Degree Requirements

Introduction to media technology, examining the impact of radio, television, newspapers, still photography, film, and the computer on the human condition. Trains the student to be a perceptive consumer of contemporary mass media by exploring how each medium codifies reality. Readings, screenings, and written assignments required.

Introduction to a wide ranging study of multimedia production. Students will learn audio and video production techniques and create media for online distribution.

CM 128 explores the history of sports media including its relation to the history of sports in general, technological developments, its connections to civil rights history, legal and political implications of national and international sports broadcasting, the relationship between sports media and gender issues, and the effect on cultural identity and national politics.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101

Sporting culture impacts the American public through economic and ideological institutions that structure our perceptions of the world. In contemporary society, sport is both big business and personal recreation, and yet despite its influence on American culture, sport remains a relatively unexplored segment of popular culture. In this class we will pay particular attention to the images and narratives of sporting media that construct representations of class, masculinity, gender, and nation in and around everyday mass-mediated athletic activities. Sport, Culture, & the Media is an examination of sports and media in our everyday lives.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Focuses on the fundamentals needed to implement a program in sports information, publicity, and promotions. Preparing of news releases; writing local and hometown features; publishing programs and brochures; compiling statistical breakdowns; dealing with the local, regional, and national press; and promoting specific events, teams, and individuals are included.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Provides students with foundational skills in sports journalism for live broadcasts and recorded programs and segments. Students learn multiple roles both in front of and behind the screen. Classroom activities include applied learning methods that require students to actively acquire the real-time skills necessary to work in a sports media setting and to pursue a career in multimedia sports journalism. Students develop and apply written, oral, and problem-solving skills to create, host, and produce original sports programming.
Prerequisite: Pre: CM-101

Designed to provide training with tools necessary for editing digital audio and video. Course examines the construction of stories and messages in the digital media that surrounds us. Students will become more effective creators and consumers of media culture.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

An interdisciplinary study of contemporary theories of mass communications. Presents an overview of the impact of mass communication by considering them as codes, symbolic systems, and manipulative powers on both the conscious and subconscious levels. Reading, writing, discussion, and research are required.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Focuses on the fundamentals needed to implement a program in sports information, publicity, and promotions. Preparing of news releases; writing local and hometown features; publishing programs and brochures; compiling statistical breakdowns; dealing with the local, regional, and national press; and promoting specific events, teams, and individuals are included.

The purpose of the project is threefold: to create an opportunity for a senior Media Studies student to apply creative theory to practice; to stress the interdisciplinary aspects of media ommunication; and to provide the student with a "portfolio" product or research project to use as a demonstration of his or her abilities.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

The purpose of the project is threefold: to create an opportunity for a senior Media Studies student to apply creative theory to practice; to stress the interdisciplinary aspects of media ommunication; and to provide the student with a "portfolio" product or research project to use as a demonstration of his or her abilities.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

The digital revolution has profoundly changed the production of news, sports and entertainment journalism. This change is driven predominantly by two factors: digital technology and economics. One person, the digital journalist, is gradually replacing the traditional team of professionals needed to cover the news. Through three distinct projects in storytelling, students will begin to develop the production and editorial skills needed to go on to more advanced courses in digital journalism.
Prerequisite: take CM-101

An introduction to basic news writing and journalistic reporting principles. Concepts of journalism provide a format for an analysis of the news media and the responsibilities of a journalist in today's society. Workshop sessions utilize the concepts in practical work. A prerequisite to CM 311.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101 and ENG 110 or FYS or FYWS 125

An introduction to the basic techniques of cinematic composition and editing. Presents the basic administrative and aesthetic aspects of filmmaking.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

An introduction to multi-camera studio production.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

First semester is an introduction to the fundamentals of digital photography. Topics include camera care and handling; visual literacy; composition; and the nature of light, color, portraiture, and experimental photography. Second semester is built around advanced techniques in digital production. Critical discussions on the photography of major artists supplement the practical work. A digital camera with manual operative is required. Students are responsible for processing costs.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Focuses on the creative use of technologies available to the American consumer. Instruction in alternative audio and visual production encourages students to express themselves and distribute media content using available consumer and public access technologies. Laptop computers are required to digitize audio and visual projects and for Internet research.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101 and CM-102

An opportunity for outstanding Media Studies majors to assist in the planning and production of media projects contracted by Sacred Heart University or by outside agencies. Offered only when appropriate projects are available. Consult the current course schedule for available topics.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101 and CM-102

Students experiment with form and style in order to produce a variety of advertising and public relations writing for diverse audiences that utilize different media platforms.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

An introduction to basic radio production. Students prepare for the FCC third-class license, learn the audio control board, and develop concepts of radio broadcasting. Because WSHU is integrated into the courses as a laboratory and program outlet, students are required to function as staff members.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Students develop skills and insights necessary to document strong visual images and use those images to create a photo essay. Course encompasses preparation, research, taking photographs and editing, as well as examining the changing digital world, magazine work and publishing, and the business of photography.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

This course is designed to explore the fundamentals of visual communication to create digital publications. Students will learn the basic principles of visual communication and employ best practices when using multimedia tools to reach diverse audiences. Students will engage in the creative process while developing the skills necessary to create sophisticated and effective media materials using digital tools.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101

This introductory class will examine the relationship between filmmaker and location. By working with narrative and non-narrative film styles, students will gain exposure and understanding to producint creative content in a foreigh country. Usin the student's emotional experience and study abroad locales, students will create creative pieces that will serve the artistic vision, their fundamental understanding of film production and the logistical elements of field production.

Ever pictured yourself in the movies? This course is designed to assist students in getting comfortable in front of the camera. Students explore the actor's relationship to the camera and to their scene partners. Coursework includes monologues, scenes and auditions. Technical skills including props, marks and scene analysis will be covered. No experience necessary.

A fast-paced survey of the history and theory behind comics, comic books, and animation. Creative projects teach the methods of creating sequential art and animation from paper to CGI.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Social media has altered how we communicate with each other. This course is comprised of four modules that will allow students to have an overall understanding of social media in our everyday lives. In the first module, students will explore how social media has impacted culture as a whole, while in the second module, students will interrogate the role of social media in the construction of personal and professional identity. In the third module, students will analyze corporate and non-profit uses of social media tools and tactics, and in the fourth and final module, students will execute their own social media campaign in order to demonstrate their knowledge of the course concepts. Throughout the course students will be asked to consider the ethical dilemmas put forth by social media technologies and the people that use them.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Students develop, plan, write, edit, and produce news story projects on a regular basis and contribute to the creation of The Pulse, a news magazine show, broadcast over television and the Internet at Sacred Heart.

An introduction to writing for fiction and nonfiction film and television. Topics include basic dramatic theory, narrative structure, characterization, dialogue, adaptation, and the unique demands of the audio/visual media, as well as pragmatic matters of format and the marketplace.
Prerequisite: Take ENG-110 or FYS or FYWS 125 and CM-101

Designed for advanced students already familiar with the tools of the digital journalist, students will create and produce a professional-level documentary video about a community outreach program making a difference in other people's lives.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

This production- oriented course focuses on experimental and immersive storytelling and the artistic cinematics possibilities of 360-degree video.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101 or CSE-125

New or occasional courses in advanced video production such as approaches to editing, audio recording techniques, digital storytelling, or computer-aided design. Course title is shown on the student's transcript. Consult the current course schedule for available topics and required prerequisites.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

This advanced workshop simulates a newspaper magazine publishing atmosphere. Students are assigned roles as writers or editors for individual sections to create a student news magazine as part of the newspaper staff.
Prerequisite: Take CM-211 or ENG-211

Topics in film and TV productions.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

An introduction to multi-camera studio production.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-222

Students will learn cutting-edge techniques in graphic programs and develop and complete several creative projects guided by an instructor who is an industry professional.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Advanced topics in journalism production.

Students research, plan, implement, and evaluate integrated public relations and advertising campaigns. Students gain hands-on experience by working with community clients.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101, CM-227

Prerequisite: Take CM-271

An opportunity for qualified upper-division Media Studies majors to gain practical experience at area media/communications companies such as radio or television stations, cable companies, newspapers, magazines, and public relations firms.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Introduction to the historical development of filmmaking from 1895 to 1945, highlighting the evolution of the film as a means of expression. Films from the past are shown at each class meeting followed by a discussion of several aspects of the film.
Prerequisite: Take CM 101 or MS 101

This course covers the history of motion pictures from 1945 to 1975, including extensive screening of classic films. Readings, screenings, and written assignments required. May be taken out of sequence.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101 or MS-101;

This course covers the history of motion pictures from 1975 to the present, including extensive screening of classic and contemporary films. Readings, screenings, and written assignments required. May be taken out of sequence.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Explores the history of radio and television broadcasting, including financing of research, technological developments, regulation, structure of genres, the social context and values of programs, legal and political implications of national and international broadcasting, and the effect on cultural identity and national sovereignty.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101 or MS-101;

Investigates the social history of American journalism from the penny press to the World Wide Web, including technological developments in news gathering and delivery, regulation and consolidation of the press, social and political implications of coverage, effects of changes in literacy and society, comparisons with other models, and trends toward globalization.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101 or MS-101;

Provides a critical overview of the history, purpose, and various methods related to advertising and public relations. Students analyze the semantic and syntactic properties of ads and public relations campaigns from the consumer point of view with special emphasis on how they communicate persuasively. Readings, screenings, and written assignments required.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101 or MS-101;

A study of the language of moving pictures. Unlike the linear sequence of speech and the written word, moving pictures create a simultaneity of sensory perception. Through an intensive study of experimental and feature films, this course explores the nature of the moving images and how they are organized to create a whole.

This course expands on CM 101 with extensive examination of theories of media effects on behavior, values, and social/political structures, with an emphasis on contemporary media and the consequences of the shift to an online digital environment.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101 or MS-101;

In this course, students will analyze a self-help book of their choice through journal writing exercises outlined in their chosen text. Drawing on research in the field, students will evaluate the effectiveness of their chosen text.

Considers digital and technologically mediated environments as "mass media" in the tradition of film, radio, or television. Using a variety of approaches, including historical, sociological, economic, technological, cultural, and aesthetic, the course looks at questions such as how does the Internet codify reality? How are communities both created and thwarted? What are the characteristics of the global media culture? Readings, screenings, and written assignments required.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Examines the relationships between the mass media (film, television, newspapers, and the Internet), the public, and politics. Historical case studies analyze from ethical, economic, social, historical, aesthetic, and technological perspectives how the media provide (or do not provide) a place through which people express their views as citizens in a democracy. Current media examples are also investigated. Readings, screenings, and written assignments required.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

This class will explore body image representations portrayed in popular American magazines from a media literacy perspective. Drawing on research about media influence and instructional capabilities from such researchers as Schramm, Bandura, Comstock, and Liebert.

Exploration and in-depth analysis of women's images portrayed in American advertising from a media literacy perspective, using research about the influence of advertising on women's roles and attitudes.

Designates new or occasional courses that may or may not become part of the department's permanent offerings. Courses capitalize on timely topics, a faculty member's particular interest, an experimental alternative to existing courses, etc. Course title is shown on the student's transcript. Consult the current course schedule for available topics and required prerequisites.

Films are cultural artifacts. Each film contains within itself a complex social system reflecting the attitudes, values, and morals of the society that produced it. This course uncovers the values that encode the function of women on screen including the images they project, roles they assume, values they encode, and relationships they establish with men, children, and each other. Readings, screenings, and written assignments required.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Examines a particular national cinema or moment in national cinemas (e.g., New German Cinema, French New Wave, Italian Neorealism) whose contributions to the history of cinema have been significant. Attention is given to the social and cultural context, production, distribution, and reception circumstances and stylistic innovations of the different filmmaking practices. Readings, screenings, and written assignments required.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

A study of individual television and forms. Emphasis on the historical development of the genre, themes, and stylistics of genre; meaning of programming within a cultural context; contemporary cultural significance; and contribution to the history of ideas. Readings, screenings, and written assignments are required.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

Examines individual film directors whose contributions to the history of the cinema have been especially notable. Film and television directors are studied for their stylistic and philosophical innovations as well as for their historical place in the medium. Each semester a particular director or directors are chosen for study.
Prerequisite: TAKE CM-101

TThis course capitalizes on timely topics in advertising and public relations providing students with an in-depth study of advertising and public relations genres, industry practices, and cultural impact. The specific topic will show on the student's transcript.
Prerequisite: Take CM-101