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.
FALL 2025 Schedule
| Section |
Instructor |
Location |
Schedule |
Notes |
| A1 |
Amazeen |
COM 319 |
TR 11:00 am-12:15 pm |
Topic: Information Integrity in an Era of Content
Confusion
Description: According to the World Economic Forum, mis- and disinformation are the two greatest risks poised to impact global stability. We live in a world where news organizations are creating ads for fossil fuel and tobacco companies, influencers pitch unregulated health products to their followers, and evidence-based science is under attack. Generative artificial intelligence is only making the provenance of content even more difficult to discern. This course will prepare students to navigate and analyze this rapidly evolving media ecosystem by reviewing frameworks for understanding the nature and scope of the information integrity issue, introducing the social and psychological drivers of misinformation, and identifying various intervention strategies to reduce misperceptions. Students will leave the course having developed a social scientific study to examine an information integrity issue of interest. |
SPRG 2026 Schedule
| Section |
Instructor |
Location |
Schedule |
Notes |
| A1 |
Donovan |
COM 211 |
T 8:00 am-10:45 am |
TOPIC: Everyone is a Journal-ish: Media, Power, and Fearless Speech
Description: The practice of journalism is changing rapidly due to technological advancements in the mobile web, where newly minted social networking companies in the early 2000s focused on building a new business model around content and attention. In part, the transfer of advertising revenue from news markets to social media companies was a death knell for local journalism, but was a boon for social media companies, who have taken powerful steps to prevent governments from regulating their industry. Now, social media companies decide how journalism will be distributed across their products, if at all. While it is very distressing to see traditional modes of local journalism slowly slip away, it's not the end of the story. News leaders are mounting a resurgence of local, non-profit, and single subject newsrooms, where the infrastructure of the Internet and social media are remixed to support the next generation of news makers and consumers. Whereas the printing press made everyone a potential author, the internet has made everyone a potential publisher. In this course, students will learn the basic skills of investigation and fact-checking, come away with a practical understanding of the ethical principles of the profession, and embody the habits of the heart taught to journalism students, whose reputations depend on being reliable sources of news and civic information. The course covers contemporary theories of technology, media literacy, and provides the skills to assess the quality, reliability, methods of news making, and an in-depth understanding of bias the media ecosystem in the US. Throughout the course, students learn to be responsible media consumers and creators of real talk (Timely Accurate Local Knowledge). Equipped with mobile phones that put the power of broadcast into the hands of each of us, everyone can benefit from becoming a journal-ish. |
SPRG 2026 Schedule
| Section |
Instructor |
Location |
Schedule |
Notes |
| B1 |
Wells |
CGS 111A |
MW 10:10 am-11:55 am |
TOPIC: Communication, solidarity, and trust in divided societies
Description: The United States is facing levels of political and social division not seen in a century; parallel patterns are evident across many Western democracies. These circumstances raise the question of how (perhaps whether) social solidarity can operate in diverse, post-industrial, communicatively fragmented societies. This course’s focus is on communication’s role in our political crises and solidarity challenges. Over the course of the semester, we will: (1) understand our current conditions in the context of political, economic and communication history of the United States and Europe; (2) consider the arguments of recent theoretical work on solidarity, recognition, and identity; (3) interrogate the findings of related empirical research on public opinion, the building of social movements, and political discourses in polarized societies; and (4) explore the place of our fragmented and politicized information ecology—now infused with AI—in our struggles. |
Note that this information may change at any time. Please visit the MyBU Student Portal for the most up-to-date course information.
