint students from COM and across the university with the journalism profession and will include instruction in writing, editing, and journalistic practices in addition to an overview of the news industry. Two credits.
COM JO 150
History and Principles of Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course deals with the events, institutions and individuals that have shaped journalism in this country. Using a thematic approach, students learn about the role the press has played in history. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Historical Consciousness.
COM JO 150S
History and Principles of Journalism
4 credits.
This course deals with the events, institutions and individuals that have shaped journalism in this country. Using a thematic approach, students learn about the role the press has played in history. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Historical Consciousness.
COM JO 200
Newswriting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) and COM CO201. - Students acquire fundamental newsgathering and writing skills needed to thrive as a journalist working in any platform. The course is based in the classroom, but students are expected to learn and adhere to professional newsroom standards. The course focuses on essential practices and principles that apply to reporters, photographers, bloggers, producers and editors at newspapers, magazines, radio, television and online media. The class emphasizes news judgment, storytelling and reporting skills as well as writing clearly and quickly. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 200S
Newswriting
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) and COM CO201. - Prereq: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or CAS WR 120) and COM CO 201. Students acquire fundamental newsgathering and writing skills needed to thrive as a journalist working in any platform. The course is based in the classroom, but students are expected to learn and adhere to professional newsroom standards. Focuses on essential practices and principles that apply to reporters, photographers, bloggers, producers, and editors at newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online media. Emphasizes news judgment, storytelling, and reporting skills as well as writing clearly and quickly. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 205
Visual Storytelling
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Required of journalism majors. An introductory course designed to provide students with a basic working knowledge of the media required for professional journalism, including photography, sound, video, and editing for production of multimedia packages. No previous experience in visual media is required. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
COM JO 205S
Visual Storytelling
4 credits.
Required of journalism majors. An introductory course designed to provide students with a basic working knowledge of the media required for professional journalism, including photography, sound, video, and editing for production of multimedia packages. No previous experience in visual media is required. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
COM JO 210
Reporting in Depth
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO 200 and JO 205 - In J0210 you will learn and practice in-depth reporting in a community. You will develop sources, walk the streets, cover a beat, attend meetings, shoot photos and provide readers with public interest journalism. This is a working newsroom. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Writing- Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 210E
Reporting in Depth
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO 200 and JO 205 - REPORT IN DEPTH
COM JO 210S
Reporting in Depth
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO 200 and JO 205 - Prereq: (COM JO 200 & COM JO 205). Students learn and practice in-depth reporting in a community. They develop sources, walk the streets, cover a beat, attend meetings, shoot photos, and provide readers with public interest journalism. This is a working newsroom. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 300
Media and Democracy - Journalism in an Age of Disinformation
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150 and at least junior standing. - This course is for anyone who reads the news or produces it, for those who want accurate information and those who want to provide it. Students will gain a true-north understanding of the role of the free press in a democracy, the rise and allure of online fake news, and how empowered individuals and the news media can push back against this 21st century threat to freedom. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 301
Editorial Design
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This is a studio course where students learn the elements of design. Students design a newsletter and sample pages for a magazine on topics of their own choosing. Students design with required Adobe Creative applications. This course covers the principles of typography, composition, and visual language and encourages creative/innovative ideas. All projects will be portfolio pieces. 4 cr, either sem.
COM JO 309
Feature Writing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO210) - The course invites students to refine their reporting and writing skills in projects that will showcase their mastery of the craft. Projects will span a variety of lengths, deadlines, and forms. Prerequisites: COM JO 200, 205 and 210. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
COM JO 309S
Feature Writing
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO210) - The goal of this course is to help students develop the skill and craft of feature writing for newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs. Along with the principles of solid reporting and fidelity to accuracy, we examine the techniques of creative non-fiction, including narrative, style, and voice. Students work on storytelling, voice, style, description, anecdote, pacing, and narrative. Part of the course is operated as a writer's workshop. Students will email copies of selected work to one another, which will be critiqued in-depth by the class as well as by the professor.
COM JO 310E
Beat Reporting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO250) - BEAT REPORTING
COM JO 312
Photojournalism 1
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO205) - An introductory course for students interested in pursuing a career in photojournalism and visual reporting. Students photograph assignments to the standards of professional news outlets and advance their skills in digital photography for use on websites and in publications. Prerequisites: COM JO 205. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
COM JO 322
Smart Phone Reporting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Digital/Multimedia Expression Research and Information Literacy Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 - This course teaches video journalism- how to identify, research, shoot, write and edit accurate, compelling news videos on deadline, using smart phones equipped with Adobe software. Students will become informed citizen journalists as well as adopt the standards and skill sets of professional mobile, multimedia journalists. Smart Phone Reporting teaches news and visual literacy, multimedia expression and applied writing skills to non- journalism majors while also training students to acquire a multimedia skill set required to become journalists. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 350
Law and Ethics of Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This interactive course introduces the core legal and ethical issues affecting how journalists, including the student press, gather, verify and communicate news. This course offers an exciting deep-dive into the key concepts affecting newsgathering and dissemination today.Students will discover the underpinnings of a free press as well as practical tools to use when confronted with government efforts to block legitimate newsgathering. Students will gain a working knowledge of how and why the First Amendment protects them as they gather, verify and disseminate the news. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 350S
Law and Ethics of Journalism
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Introduces the core legal and ethical issues affecting how journalists, including the student press, gather, verify, and communicate news. Offers an exciting deep-dive into the key concepts affecting newsgathering and dissemination today. Students discover the underpinnings of a free press as well as practical tools to use when confronted with government efforts to block legitimate newsgathering. Students gain a working knowledge of how and why the First Amendment protects them as they gather, verify, and disseminate the news. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 351
Reporting With Audio and Video
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 and JO205 - Learn how to find, write, shoot, and edit news packages, broadcast on television or the internet. Taught by veteran journalists in a newsroom complete with the latest digital technologies. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and 205.)
COM JO 351S
Reporting With Audio and Video
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 and JO205 - REPT W/ AUD/VIS
COM JO 358E
British Journalism, Culture, and Society
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
Provides an opportunity for intensive study of British media in the context of the political, cultural, and social life of the United Kingdom. Close attention is paid to the practical aspects of television, radio, and newspapers, together with the social, economic, and commercial background against which the British media function.
COM JO 400
Newsroom
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150, JO200, JO205, and JO210 - What is it like to work in a deadline-driven, multimedia newsroom' That's the focus of this capstone course which will immerse you in an environment that produces deadline stories, long-form reporting and data- driven projects.
COM JO 400S
Newsroom
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150, JO200, JO205, and JO210 - Students will be fully immersed in a working newsroom environment overseen by professional editors, writing for community-level news organizations in the region. The course will require students to go out on assignments and write news and enterprise stories, which will then appear in professional publications. Students in this course will experience what it¿s like to work as a beat reporter in a real newsroom for a news publication.
COM JO 403
Magazine Writing and Editing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200 & COMJO210) - Students learn to research and write lengthy articles of national magazine quality. Students also learn editing skills. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and COM JO 210.)
COM JO 404
Radio Station Management
2 credits. Fall and Spring
This is a seminar for students interested in managing the student-run radio station, WTBU. It is open to students who serve on the executive board of WTBU. Students will manage all facets of the radio station including music programing, sportscasting, news reporting, promotions, underwriting, website management, and technical equipment. Students will learn how to accomplish specific goals in improving the professionalism of the station and increasing the audience of WTBU.
COM JO 408
Magazine Workshop
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO250 & COMJO310) - This capstone magazine writing course is designed to create a published magazine as a writing portfolio for students. This is a studio course, taught by two professors, that covers writing and design in a setting that captures the dynamics of professional practice. Working in groups, students assume professional positions and conceptualize, write, edit, design, and publish magazines. Magazines are designed and published using Adobe Creative applications. Design concepts and techniques, along with computer programs used in this course, are taught with step by step instructions. 4 cr, either sem.
COM JO 411
Professional Journalism Internship
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Rising junior status; a 3.0 GPA in COM; completion of JO250 and either JO303 or JO357 - Valuable on-the-job practice of journalism skills. Provides student with portfolio of professional work. The student works 150 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Assistance in placement; instructor must approve project. Comprehensive paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required at end of semester.
COM JO 411E
Journalism Internship
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Rising junior status; a 3.0 GPA in COM; completion of JO250 and either JO303 or JO357 - PROF JOURN INTS
COM JO 411S
Professional Journalism Internship
Var credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Rising junior status; a 3.0 GPA in COM; completion of JO250 and either JO303 or JO357 - INTERNSHIP
COM JO 412
Professional Journalism Internship
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 and JO205; rising junior status; a 2.0 GPA in COM - Valuable on-the-job practice of journalism skills. Provides student with portfolio of professional work. The student works 150 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Assistance in placement; instructor must approve project. Paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required at end of semester. Credit variable, every semester.
COM JO 412E
Journalism Internship
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 and JO205; rising junior status; a 2.0 GPA in COM - Valuable on-the-job practice of journalism skills. Provides student with portfolio of professional work. The student works 150 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Assistance in placement; instructor must approve project. Paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required at end of semester. Credit variable, every semester.
COM JO 412S
Journalism Internship
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 and JO205; rising junior status; a 2.0 GPA in COM - Valuable on-the-job practice of journalism skills. Provides student with portfolio of professional work. The student works 150 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Assistance in placement; instructor must approve project. Paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required at end of semester. Credit variable, every semester.
COM JO 413E
JO INTERNSHIP
Var credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Junior Standing; at least a 3.0 in COM; completion of JO250 and either Jo303 or JO357 - JO INTERNSHIP
COM JO 416E
The Foreign Correspondent: Covering London
4 credits.
see Journalism
COM JO 427
Narrative Non-Fiction Journalism
4 credits. Spring
JO 427, Narrative Journalism, focuses on the craft of true storytelling. Students in the class will study and produce work that adheres to the highest standards and ethics of journalism. Among those are accuracy, fairness, honesty, transparency, independence, impartiality and accountability. Nonfiction narratives are carefully structured, with beginnings, middles and ends. They can be short or long. They can be presented on any media platform, but at their core is good writing. They feature characters rather than sources. They are built on scenes. They have themes. They have stakes. They include sensory detail. They are attuned to the emotional content of the information they explore. They unfold over time. They employ a voice appropriate to the material. They engage, enlighten, and when appropriate, entertain. Although they share certain structural and stylistic elements with great fiction, nothing in them is invented or imagined, and no characters are created or composited. They are true. PREREQ: JO 200 and JO 210.
COM JO 431
Enterprise Reporting
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO351) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO707) - Students produce in-depth video reports similar to those seen on network TV news magazine programs, news websites or, local television series. Includes a review of job trends in the field and advice on producing a resume reel or website. Four credits, spring semester. (Prerequisite: JO 351.)
COM JO 435
Online Radio Newsroom
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO351) - For students who like the teamwork and adrenaline of a real newsroom. Students produce a half-hour LIVE news show on the student radio station, WTBU, during each class. Students report, write, produce and engineer all the news sports and commentary on deadline. Students use social media to report stories and upload content to the Boston University News Service website. Student file stories frequently and programs from NPR, BBC, WBZ, and other radio news outlets will be critiqued. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Prerequisite: COM JO 200.)
COM JO 440
Science Strylg
4 credits. Fall and Spring
SCIENCE STRYTLG
COM JO 451
Television Newsroom
4 credits. Fall
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO351) and consent of instructor. - Students produce a weekly half-hour newscast, broadcast on cable TV and the Internet, with live coverage and video reports about local, national and international news as well as sports highlights and the weather forecast. Students rotate positions weekly, using a television studio and control booth, collaborating to broadcast a fresh, informative and accurate newscast while facing the daily deadlines of a working newsroom. Four credits, fall semester. (Prerequisites: COM JO 200, 205 and 351.)
COM JO 455
Journalism Professional Project - Undergrad
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150, JO200, JO205, and JO210. - A capstone project completed by undergraduate students in consultation with one or more full-time Journalism faculty members. Projects may consist of long-form narrative stories, hard-news stories, video or audio or multimedia work, or a combination of all three. Must be approved by consulting faculty.
COM JO 455S
JO PROF PROJ
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150, JO200, JO205, and JO210. - JO PROF PROJ
COM JO 490
Directed Studies
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Students work with faculty on individual research, professional training, or special studies. Variable credits, either sem.
COM JO 490E
Directed Studies
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - PRINT DIR STUDY
COM JO 490S
Directed Studies
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - PRINT DIR STUDY
COM JO 491E
Directed Studies: Broadcast Journalism
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Directed Studies: Broadcast Journalism
COM JO 500
Media Criticism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
How well have the media covered recent U.S. wars' Do the media have political biases' What effect has Fox News had on the mainstream media' In the face of growing competition from the Internet, what is the future of traditional journalism' What impact are changes in the business model having on editorial integrity' Does political satire such as the "Daily Show" elevate or debase the political process' This timely course takes a critical look at the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of the news media, including current controversies. Four credits, either semester.
COM JO 500S
Media Criticism
4 credits. Summer
MEDIA CRITICISM
COM JO 501
Introduction to Business and Economic Reporting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO310) - Comprehensive training in writing business and economics stories, using articles in The Wall Street Journal and other publications as examples. Emphasis on developing clear, simple language to describe complex issues. No previous economics or business experience is required. Four credits, either semester. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 502
Journalism Special Topics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COMJO 200; Graduate Prerequisites: COMJO 721. COMJO 502 offers a variety of relevant topics in the field of journalism for undergraduate and graduate students to explore. This course is designed to give students a deeper understanding of a particular topic, allowing them an opportunity to test their skills as a journalist.
COM JO 502E
Journalism Special Topics
Var credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - Journalism Special Topics
COM JO 502S
Journalism Special Topics
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - Topics for Summer 1 2024: A1) Freelancing; A2) Writing About Popular Music. For detailed summer course descriptions, please visit /summer/courses/journalism/.
COM JO 503
Journalism Research
4 credits. Fall and Spring
A rigorous grounding in research and investigative methods from interviews and records searching to computer-assisted reporting and use of the Freedom of Information Act. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 504
Arts Criticism
4 credits.
In this course, students learn how to cover entertainment and the arts and how to write criticism of performances and exhibitions. Students develop critical thinking and writing. Topics include: structuring a review; critical biases; profiling celebrities from a critical perspective; cultural criticism (how to write about entertainment or the arts to make broader points about our culture) and, style - how to get it. Assignments include TV, film, music and theater reviews, screenings and a trip to a Boston theater. Guests include prominent Boston critics. Four credits, fall semester.
COM JO 504S
Arts Criticism
4 credits.
Students learn how to cover entertainment and the arts and how to write criticism of performances and exhibitions. Students develop critical thinking and writing skills. Topics include structuring a review; critical biases; profiling celebrities from a critical perspective; cultural criticism (how to write about entertainment or the arts to make broader points about our culture); and style - how to get it. Assignments include screenings and TV, film, music, and theater reviews.
COM JO 505
Race & Gender in the News Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Students examine the nature of race and gender stereotypes and the forms they take, and the historic context in which they develop and change overtime. The class looks at the structures, practices and culture of the news (and entertainment) media that create or echo and reinforce race and gender stereotypes. Students evaluate and analyze dominant political and ideological positions on race and gender in the U.S. and how they are presented by major media outlets. Four credits, every semester.
COM JO 505S
Race and Gender in the News Media
4 credits. Summer
Examines the nature of race and gender stereotypes and the forms they take, and the historic context in which they develop and change over time. Looks at the structures, practices and culture of the news (and entertainment) media that create or echo and reinforce race and gender stereotypes. Evaluates and analyzes dominant political and ideological positions on race and gender in the U.S. and how they are presented by major media outlets.
COM JO 506
Columns and Editorials
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO310) - This is a course in writing with a point of view. It includes instruction in writing op-eds and personal essays, along with other forms of expressive and polemical writing. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 506S
Columns and Editorials
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO310) - This is a course in writing with a point of view. It includes instruction in writing op-eds and personal essays, along with other forms of expressive and polemical writing.
COM JO 508
Multi-platform Story Editing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200 & COMJO205) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO704 & COMJO721) - Whether you go to work for a print, broadcast or digital only newsroom, or produce content for your own start-up or non-profit, knowing how to properly edit content for multiple platforms is critical. This course is designed to give you hands-on experience with editing for multiple platforms. Examples of typical assignments: Editing a text story for print and web, writing a headline and description for YouTube video, copy editing photo captions for a photo gallery, fact checking social media. Students will put what they've learned to practical use by editing content that will run on the department's award-winning showcase news site for journalism students' work.
COM JO 510E
PRESS & GOV.
4 credits.
PRESS&GOVRNMENT
COM JO 511
Covering Government and Politics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200 & COMJO210) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - This class provides instruction in covering state government, including legislative process, analyzing data, interviewing, and developing beats. Students learn how to write so that readers understand significant issues. Guest lectures, readings, and exercises explore the dynamics of political and public affairs reporting. Taken in the same semester as JO546 (Statehouse Program) as part of the Boston Statehouse Program. Class is open to journalism majors in all specializations. Four credits, every semester. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and JO 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 512
Designing Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This is a studio course where students learn the elements of design. Students design a newsletter and sample pages for a magazine on topics of their own choosing. Students design with Adobe Creative applications. This course covers the principles of typography, composition, and visual language and encourages creative/innovative ideas. All projects will be portfolio pieces. 4 cr., either sem.
COM JO 513
Photojournalism 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO312) or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: and consent of instructor. - An intensive course designed to give students the skills necessary to produce professional quality work meeting publication standards, with emphasis on storytelling in the visual medium. Weekly assignments require students to produce original picture packages complete with written material and captions. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 205/303 and JO 312; or consent of instructor. Graduate Prerequisites: JO 706 or consent of instructor.)
COM JO 514
Sports Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - A special-topic writing course for students interested in a career in sports journalism. Topics include game stories, features, columns, and profiles, as well as examining sport as a commercial enterprise. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 200. Graduate Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 514S
Sports Journalism
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - A specialized writing course for students interested in sports journalism. Topics include game stories, features, columns, and profiles as well as examining sport as a commercial enterprise.
COM JO 516
Foreign Reporting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Pre-req: JO200 or JO721 - This course covers the practical, critical, and theoretical issues involved in reporting the world for domestic audiences. How can journalists best report on different cultures' How can they demystify the other for their readers and viewers' How do you work with a fixer' Manage your own trauma' Stay safe' How does 19th Century colonialism still influence foreign coverage, and how do you escape this influence' What's to be learned from Conrad's Heart of Darkness about reporting on Africa' When is personalizing the news a bad idea and when is a good time to do it' Students read outstanding examples of foreign reporting, workshop their stories, and learn how to be successful given the current standards for foreign reporting. However, in light of such challenges as globalization, global warming, ethnonational conflict, and the rise of China, the class also debates how to develop better norms in the future. Four credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 200/250. Graduate Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 517E
MEDIA&GOV:IT/US
4 credits.
MEDIA&GOV:IT/US
COM JO 519
Narrative Radio
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation The Individual in Community Oral and/or Signed Communication
It used to be commonly accepted that if you wanted to work in audio journalism, then you were likely looking for a career in radio news. But the nature of audio ¿ and journalism ¿ continues to evolve.
Now, legacy media outlets like newspapers have entire audio divisions producing daily and longform podcasts while news radio stations are re-thinking their broadcasts and attracting new audiences via streaming apps. But no matter the platform, there are certain tenets of audio storytelling and production that make for great listening and powerful journalism.
This class combines the highest editorial standards of public radio with the best practices of digital audio production. You will learn how to write effectively for radio, incorporating in-depth reporting techniques with creative audio storytelling. The goal of this course is to produce a variety of high-quality audio pieces that could potentially be aired on a public radio program or serve as a launching off point for a longer form project. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation.
COM JO 520
Editorial Graphics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO301 OR COMJO512) Or consent of instructor. - In this studio course students will develop ideas to design and publish two magazines. For each magazine students will design a cover, a homepage, and one article, in explanatory format. Students will select a subject of their interest for each magazine such as breaking news, world news, local news, politics, crime, business, tech, science, arts, culture, weather, and sports. They start with print, to hone their visual and compositional skills. All projects will be portfolio pieces containing: two homepages presenting news open;' and' two explanatory articles presenting news graphic for their headlines; in addition to their print counterparts.'Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
COM JO 521
Data Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO 200 - Graduate Prerequisites: JO 721 - This course teaches the basics of how to find, report, write and present data- driven news stories.' It is an introduction to the collection, analysis, presentation and impact of structured information by journalists.'Students will learn six skills:' identifying and obtaining government data, downloading and importing data, "scraping" data, cleaning and standardizing data, analyzing data, visualizing data and crafting a compelling data-driven story for your audience.' Students will also gain an effective mindset for approaching data, including how to obtain data from government agencies and strategies for overcoming obstacles in getting that data. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate prerequisite: COM JO 200; Graduate prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 522
Filmmaking for Journalists
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO205) - This course is an advanced visual journalism class, concentrating on moving images and (a little) audio in a cinema direct documentary film tradition. The course takes students through a range of skills to develop their ability to work to professional standards & complete a narrative documentary show-reel adhering to photojournalistic/cinema direct ethics. You may use this class to create visuals/b-roll for an existing documentary film project you are working on. It will be a showcase piece for your portfolio. Active, experiential and hands-on learning will dominate this course. You are expected to have some experience in video and sound, as well as a basic knowledge of how to edit, though the instructor will assist you to grow your skills. 4 credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 205. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 706; or permission of instructor.)
COM JO 523
The Presidency and the Media
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Students follow the week-to-week interaction of the president and the news media, while examining the evolution of relations between journalists and American presidents from FDR to the present. Four credits
COM JO 528E
Travel Writing
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - TRAVEL WRITING
COM JO 530
Drafts of History
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO357) - Journalism has been called "the first rough draft of history." We consider several episodes from U.S. history and examine how the first drafts written by journalists compare to subsequent drafts written by historians. We analyze how new evidence and chronological distance alter understanding of important events. Four credits, fall semester. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 150.) Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
COM JO 531
Disinformation and the Press
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Critical examination of the role of covert action in foreign and national security, including the process and impact of disinformation when used to manipulate the adversary's public opinion or decision-making elite. Particular attention given to international disinformation campaigns and the ways in which the media can defend themselves.
COM JO 532
Sports Seminar
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Students explore the issues that writers and broadcasters face as they pursue their careers in sports journalism. Each week, we invite working professionals to join us on campus discussing such topics as ethics, sports and its place in society, reporting, women in sports and how to find that first job. Students are expected to ask thoughtful questions and will be required to write an evaluation each week. A great opportunity to start the networking process. Four credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 200.)
COM JO 535
Investigative Reporting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Investigative and Project Reporting is an advanced reporting clinic and seminar that teaches students how to identify, vet and pursue investigative stories. Students will dissect what it means to be ¿an investigative reporter¿ while learning and utilizing some of the most useful practices and tools of the trade. From conducting interviews and requesting public records, to searching databases and organizing data, we as a class will work toward a long-term project that will, ideally, be published and or broadcast with a number of potential news partners, including WBUR, Boston¿s NPR station, ProPublica and The Boston Globe. Story topics may include criminal justice investigations, deep dives into immigration, as well as accountability reporting of complex systems and institutions, all with an emphasis on humanizing our story and placing an emphasis on the crucial role of effective storytelling.
COM JO 536E
BRIT BJ HISTORY
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Advanced (junior or senior) standing; previous coursework in print or broadcast journalism. - BRIT BJ HISTORY
COM JO 537
Advanced Visual Storytelling
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO205) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO706) or permission of instructor - New course description: This course explores long-form storytelling through the genres of photojournalism and documentary photography. We investigate advanced technical underpinnings and techniques of digital photography with the goals of enabling students to control their work, experiment and develop a deep understanding. Through lectures, hands-on assignments, and critiques, students expand their understanding of digital photography while exploring their creativity to broaden the possibilities and improve the quality of their photographs. With this lecturer's background in conflict and documentary photography, this course will explore those worlds extensively, with an emphasis on narrative photography, but it does not preclude you from any genre of photography you wish to pursue. The goal of the course is for each student to produce a semester-long body of work, or a photographic essay. The art of editing your own work will be a key learning goal. The course will constantly refer to the advanced use of software tools and color management technique. 4 Credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 205. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 706; or permission of instructor.)
COM JO 538
Feature Writing
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO310) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - Writing feature articles for newspapers, magazines and other media. Covers markets open to free-lance writers. Emphasis is on original story ideas, deep reporting and stylish writing. For undergraduates and graduate students. Summer only.
COM JO 539
Global Health Storytelling
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Oral and/or Signed Communication
GLOBAL HEALTH STORYTELLING marks our first effort to present an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to address core concepts in both public health and journalism, and to prepare students to make the truly exciting--but often untold--stories of public health available to a wide public Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation.
COM JO 541
The Art of the Interview
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO 351 - Graduate Prerequisites: JO 707 - Students learn advanced professional techniques for an essential skill. From preparing an interview to setting it up and carrying it out, students get detailed instruction and feedback. Please note: prior video production experience is required for this class.
COM JO 542
The Literature of Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course is an examination of cultural history as seen by our fellow journalists. It rests on the premise that to be a great writer, one must also be a great reader. With readings from Walt Whitman to the present, we examine the tools and techniques that make nonfiction writing memorable. Subjects include Mark Twain, George Orwell, Joan Didion, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and the great misanthrope, H.L. Mencken. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
COM JO 543
Rescuing Lost Stories: Writing Nonfiction Narratives from the Archives
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Historical Consciousness Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - The course will prepare students who are interested in writing nonfiction narratives to plan and conduct archival research, especially at BU's Gotlieb Archival Research Center. Students will learn to navigate the archives, then frame and develop historical narratives of significant contemporary events based on research of primary source materials such as personal letters, diaries, government documents and contemporaneous media reports. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
COM JO 543S
Rescuing Lost Stories: Writing Nonfiction Narratives from the Archives
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Historical Consciousness Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Prereq: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g. WR 100 or WR 120). Prepares students who are interested in writing nonfiction narratives to plan and conduct archival research, especially at BU's Gotlieb Archival Research Center. Students learn to navigate the archives, then frame and develop historical narratives of significant contemporary events based on extensive research of primary source materials such as personal letters, diaries, government documents, and contemporaneous media reports.
COM JO 544
Trauma Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO 200 - Graduate Prerequisites: JO 721 - Trauma is at the heart of news. A working journalist will most assuredly report on some type of traumatic event at some point in her career, whether covering a national tragedy or one family's personal nightmare. This course will explore the best practices for ethically and empathetically covering traumatic stories. A second important goal of this course will explore how journalists themselves can emotionally process what they have seen and heard on the job.
COM JO 546
Statehouse Program
8 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO250 & COMJO310) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - Taking advantage of our location in the state capital of Massachusetts, the Journalism Department offers students the chance to cover the Statehouse for professional news clients. The prime component of The Boston Statehouse Program, this advanced study in government and political reporting offers the opportunity to write and report from Beacon Hill for a Massachusetts news organization. The course goal is to develop writing and reporting skills through the daily experience of covering state government that will apply in many fields. Working with a professor and a professional editor, students acquire the skills necessary to work in a daily news environment, including interviewing, developing sources, archival research and deadline writing. Students develop a substantial portfolio of published work. Taken with JO 511, eight credits, fall and spring semesters. See Statehouse Program: /statehouse. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and JO 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 547
Sports Storytelling
4 credits. Fall
This course goes beyond the game and focuses on sports features, learning from journalists, editors, producers and first-hand experience. We'll go through the whole feature process from pitch to final product. We'll explore different techniques for reporting, organizing, and crafting longer form sports stories. The goal: Produce professional-quality, publishable sports narratives.
COM JO 547S
Sports Storytelling
4 credits. Summer
This course goes beyond the game and focuses on sports features, learning from journalists, editors, producers and first-hand experience. We'll go through the whole feature process from pitch to final product. We'll explore different techniques for reporting, organizing, and crafting longer form sports stories. The goal: Produce professional-quality, publishable sports narratives.
COM JO 548
Podcasting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
PODCASTING
COM JO 550
Multimedia Storytelling
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO304) - This course focuses on producing long-form, interactive multimedia projects. Working in teams, students learn to produce documentary-style multimedia packages that combine still photography, audio, video, interactives and text. The course will offer an overview of techniques and best practices currently employed by news organizations to produce advanced multimedia projects. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 304. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 704.)
COM JO 551E
Conflict & Crisis Reporting: Covering Hostile Environments Smartly, Safely & Ethically
4 credits. Summer
Conflict & Crisis Reporting: Covering Hostile Environments Smartly, Safely & Ethically
COM JO 700
Journalism Symposium
2 credits. Fall
This symposium is required for first-semester graduate students in journalism. The goal is to enrich the first semester curriculum by presenting a variety of topics relevant to the field, presented by interesting speakers who are experts in the subject matter. Attendance is mandatory.
COM JO 701E
RPRT BRIT POLIT
4 credits.
RPRT BRIT POLIT
COM JO 702
Science Narrative
4 credits. Fall and Spring
An in-depth introduction to narrative for science communicators, story-tellers and journalists. We consider content, form, style and approach, using examples from the work of established writers to glean principles for our own thinking and writing. Research will play a central role, and we will focus on interview and reporting skills and analysis, including statistics. The goal of science narrative is to shed light on scientific topics, and also to inform and provoke thought.'In this class, we produce four short pieces of narrative, and in the process discover how the writing voice acquires authority built on research. A goal is to introduce the essential elements of sound story telling--narrative, exposition, transition, and subtext. 'This course is required of all SciJo students and open to other students by permission of the instructor. Four credits, fall semesters.
COM JO 703
Magazine Writing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: JO 721 - This is a course in long-form magazine journalism such as appears in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Outside, and the New York Times Magazine, as well as websites such as Medium, The Atavist and others. Students read and analyze superb examples of the genre and report, research and write long-form pieces. Topics intensive, in-depth reporting and research; the writing process; the use of fine language and the development of a personal voice; the importance of a point of view; structuring long pieces; digging deeply into subjects in order to truly enlighten readers. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 704
Online Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course introduces students to multi- platform journalism. Students will gain practical experience producing and editing news and features for delivery via digital platforms. This class critiques and analyzes news sites to examine how multiple elements such as text, photo's audio, video, social media and interactive graphics are currently used in multimedia reporting. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
COM JO 707
Video Reporting
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This introductory course is about reporting, writing and producing the news for television and the internet. Students learn the fundamentals of news- gathering, story generation, research, videography, writing, editing and presentation. Strong stories air on BUTV and are posted on the department's news-service website. Four credits, fall semester.
COM JO 708E
FRGN COR RPTNG
4 credits. Fall and Spring
FRGN COR RPTNG
COM JO 710
Digital Tool Kit
4 credits. Fall
You will build technical skill-sets in shooting, editing, composition, lighting
and color. You will learn to develop a visual plan to produce a strong video
story that includes: action, reaction, opening, closing and point of view
shots. You will also learn to shoot and edit a video sequence of a process.
When shooting photos or video, students will capture a variety of situations
and angles while using various focal length lenses. Editing skills are key to
building a story, so we¿ll take a deep dive into editing workflow while
learning to edit with Adobe Premiere Pro and Lightroom Classic. In addition
to building visual storytelling skills, we will cover story arc and the interview.
COM JO 711
Video Storytelling
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: JO 710 or permission of the instructor - Recommended for students in the TV journalism specialization who are interested in long-form video storytelling. This is a production class and will also include the study of documentary aesthetics, ethics and genres. Students will work throughout the semester to produce, shoot, and edit an eight-minute documentary short, learning to build a story from an idea to the final edited story. Students will be critiqued on their production skills as well as their reporting and storytelling.
COM JO 712
Online Radio Newsroom
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - For students who like the teamwork and adrenaline of a real newsroom. Students produce a half-hour news show on the student radio station, WTBU, during each class. Students report, write, produce and engineer all the news sports and commentary on deadline. Students use social media to report stories. Content is uploaded to the department's news- service website. Students file stories frequently, and programs from NPR, BBC, WBZ and other audio news outlets will be critiqued. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
COM JO 713E
COVERING CHINA
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
COVERING CHINA
COM JO 719
Feature Writing
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - In this course, students are invited to go beyond the demands of hard-news writing and to explore a much broader range of topics and a richer array of approaches. The essence of feature writing is "enterprise" -- feature stories are those that do not have to happen and cannot be written by formula; individual journalists make them happen. Through readings and by reporting and writing their own features, students develop a sophisticated sense of stories and a stylish prose technique. Emphasis is on telling great stories at various lengths and in different formats. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 721
Introduction to Reporting
4 credits. Fall
Students learn newswriting and reporting by covering a full range of news stories in a newsroom environment. This foundation course emphasizes stress on deadline pressure, writing, and reporting for all media. Includes weekly discussion of journalism principles as illustrated by current events and controversies. Four credits, fall semesters.
COM JO 721S
Journalism Principles and Techniques
4 credits. Summer
Fundamentals of news gathering, newswriting and editing, and the evaluation of news stories. Daily writing practice under deadline conditions. Meets with COM JO 307. There is additional coursework and classroom time necessary for COM JO 721.
COM JO 722
Reporting in Depth
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - * Using the city as our subject, students cover working "beats" in Boston and surrounding areas. Students are responsible for proposing and covering stories dealing with courts, crime, education, local and state politics, and other essentials of community reporting across all media. Stories may appear in the BU News Service or in professional news outlets. Four credits, spring semesters. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
COM JO 725
Media Law and Ethics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
MEDIA LAW/ETHIC
COM JO 727
Narrative Non-Fiction
4 credits. Fall
Narrative Journalism focuses on the craft of true storytelling. We consume, study, and produce work that adheres to the highest standards and ethics of journalism. Among those are accuracy, fairness, honesty, transparency, independence, impartiality and accountability. Nonfiction narratives are carefully structured, with beginnings, middles and ends. They can be short or long. They can be presented on any media platform, but at their core is good writing. They feature characters rather than sources. They are built on scenes. They have themes. They have stakes. They include sensory detail. They are attuned to the emotional content of the information they explore. They unfold over time. They employ a voice appropriate to the material. They engage, enlighten, and when appropriate, entertain. Although they share certain structural and stylistic elements with great fiction, nothing in them is invented or imagined, and no characters are created or composited. They are true.
COM JO 732
Conflict and Commentary in Science Reporting
4 credits. Spring
A course in writing about science policy issues, including in-depth coverage of controversial issues and writing scientific-related essay, such as those that appear in Slate and Salon. classroom discussions will involve complex areas of science reporting, including scientific fraud and business issues related to science. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 705.)
COM JO 734
Television Newsroom
4 credits. Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721 & COMJO707 & COMJO711) - Students produce a weekly half-hour newscast, broadcast on cable TV and the Internet, with live coverage and video reports on local, national and international news as well as sports highlights and weather. Students rotate positions weekly, using television studios and the control booth, collaborating to broadcast a fresh, informative and accurate newscast while facing the daily deadlines of a working newsroom. Four credits, spring semester.
COM JO 737
Journalism Internship
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Student develops a portfolio of professional work while working in the field. The student works 120-200 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Comprehensive paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required upon completion of internship. Variable credit.
COM JO 737E
Journalism Internship
Var credits.
JO INTERNSHIP
COM JO 737S
Journalism Internship
Var credits. Summer
JO INTERNSHIP
COM JO 738E
BUS/ECON INTERN
Var credits.
B&E JO INTRNSHP
COM JO 741
Multi-media for Science Communication
4 credits. Fall
A hands on course in multimedia production, including website design and construction, audio and video production and photo essays, podcasts and more. As part of this course students will design and produce a science related web magazine that will serve a s a professional portfolio. Four credits.
COM JO 742
Computer Assisted Reporting Bootcamp
2 credits. Fall and Spring
A 2 credit bootcamp- three days, six hours per day. The course will provide a foundation in computer assisted reporting (CAR) and research methods. The workshop will focus on using spreadsheet and database software to analyze and interpret data for journalistic purposes. The course will also focus on how to mine the Web for data on businesses, institutions and people as well as using public records laws to obtain data. The skill learned in this camp are essential for journalists entering the job market today.
COM JO 743
Science Web Magazine
2 credits. Spring
A hands-on course in multimedia production, including website design and construction, audio and video production and photo essays, podcasts and more. As part of this course students will design and produce a science-related web magazine that will serve as a professional portfolio.
COM JO 881
Science Video Production
4 credits. Fall and Spring
The moving image carries enormous power; whether shown in theaters, on television, on the internet or on our smart phones, video has the ability to change the world, as has been demonstrated time and again. this course is designed to examine the power of non-fiction video through the deconstruction of various films and videos, and serve as an introduction to video production through a series of production exercises culminating in a complete short film as a final project. While this course focuses on science, it will be useful for anyone interested in learning more about non-fiction video production.
COM JO 954
Directed Study
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor - Faculty and students work together in a tutorial situation to produce a substantial project of mutual interest. 4 cr.
COM JO 954E
Directed Study
Var credits.
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor - DS BJ
COM JO 954S
DS BJ
4 credits. Summer
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor - DS BJ
COM JO 955
Professional Project
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor - In their final semester, all candidates for the M.S. degree in Journalism undertake a capstone project of professional quality. In consultation with a faculty member, the student conceives the project, carries out all necessary reporting and editing, combines multimedia elements as warranted, and seeks to have the work published or broadcast. 4 cr., either sem.
COM JO 955E
Professional Project
Var credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor - PROFESSNL PROJ
COM JO 955S
Professional Project
Var credits. Summer
Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor - DS PRINT
COM LJ 999E
LONDON JO PROG
Var credits.
LONDON JO PROG
COM MV 999E
L.A. MEDIA VENT
Var credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
L.A. MEDIA VENT
COM SW 999E
LA HLLYWD WRITR
8 credits.
LA HLLYWD WRITR
Kilachand Honors College
KHC ST 111
Studio 1
2 credits. Fall
In Studio I, Kilachand students hone their writing, critical reading and thinking, and analytical skills. Students explore fundamental ethical, aesthetic, and social concerns posed by challenging texts and events. They compose their own writing, with attention to the modes and genres of expression, media, and evidence appropriate to the goals of the piece and its designated audience. Students revise their writing with significant individual attention in conferences with their instructors. Students register for one section of Studio I in fall semester of their first year. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: First-Year Writing Seminar.
Questrom School of Business
Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences
School of Hospitality Administration
Wheelock College of Education & Human Development