Undergraduate Curricula

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Freshman-Sophomore Curriculum

During their first semester, communication students take three liberal arts courses and COM CO 101 The World of Communication, the core communication course. In subsequent semesters of the first two years, course requirements allow for limited flexibility while ensuring that some depth of knowledge is achieved. Students should become familiar with the requirements and give careful thought to the choices they make.

The required courses for all COM freshman and sophomore students are as follows:

COM CO 101  The World of Communication

COM CO 201 Introduction to Communication Writing College of General Studies students must take the course in their sophomore year.

A variety of other communications courses, designated by the appropriate department, may be taken in the freshman and sophomore years.

In a normal undergraduate program of 32 courses, totalling 124–128 credit hours, students take a maximum of 15 professional courses and a minimum of 17 liberal arts courses unless otherwise specified by an individual department.

Students take four English literature and composition courses; two history courses, one multicultural studies course; two math/science courses; two language courses; two courses in the social sciences; and one philosophy course. The College of Communication is unique in requiring a philosophy course, because its administration and faculty feel that, in an information age, communication students must have an awareness of ethics, logic, and reasoning. The precise curriculum requirements are available in the Office of Student Services, Room 123, at the College of Communication.

Junior-Senior Curriculum

For the last two years of undergraduate study, students choose a major within one of the College’s departments. The program of study in each department includes professionally oriented courses as well as liberal arts courses. These courses are specified in the program section for each department.

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DEPARTMENT OF FILM AND TELEVISION

The department is divided into two programs: Film and Television.

Film and television have developed as individual media with their own histories of production techniques, artistic disciplines, content, and business operations. However, there is much sharing and mutual influence between these media. New technologies and increased concentration of media ownership already blur many of the traditional distinctions between media, and many career opportunities span both film and television.

The Department of Film and Televison responds to this situation by providing flexible programs of study.  Although students are required to select an area of concentration in the second semester of the sophomore year, they also have options for tailoring a major that fits their interests and career goals. Students may vary the number of courses in hands-on production, critical studies, writing, and management.

The College of Communication provides facilities and equipment for instruction in studio and field production in video and film. Students are responsible for digital video media, discs, film, and film processing expenses.

Students are encouraged to participate in the many media-related extracurricular activities offered within the University. These include the student-operated radio station, WTBU, the student television organizations (butv10, Growling Dog Productions, and Neighborhood Network News), the student-run production company (HotHouse Productions), as well as student chapters of various professional organizations.

Internship Program

Qualified students with junior status are encouraged to participate in the internship program. Internships provide students with the opportunity to work at one of the many broadcast stations or independent film and video production facilities or cable companies in the Boston area. This experience enables students to apply their academic training and gain professional experience. Students may intern either part time during the academic year or full time during the summer following their sophomore year. A summer internship is one way students can explore career opportunities outside the Boston area. Students must have a 3.0 overall GPA as well as a 3.0 COM GPA in order to meet the academic portion of the internship program.

Los Angeles Internship Program

The Los Angeles Internship Program offers a semester of study and work in the heart of the film and television industry. Courses are taught by members of the Boston University faculty and by alumni who also provide internship positions and serve as mentors in and outside of the classroom. Upon successful completion of a semester, students earn 16 Boston University credits (three four-credit courses and a four-credit internship), which fall within the film and television curriculum. All grading is done by Boston University faculty or the Academic Director.

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Curriculum

Students may enter the Department of Film and Television as second-semester freshmen, having successfully completed COM CO 101  The World of Communication. Students interested in the television sequence may take COM FT 363 The Television Revolution during the spring semester of freshman year, and students interested in the film program may take COM FT 360 Understanding Film during the spring semester of freshman year.

CAS Concentration

Students must also complete a meaningful sequence of three courses at the 300 level or above in the College of Arts and Sciences. This sequence must have approval of the student’s faculty advisor.

Television Program

The Television Program recognizes that the creative and intellectual center of all television production is to be found in the person of the producer. This is true whether the project is a fiction or nonfiction production. The producer is not simply responsible for the budgeting and costing of a project. Often, the producer conceives, writes, and sometimes even directs it. The television producer has a creative role unique in the media, and it is around this role that the television course of study has been shaped.

The program builds upon a solid foundation of liberal arts and requires production of creative work as well as study of the business practices of the industry, a script-writing sequence, and both the critical and social aspects of television.

Students in the Television Program are encouraged to include courses from the Film Program, as well as courses from other departments of the College and of the University at large.

COM FT 314 Writing for Television (may be taken in the sophomore year)

COM FT 325 Producing I (may be taken in the junior year)

COM FT 353 Video Production I (may be taken in the sophomore year)

COM FT 363 The Television Revolution (may be taken in the freshman year)

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Students in the Television Program must take, in addition to the four core courses, a minimum of six courses from the following list of electives:

COM FT 303 Introduction to the Television and Radio Industry

COM FT 402 Video Production II

COM FT 408 Television, Culture, and Society

COM FT 410 Seminar: Television, Culture, and Society

COM FT 456 Acting for Directors and Writers

COM FT 465 Video Production III

COM FT 502 Sound Design for Film and Television

COM FT 504 Video Postproduction I

COM FT 505 Television Production Hothouse

COM FT 507 Television Studio Production

COM FT 510 Television Aesthetics

COM FT 512 Writing Episodic Drama

COM FT 514 Advanced Writing for Television

COM FT 515 International Television

COM FT 517 Television Management

COM FT 522 Writing Situation Comedies

COM FT 523 Understanding Marketing and Sales

COM FT 525 Producing II

COM FT 526 Directing the Theatrical and Television Film

COM FT 527 Lighting

COM FT 543 Television Comedy

COM FT 545 Television and Childhood

COM FT 552 Special Topics: Variable

COM FT 553 Special Topics: Variable

COM FT 554 Special Topics: Variable

COM FT 560 The Documentary

COM FT 561 Television Drama

COM JO 534 Broadcast News for Non-Majors

CFA DR 123 Acting for Non-Theatre Majors

Film Program

The Film Program provides a comprehensive examination of film while ensuring that students also receive a strong liberal arts education. The program focuses on three areas: film studies, screenwriting, and film production. Students study the works of master filmmakers to learn from those who came before them. At the same time, students practice the art of storytelling through their screenwriting courses and apply what they have learned in their production courses. This threefold approach has resulted in our students achieving national recognition in film festivals, screenwriting competitions, and film editing contests. Filmmaking classes emphasize narrative filmmaking, offering courses in acting, directing, cinematography, lighting, sound design, and postproduction. The faculty’s goal is to enable each student to graduate with a short film capable of winning student film festivals, as well as a feature-length screenplay.

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COM FT 360 Understanding Film (may be taken in the freshman year)

COM FT 310 Screenwriting I (may be taken in the sophomore year)

Principal Courses Offered in the Film Program

Students in the Film Program take, in addition to the two above courses, a minimum of eight courses from the following list of electives (three must be film studies courses):

COM FT 304 Film Industry

COM FT 325 Producing I

COM FT 351 Film Production I

COM FT 353 Video Production I

COM FT 402 Video Production II

COM FT 403 Film Production II

COM FT 411 Screenwriting II

COM FT 412 Screenwriting III

COM FT 456 Acting for Directors and Writers

COM FT 457 American Masterworks

COM FT 458 International Masterworks

COM FT 465 Video Production III

COM FT 468 Film Production III

COM FT 502 Sound Design for Film and Television

COM FT 505 Television Production Hothouse

COM FT 507 Television Studio Production

COM FT 512 Writing Episodic Drama

COM FT 517 Television Management

COM FT 522 Writing Situation Comedies

COM FT 525 Producing II

COM FT 526 Directing the Theatrical and Television Film

COM FT 527 Lighting

COM FT 533 American Independent Film

COM FT 535 Film Analysis

COM FT 536 Film Theory and Criticism

COM FT 542 Advanced Screenwriting

COM FT 543 Television Comedy

COM FT 545 Television and Childhood

COM FT 551 Designing the Short Film

COM FT 552 Special Topics: Variable

COM FT 553 Special Topics: Variable

COM FT 554 Special Topics: Variable

COM FT 555 Narrative Documentary Practicum

COM FT 560 The Documentary

COM FT 561 Television Drama

COM FT 563 French New Wave

COM FT 565 Digital Editing

COM FT 567 Film Styles

COM FT 593 Cinematography

CFA DR 123 Acting for Non-Theatre Majors

Electives In addition to the ten courses required in the Film Program and the three CAS concentration courses, students elect three other courses chosen from any program at Boston University, including television and film courses, broadcast journalism, photography, advertising, and corporate communications. Directed studies, internships, and 2-credit courses also fall into this category. (See the “Directed Studies and Internships” section below.) Transfer students entering as juniors may not be allowed these electives.

Directed Studies and Internships

COM FT 491 Directed Studies I

COM FT 492 Directed Studies II

COM FT 493 Internship I

COM FT 494 Internship II

COM FT 573 BUTV I

COM FT 574 BUTV II

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DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM

Journalism has become increasingly complex in the 21st century, and journalists must describe a rapidly changing world. Journalists must analyze and explain the events swiftly and thoroughly.

Preparation for such responsibility is a formidable task, because a good journalistnot only has technical and professional skills, but also intellectual breadth and curiosity about the world. Journalism students at Boston University combine a solid liberal arts background with preprofessional education to prepare for careers as writers, reporters, editors, and producers for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online newsrooms and other new multimedia outlets. Journalism majors therefore take a majority of their courses in disciplines outside COM (usually in the College of Arts and Sciences).

The department provides all undergraduates with the opportunity to study journalism in its broadest aspects: its history and literature; its laws, regulations, and ethics; 
its traditional role as a motivator and critic of government in a dynamic, democratic society; and its total effect as a social and economic institution. In addition, students acquire professional skill training, including reporting, feature and editorial writing, editing, producing, news selection, photography, and media management. Boston, as the state capital and a recognized cultural, financial, media, educational, and scientific center, provides special opportunities for the training of journalists.

The Department of Journalism offers programs with specializations in newspaper reporting and editing, magazine writing, photojournalism, multimedia and interactive publishing, and television and radio journalism.

At the end of the sophomore year, in consultation with an advisor, journalism majors select a liberal arts concentration in one of three areas: social sciences, humanities, or sciences. Students take five courses in the selected area, three of which must be in the same department. For example, a student with an interest in reporting urban affairs might choose a specialization in social science, and during the junior and senior years might take courses in political science, history, and economics.

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Journalism Program

The News-Editorial Sequence prepares students for careers in the newspaper, wire service, and online fields. There are writing opportunities in the award-winning student newspaper, the Daily Free Press.

The Photojournalism Sequence For more than half a century the photojournalism program at Boston University’s College of Communication has graduated photographers who become top professionals at newspapers, magazines, wire services, agencies, and in the freelance market. The program is an intense, hands-on, career-oriented sequence employing both traditional and digital technologies. Our graduates have won Pulitzer Prizes and World Press Awards and work for major news organizations including The New York Times, Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Time, Newsweek, and international photo agencies. Students graduate with a thorough knowledge of digital photography gained through use of our state-of-the-art cameras and photo lab.

The Broadcast Journalism Sequence emphasizes original reporting in television and radio. The program is designed for students who see careers in writing, researching, and production of television and radio news and documentary programming. Students are encouraged to participate in broadcast journalism internships at local radio or television stations during the summer period. Students must have Junior status, a 3.0 GPA, completed COM CO 101, CO 201, and JO 307 and declared a Journalism Major in their Sophomore year. Students may not take more than a 2-credit internship while they are in Junior status. Students are directed, wherever possible, to work assignments for the University radio station, WBUR-FM; the campus radio station, WTBU, and Neighborhood Network News, Boston’s cable television news program.

Washington Journalism Center The Washington Journalism Center offers senior journalism and graduate students the chance 
to spend a semester in Washington, D.C., meeting newsmakers, working in the bureaus of national news organizations, reporting on Congress and the federal government for New England news outlets, and studying political reporting. In addition to a course in political reporting, additional seminars on the legislative process, money and politics, and political feature writing are offered by national journalists. Students are provided with internships in the D.C. bureaus of national print and broadcast news organizations. They also serve as the Washington correspondents for New England news outlets through the Boston University Washington News Service, which has a newsroom also equipped with state-of-the-art television and radio equipment in the Boston University Washington Center on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest Washington. Upon successful completion of the program, students earn 16 credits.

Broadcast and Cable Opportunities

The College of Communication is committed to offering students academic and professional opportunities in the newest communication technologies. The College has joined with the Boston Cable Access and Programming Foundation to produce Neighborhood Network News, a nightly evening newscast made available to more than 300,000 potential cable-viewing households in Boston. A fully equipped broadcast journalism newsroom and a production studio are located in COM. Students work closely with professional staff to write, edit, report, and produce the newscast.

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Internship Program

In conjunction with New England publishers, agencies, and broadcasters, the department has developed an extensive internship program for print, photo, and broadcast journalism majors.

Internships for superior undergraduates can be arranged with the publishers of weekly and daily newspapers and magazines as well as radio, television, and cable news and public affairs programs. When possible, the student selects a publication within his or her field of specialization. Students may intern either part time during a regular semester or full time over the summer. For more details, see the course description for COM JO 411/412 or COM JO 413.

Internships are also available year-round to broadcast journalism students at both public and commercial radio and television stations, and at Internet news organizations.

All candidates for internships with credit must have junior standing. All broadcast journalism internship candidates must have junior standing, be enrolled in or have completed COM JO 351, and have a 3.0 grade point average in their COM courses.

Professional Requirements

Journalism students are required to demonstrate reporting skills and competence as writers.

Curriculum

The following courses are required of all journalism majors and are taken concurrently with those in one of the sequences.

Core Courses

COM CO 201 Introduction to Communication Writing (prereq for JO 307)

COM JO 307 Newswriting and Reporting I (prereq for JO 308 and JO 351)

COM JO 357 History and Principles of Journalism

COM JO 525 Media Law and Ethics

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Sequence Requirements

In addition to the courses listed above, all journalism students complete the courses indicated for one of the following sequences:

COM JO 308 Newswriting and Reporting II (prereq for JO 309)

COM JO 309 Feature Writing

COM JO 403 Magazine Writing and Editing

COM JO 408 Magazine Workshop

Develop remainder of program in consultation with advisor.

COM JO 308 Newswriting and Reporting II (prereq for JO 309)

COM JO 309 Feature Writing

COM JO 415 Advanced Reporting and Research Methods, 4 cr or

COM JO 503 Journalism Research

A minimum of 24 Journalism credits required. Develop remainder of program with advisor.

Photojournalism

COM JO 305 Basic Photography

COM JO 308 Newswriting and Reporting II

COM JO 312 Photojournalism I

COM JO 513 Advanced Photojournalism

COM JO 515 Photo Editing

Develop remainder of program in consultation with advisor.

Broadcast Journalism

COM JO 351 Writing and Reporting for Broadcast News

COM JO 431 Enterprise Reporting

COM JO 451 Television Newsroom

A minimum of two additional Journalism electives selected in consultation with advisor.

Note: Each journalism major must satisfy a concentration requirement by completing five related courses at the 300 level or higher. (Two 200-level courses are allowed in languages, science, mathematics, psychology, and economics.) Waivers for required courses may be granted to more experienced or advanced students by petition to the chairman, with the support of the student’s advisor.

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DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION, ADVERTISING, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Department of Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public Relations offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication. Within that degree program, students can select a concentration in advertising, public relations, or communication studies. The curricula in advertising and in public relations prepare students for careers in those fields, and the communication studies option provides a foundation for roles as professional communicators in other fields or for further education at a more advanced level.

Graduates have gone on to careers in a variety of occupational fields, including advertising, public relations, marketing, health communication, employee relations, media research, and sales promotion. Typically, graduates work in such settings as corporations, nonprofit agencies, government, educational institutions, or other organizations within the labor force. Many have started their own businesses or agencies.

The department’s required and elective courses include a foundation in communication theory and research plus practical skills that are relevant not only for entry-level jobs but, more important, for continuing professional development. They prepare students to write clearly, speak effectively, and think critically—all of which are essential for continuing career success.

The combination of required and elective courses in the curriculum is designed to produce generalists who can design effective communication content and apply a variety of problem-solving techniques to achieve a broad range of real-world goals. By understanding basic communication concepts, principles, and theories, students learn to design, implement, and evaluate message content needed in various professional settings. They also learn to select and use all contemporary media channels effectively to convey information to designated target audiences for a variety of practical purposes.

Classroom work is supplemented by both internships and participation in AdLab or PRLab, which are student-run communication agencies. These activities provide on-the-job experience for academic credit. Internships place students in for-profit or nonprofit agencies and other settings where they gain practical experience in handling professional communication problems, and where they can develop important personal contacts.

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Curriculum

To receive the BS degree from Boston University, students must complete a total of 32 courses. Of these, 17 must be in the liberal arts.

To satisfy the requirements of any of the three 16-course concentrations offered by the Department of Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public Relations, students take a combination of two courses required of all students, two selected from a list of options, three selected from liberal arts, and five from one of the three major areas of concentration (each of which has its own pattern of requirements). The remaining courses are electives. These configurations of courses can be explained as follows:

From section one below, both courses are required of all students. From section two, students can select any two courses. As explained in section three, three courses must be selected from the College of Arts and Sciences. Finally, each of the major concentrations has its own pattern of required and optional courses as explained under their headings:

1. All students must take both of the following required foundation courses:

COM CM 331 Writing for Mass Communication

COM CM 380 Theory and Process of Communication

2. All students must take any two courses from the following list of communication discipline courses:

COM CM 303 Organizational Structure and Behavior

COM CM 311 Oral Presentations

COM CM 321 Mass Communication Research PR and MC students cannot count this course here.

COM CM 409 Persuasion and Public Opinion

COM CM 481 Law of Communication MC students cannot count this course here.

COM CM 510 Computers in Communication

3. All students must select three courses from the College of Arts and Sciences that are related to their major concentration. These must be at the 300 level or higher.
4. The remaining courses are free electives that can be taken in any School of Boston University in any pattern. Also, they may be used within the recommended elective sequence listed below in the Department of Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public Relations. They may also be used to complete freshman/sophomore requirements if needed.

Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public Relations

After choosing one of the three major areas of concentration listed below, students must complete five courses (20 credits) in their chosen field. With minor exceptions, these will be taken during the junior and senior years. Some of the courses may have prerequisites (listed in parentheses). Some courses are offered every semester; others, only in the fall or spring. Some are also offered in Summer Term.

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Courses in bold are required.

COM CM 317 Introduction to Advertising

COM CM 323 Design in Communication

COM CM 405 Advertising Media Planning and Buying (COM CM 317)

COM CM 411 Art Direction (COM CM 317, COM CM 331, and COM CM 417)

COM CM 412 Account Planning (COM CM 317)

COM CM 416 Problem Solving in Advertising (COM CM 317)

COM CM 417 Advertising Copy and Design (COM CM 317 and COM CM 331)

COM CM 419 Advertising Management (COM CM 317)

COM CM 420 AdLab (2 credits per semester)

COM CM 423 Portfolio Development for Advertising (COM CM 317 and COM CM 331 and COM CM 417)

COM CM 471 Communication Internship (COM CM 317 and COM CM 331, senior status plus 3.0 or higher COM GPA)

COM CM 508 Video Production for Advertising and Public Relations

COM CM 518 Creating Broadcast Advertising (COM CM 317 and COM CM 331 and COM CM 417)

COM CM 519 Interactive Marketing Communication (COM CM 317)

COM CM 527 Creative Solutions in Advertising (COM CM 317, COM CM 331, and COM CM 417)

COM CM 555 Advanced Promotional Writing (CM 331)

SMG MK 299 Introduction to Marketing

Courses in bold are required.

COM CM 301 Principles and Practices of Public relations

COM CM 321 Mass Communication research

COM CM 441 Media relations (COM CM 301 and COM CM 331)

One course required from the following:

COM CM 313 Corporate Communication (COM CM 301)

COM CM 345 Public Relations in Nonprofit Settings (COM CM 301)

COM CM 734 Governmental Public Relations (by permission of instructor, COM CM 301)

One course (4 credits) required from the following:

COM CM 471 Communication Internship (COM CM 301 and COM CM 331, senior status plus 3.0 or higher COM GPA)

COM CM 473 PRLab (COM CM 301 and COM CM 331) (Total of 4 credits required)

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Recommended Electives

COM CM 508 Video Production for Advertising and Public Relations

COM CM 513 Investor Relations (COM CM 301)

COM CM 515 Community Relations (COM CM 301)

COM CM 535 Political Campaigning (COM CM 301)

COM CM 555 Advanced Promotional Writing (COM CM 331)

Communication Studies

Courses in bold are required.

COM CM 301 Priniciples and Practices of Public Relations

COM CM 303 Organizational Structure and Behavior

COM CM 317 Introduction to Advertising

COM CM 321 Mass Communication Research

COM CM 471 COM Internship (COM CM 331) (a COM GPA of 3.0 or higher and senior status)

COM CM 481 Law of Communication

COM CM 510 Computers in Communication

COM CM 514 New Communication Technologies

COM CM 523 Designing Interactive Communication (COM CM 510)

COM CM 534 Communication Strategies in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

COM CM 555 Advanced Promotional Writing (COM CM 331)

From time to time, courses numbered COM CM 561  or 562 are offered on various specialized areas of communication practice. With the approval of the student’s advisor and the chairman of the department, these may sometimes be substituted by petition for some of the options in the three sequences.

In some cases, students may petition to substitute (nonrequired) courses in a major concentration. This must be done with the approval of the student’s advisor and the chairman of the department. In special cases, a student may petition to construct an individual major area of concentration. This must be done early and with clear objectives in mind because it can pose unanticipated difficulties that may delay graduation. It requires a formal petition and approval from both the student’s advisor and from the chairman of the department.

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Boston, MA 02215

28 September 2007
Boston University
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