Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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COM EM 855: Computer-Assisted Text Analysis
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 861: Special Topics
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
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 888: Doctoral Collaboratory Project
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 889: Advanced Issues in Emerging Media Content Production
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 901: Independent Study
By special arrangement, the student may work independently under the supervision of an EMS professor. -
COM EM 902: Directed Study Emerging Media
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 909: Thesis Project
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 911: EMS Internship
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 993: Thesis Research
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 FT 201: Screen Language: The Aesthetics, Grammar and Rhetoric of the Moving Image
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 250: Understanding Film
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 303: Understanding Television
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 304: Film Industry
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
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 325: Creative Producing 1
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 353: Production 1
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 402: Production II
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 404: Asian Cinema
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - 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 411: Screenwriting 1
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.
