Six topics are offered for Fall 2017. Make be repeated for credit if section topic is different. Section A1: NBC: Anatomy of a Network. Explores the different stages of TV's development by using NBC as a case study. Examines the ways "America's network" has navigated the transition from radio to TV, monopolistic trends, inter-network competition, programming decisions, conglomeration, threats from cable and the Internet. Also offered as COM FT 532. Pre-req: CAS CI 303 or COM FT 303. Section B1: Cordless TV. Focuses on differing ways of watching television beyond the television set. Explores ideas of on-demand television and its effects on how television is made and marketed, what audiences are targeted, and how outlets like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon are changing the television industry. Also offered as COM FT 554 A1. Pre-req: CAS CI 303 or COM FT 303. Section C1: Writing Film & TV Criticism. Examines both the history of film and television criticism and current practices in a variety of mass media. Students write reviews and thinkpieces that blend insightful analysis with an engaging voice. Also offered as COM FT 500. Pre-req: COM FT 250 or either CAS CI 303 or COM FT 303. Section D1: American Masterworks. A survey of American cinema from the silent era up to recent times, including films directed by such figures as Griffith, Chaplin, Keaton, Ford, Hawks, Capra, Welles, Hitchcock, Ray, Cassavetes, Altman, and Malick. Considers production history and cultural context. Also offered as COM FT 722 and COM FT 457. Section E1: Foundational Masterworks of American Independent Film. The foundational masterworks of American independent film. The course will focus on the masterworks created by the first generation of American independent filmmakers--works that changed American film history and continue to inspire generations of independent filmmakers with their example. Also offered as COM FT 554 C1. Section F1: Race, Gender, and Sci-Fi. Explores race, gender, and sexuality as central to science fiction on film and television via Alien, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among other works, to gauge how sci-fi has been used to fantasize radical elsewheres, engage Otherness, and confront issues from enslavement to artificial intelligence. Also offered as COM FT 554 B1.