Media and Communication Studies Courses

  • MCS-001–008. Journalism Practicum

    A learning experience in which students assume primary responsibility for editorial positions related to the publication of the print and online versions of The Grizzly. Prerequisites: MCS-207 or permission of the instructor. Graded S/U. One semester hour.

    MCS-009–016. Media Practicum

    A learning experience in which students assume primary responsibility for an applied media project. Student project proposals must be approved by the instructor. Prerequisites: any of the following: MCS-209, 210, 220 or 225 or permission of the instructor. Graded S/U. One semester hour.

    MCS-201. Public Speaking: Speech and Criticism in a Democratic Society

    Students construct, deliver, and critique speeches about significant public issues of the day. The course includes an introduction to rhetorical theory and criticism, as well as an introduction to the fundamentals of speech preparation and presentation. Four hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-205. Media and Society

    This course explores the role and influence of media in shaping social norms, political decision making, and individual beliefs and practices. In addition to a consideration of historical developments, the course engages contemporary issues such as corporate conglomeration, globalization, media convergence, digital culture, audiences as producers and receivers, and consumer culture. Three hours per week. Four hours per week (SS).

    MCS-206. Sports Journalism

    TThis course introduces students to the principles and practice of sports journalism. Students consider the social roles of sports journalism, examine the changing contexts in which it is produced, and gain experience conceiving, reporting, and producing sports-related journalistic content. After studying fundamental skills and contexts in the early part of the semester, this class will alternate between focusing on specific genres of sports journalism, such as game stories and podcasts, and considering issues in sports coverage such as the “Moneyball” revolution and labor disputes. Three hours per week. Four hours per week.

    MCS-207. Introduction to Journalism

    This course introduces students to the principles of journalism, including: information gathering, writing, editing and presentation of news under deadline. Students also explore issues related to libel, visual literacy, and changing audience demographics through the critical analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of various media outlets. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-208. Journalistic Storytelling in the 21st Century

    In this course, students will consider how the digital era has brought upheaval to the world of journalism, including changes to the ways journalists report, tell stories, and relate to audiences. In the second half of the semester, students will create multimedia content that meets the challenges and takes advantage of the opportunities of digital media. Prerequisite: MCS-207 or permission of instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS/ART-209. Documentary Photography

    This course introduces students to the concepts of visual documentation, social documentary style, photojournalism and ethics in photography as well as an historical perspective on the works of visual social documentarians. Students are required to conduct field work collecting digital still images to create visual narratives on a range of issues. Students enrolled in this course will need access to a digital camera to complete assignments. Three hours per week plus extensive individual work. Four semester hours. (A.)

    MCS-210. Television Studio Production

    An overview of the principles and techniques of studio television production. Emphasis is placed on translation of ideas into a visual format, program conceptualization, preproduction planning, script writing, critical analysis of the visual image, group work and peer review of programs. Three hours of lecture and two hours of lab per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-220. Introduction to New Media

    This course explores relationships between social change and emerging media while offering students a chance to create their own digital media projects. Students will learn how to construct and analyze digital media and interactive web-based content. Projects may include the production of podcasts, websites, idea maps, blogs, and other new media forms. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-225. Digital Filmmaking

    Introduces students to all stages of digital video production. Students will learn how to conceptualize, write, and develop a script, design a storyboard and visual treatment, and shoot and edit a digital short film. There will also be weekly readings, viewings, and discussions focused on the history and language of film. Four hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-250. DAMP: Drugs and Media Production

    Students in this LINQ course will collaborate with students in BIO/NEURO 350 to examine the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of various drugs in the central nervous system and translate this information into educational and persuasive messages for a non-science audience. Please note: Students do not need to also enroll in BIO-350 /Neuro-350 in order to earn LINQ credit. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (LINQ.)

    MCS-260. From Stage to Studio

    This course will focus on specific media productions linked with THEA-260. Students in this course with collaborate extensively and meaningfully on the study, analysis and production of monologues with students enrolled in THEA-260. Note: Students are not required to enroll in both courses to meet the LINQ requirement. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (LINQ.)

    MCS-261. From Stage to Studio 2: Building Characters

    This course will focus on specific media productions linked with THEA-261. Students in this course with collaborate extensively and meaningfully on the study, analysis and production of improvisational works with students enrolled in THEA-261. (Note: Students are not required to enroll in both courses to meet the LINQ requirement.) Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (LINQ.)

    MCS/PSYC-268. In Their Voices: Disability, Media, and Me

    Students will be encouraged to meaningfully explore the intersection of disability and national discourse by synthesizing multiple perspectives from humanities and social science disciplines. We will consider representation of four types of disabilities: physical or mobility disabilities, sensory disabilities, mental health conditions or psychiatric disabilities, and the autism spectrum using film, media, and print narratives. Students will produce podcasts and participate in analytic discussions throughout their journey. Prerequisite: PSYC-100 or MCS-205. Three hours of lecture. Four semester hours. (DN, LINQ, O.)

    MCS-275. Topics in Media Production

    This course will focus on specific media production areas not covered in other production courses in the MCS department. Three hours per week Four semester hours. (May be designated A. depending on topic)

    MCS-292W. Communication Theory and Research 

    This writing-intensive course introduces students to a range of theories and research methods in the field of communication and media studies. Students will workshop and conduct research using a variety of methods used in the discipline. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS/ENV-302. Climate and Communication

    In this interactive course, we study successful climate change communication strategies, practice how to effectively communicate about climate change to various constituencies, consider the relative strengths of a range of climate communication genres, and develop a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics between scientists, media industries, people, and politics impacting climate communication. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (SS. O.)

    MCS-305. Therapeutic Culture and Self-Help

    In this class we engage self-help historically, theoretically, and as a set of embodied practices. Students undertake applied individual projects, testing the impact of self-help advice on themselves, as well as group projects, offered as a workshop series to the community. We critically analyze classic bestselling self-help books, contemporary podcasts, and self-care products to unpack their meaning and consider their social impact. Three hours per week.  Four semester hours. (O, SS.)

    MCS-307. Conflict and Communication

    Taking a communication perspective, this course examines the nature of conflict in American society and offers alternatives to unilateral power based strategies of conflict resolution. Students are introduced to theories about the nature and kinds of conflict, as well as differing models for managing conflicts. They learn to map and analyze real life conflict situations in interpersonal, inter-group, and organization contexts and work with skills and models for conflict resolution. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (SS.)

    MCS-315. Media Ethics

    This course addresses ethical issues across media platforms in news, entertainment, public relations and advertising. Students think through ethical challenges such as the use of anonymous sources in journalism, editing images in advertising and crisis management. Students will conduct case study analyses of ethical dilemmas in the media. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (H, O.)

    MCS-318. Facebook Nation

    This course explores the rise of social media in our personal, social, political and economic relationships. Specifically, students explore the impacts of social media on ethical obligations to our digital selves and to the world around us as we challenge ourselves to answer the question: What will we do about these impacts and obligations? These issues will be explored through the lens of the four questions that are the foundation of the Ursinus Quest. Three hours per week.  Four semester hours. (CCAP, O, SS. (junior or senior only).)

    MCS/GWSS-319. Sex, Race and Comedy

    Students will learn to critically analyze the subversive power of comedy in exploring issues of race, gender, sexual orientation and class in American media. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (SS, DN.)

    MCS-321. Sci Fi and Fantasy Film

    This course explores the cultural myths about race, gender and technology found in science fiction television and film and what they say about our past, present, and future. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (H.)

    MCS-327. Remix Culture

    From musical mash-ups to video parodies, disputes about authorship, remixes, and copyright have become increasingly prominent in our digital media landscape. This course takes a humanistic approach to explore questions about originality and derivation in art and cultural production and the place of copyright and intellectual property in laying the groundwork for creative culture. We will examine ideas about and legal approaches to authorship and intellectual property from historical and philosophical perspectives; we will also look closely at contemporary controversies regarding piracy, file-sharing, culture jamming, sample-based art, and equally controversial efforts on the part of policymakers and corporations to limit or curtail these practices. We will not only discuss remix and the digital tools that are enabling a profusion of new expressive forms, but students will use some of these very tools to create media projects that analyze and comment upon contemporary debates. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-330. Freedom of Expression

    This course examines the theoretical and historical underpinnings of how we think about freedom of expression and its importance to societies organized around the idea of democracy. The course will contrast two intellectual approaches to the role of expression in Western society: the classical liberal and the romantic. We will explore the historical development of these ideas, analyze how they were applied in landmark cases, as well as challenge ourselves to apply these systems of logic to contemporary speech controversies. We engage current concerns such as corporate power, digital media, and free speech on campus. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (H, O.)

    MCS-335. Media, Activism, and Social Change

    This course will explore how social movement activists have sought to engage popular media to promote social change as well as to change media structures themselves. What kind of tactics and strategies have different movements developed to influence corporate media? What strategies have they developed for creating alternative media and public forums? What insights can activists, social critics, and media theorists offer about media’s role in promoting and resisting social transformation? While we will focus mostly on media savvy U.S.-based social movements that began since the 1960s, we will also discuss the global influences and alliances of these U.S. movements. Some of the movements we will examine include: the civil rights and Black liberation movements; anti-war movements; feminist movements; LGBTQ rights,ACT-UP; the evangelical New Right; Occupy Wall Street; BlackLives Matter. There is no prerequisite for this course. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (CCAP, SS.)

    MCS/GWSS-340. Gender, Ethnicity and Communication 

    This course explores theories and research on gender, ethnicity and communication, with a particular focus on African American culture. Students will use two research methods to study the relationship between gender, ethnicity and communication: a discourse analysis and an autoethnography. The reading, writing, and discussions in the course will encourage students to cultivate more reflective communicative practice. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (DN, SS)

    MCS-342. Difficult Dialogues

    This course explores dialogue as a means of promoting understanding among individuals and groups and its potential to foster collaboration and problem solving in relationships and in the community. To do this, we will read about and discuss a range of topics and issues related to politics and various aspects of identity (e.g., gender, class, race, religion). We will consider the purpose of engaging in dialogue about these topics, especially on college campuses, as we reflect back on discussions in the Common Intellectual Experience and the first core question: “What should matter to me?” We will examine theoretical approaches to dialogue and various positions on the ideal nature of such conversations, as well as approaches to facilitate and participate in them. Students will reflect on the final core question: “What will I do?” as they analyze their own and others’ communicative behavior in these discussions and through the facilitation of a public dialogue about a divisive/controversial issue on campus that is designed to achieve specific goals. This course fulfills the Core Capstone requirement. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (CCAP.)

    MCS-344. Childhood and Media

    This class explores how the meaning and value of childhood is negotiated in screen media. The course takes a chronological approach, beginning with literature and portraiture before moving to cinema, television, and gaming.?It is?divided into units on such topics as the invention of childhood, the work of childhood, and media regulation so that students will interrogate how children are represented, taught, and entertained from the 17th-21st?centuries. In written papers and presentations?students?will grapple with the many conflicts and controversies that plague the history of children on screens. Four hours per?week. Four semester hours. (H.)

    MCS-345. Voice in Media

    This course considers the relationship between the voice and identity in order to examine how voices are interpreted in a variety of cultural contexts. We will examine voices floating on the airwaves of talk radio, belting from stages of televised singing competitions, occupying the soundtracks of the cinema, coughing in the lecture hall, pranking with the telephone, soaring at a football game, and soothing the nerves through a podcast late at night. Students will produce projects that engage with questions of vocal representation, creating media texts that demonstrate standard modes of constructing the mediated voice and suggest routes for destabilizing these rules. We will also analyze and write about voices, our own and those of others, situated in the present and beyond the grave. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (H.)

    MCS-350. Intercultural Communication

    An examination of face-to-face communication between people of different cultural backgrounds. Case studies are analyzed to identify differences in expectations, practices, and interpretations. Topics include cross-cultural comparisons of conversational style, power relations, language, and perception in educational, organizational, and social settings. This course may be a particular interest to students preparing to study abroad as well as those planning to work in international business, education, and politics. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (DN, GN, SS.)

    MCS-351. Hollywood Stardom and Celebrity Culture

    This course will examine the role of stars in the history of Hollywood film. We will investigate how film studios went from not publicly naming their performers, to tightly controlling their stars’ images and carefully promoting them to moviegoers, to relying on stars to sell movies and thus negotiating hefty paychecks and profit-sharing deals through talent managers. In addition to considering how stars function within the film industry, we will also study celebrity culture more broadly. Why do we care about celebrities, what do they mean to us, and why do so many people despise celebrities who are “famous for being famous”? While our primary focus will be on film stars, we will also consider music and television as star-making platforms. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (H.)

    MCS-352. Teen Film and Television

    This course studies the development and proliferation of films and television programs about and marketed toward American teenagers. We will trace teen film and television’s origins and their reformulations through U.S. film and television history, while studying teen film and television’s generic conventions and their relation to other genres such as the musical, the gangster film, and the soap opera. The course will examine Hollywood’s representations of and attempts to appeal to the American teenager, paying special attention to issues of delinquency and rebellion, burgeoning sexuality, the social politics of high school, and nostalgia. We will also consider teen film and television’s intersections with subcultures, popular music, and consumer culture. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (H.)

    MCS-354. Sex, Gender and the 1980s

    The 1980s are often remembered as a socially conservative decade, characterized by the immense popularity of Ronald Reagan and a cultural obsession with traditional “family values.” This course will interrogate this popular memory, examining the ways conflicting ideas about gender and sexuality were constructed and expressed in the films, television, and popular music of the 1980s. Through studying phenomena such as “hard body” films (e.g. the Rocky series), MTV, the increasing visibility of LGBT issues, representations of “career women,” family sitcoms, and the AIDS crisis, we will gain a more nuanced understanding of the decade’s gender and sexual politics. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (DN, H.)

    MCS-355. Technology and Culture

    This class focuses on the dynamics between communication technologies and culture and asks three questions: How are communication technologies revolutionary? How are they continuities of traditional media in terms of content, audiences, advertising, and corporate ownership? Do cultural changes determine advancements in communication technologies or do changes in communication technologies determine cultural changes? Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (SS.)

    MCS-358. Persuasion: Critical studies in Advertising and Propaganda 

    Every day, each of us is the targets of countless media messages meant to persuade us and change our behavior.  This course explores the workings of media persuasion with a special focus on advertising, political campaigning, and propaganda.  We will examine the modern historical development of these forms and explore critical theories attempting to understand their social significance, while building skills for analyzing and decoding advertising and propaganda messages in various guises. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (H.)

    MCS-360. News Analysis

    A critical exploration of news culture. Students work with quantitative and qualitative methodologies to explore issues related (but not limited) to race, gender, class, and nationality in the production and consumption of American news. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (SS.)

    MCS-363. Audience Studies

    A qualitative and quantitative examination of the “audience” construct in historical and new media contexts. Specifically, this course uses the four big QUESTions to interrogate and critique the power relations among individuals, institutions, and audiences, as well as the ethical dilemmas that arise from these relationships. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (CCAP, O, SS. (junior and senior only).)

    MCS-365. Political Communication

    This course is an overview of the field of political communication, including campaign advertising, debates, speeches, and candidates’ and officeholders’ uses of the news. We’ll examine questions like these through a history of presidential elections in the television age, starting with 1952 and continuing to the present. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (SS.)

    MCS-366. Digital Democracy

    This class explores uses of new communication technology in political and social organizing, with particular attention to subgroups within the US population and how issues of race, class, and gender interact with the opportunities and constraints of our digital democracy. The class emphasizes the theoretical and historical role of democracy in US society, and more specifically, of the role of media in fostering and/or inhibiting democratic participation. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (May be designated DN, GN, H. depending on topic)

    MCS-375. Special Topics in Media and Communication Studies

    This course will focus on a specific topic at an advanced theoretical or critical level within media and communication studies not covered in the other courses in the curriculum. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (May be designated H or SS depending on topic)

    MCS-381. Internship

    A work experience under the supervision of a faculty adviser and an on-site supervisor. Students must document their experience according to the requirements delineated in the College catalogue section on Internships. Includes periodic meetings with the faculty adviser and completion of a work log and a final poster presentation. Open to juniors and seniors. The term during which the internship work is performed will be noted by one of the following letters, to be added immediately after the internship course number: A (fall), B (winter), C (spring), or D (summer). Internships undertaken abroad will be so indicated by the letter I. The intern must complete a minimum of 120 hours of work. Graded S/U. Prerequisites: major or minor in MCS, three courses completed in the department, and approval of a faculty internship adviser.  Three semester hours. (XLP.)

    MCS-382. Internship

    A work experience under the supervision of a faculty adviser and an on-site supervisor. Students must document their experience according to the requirements delineated in the College catalogue section on Internships. Includes periodic meetings with the faculty adviser and completion of a work log and a final poster presentation. Open to juniors and seniors. The term during which the internship work is performed will be noted by one of the following letters, to be added immediately after the internship course number: A (fall), B (winter), C (spring), or D (summer). Internships undertaken abroad will be so indicated by the letter I. The intern must complete a minimum of 160 hours of work. Graded S/U. Prerequisites: major or minor in MCS, three courses completed in the department, and approval of a faculty internship adviser.  Four semester hours. (XLP.)

    MCS-391. Research in Media and Communication Studies

    Independent research under the supervision of a faculty adviser. A final product and an oral presentation to the department on a specific topic in media and communication studies is required. Prerequisites: eight credits of course work (MCS-300-375) in media and communication studies, demonstrated competence in the specific area of a study, a written project proposal, and permission of a department faculty member who will serve as project adviser. Offered in the fall semester. Four semester hours (XLP.)

    MCS-392. Research in Media and Communication Studies

    Content, prerequisites, and requirements are the same as MCS-391. Offered in spring semester. Four semester hours. (XLP.)

    MCS-411. Projects in Media and Communication Studies

    Advanced individual work in media production. Prerequisites: eight credits of course work in media and communication studies between MCS 207-290, demonstrated competence in the specific area of production, a written project proposal, and permission of a department faculty member who will serve as project adviser. Course may be taken two times for credit. Four semester hours. (XLP.)

    MCS-412. Projects in Media and Communication Studies

    Content, prerequisites, and requirements are the same as MCS-411. Course may be taken two times for credit.  Four semester hours (XLP.)

    MCS-460W. Seminar in Media Criticism

    Students study the theories and practices of media criticism, applying them to historical or contemporary texts, such as popular music, films, news reportage, and fictional television. Students engage in research and writing and make an oral presentation of their findings. Prerequisites: MCS-201, MCS-205, MCS-292W, and one 300 level course between 300 and 375. Senior standing or permission of instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-462W. Seminar in Communication and Culture

    Students work with ethnographic methods as a means to explore the communicative patterns and processes of groups, organizations, and institutions. Students will conduct fieldwork, analyze data, and write a research paper as well as make an oral presentation of their findings. Prerequisites: MCS 201, MCS-205, MCS-292W, and one 300 level course between 300 and 375. Senior standing or permission of instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-463W. Seminar in Audience Analysis

    Students work with survey methodologies to explore relationships between audiences and media use.  Students conduct original research, complete a research paper and make an oral presentation of their final recommendations. Prerequisites:?MCS-201, 205, 292W, and one 300-level MCS course between 300 and 375. Senior standing or permission of instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-464W. Seminar in Media Analysis

    Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, students analyze messages embedded in the entertainment, persuasive and information media. Focus is on the content and effects of television, film, recordings, and the internet. Students complete a research paper and make an oral presentation of their findings. Prerequisites: MCS-201, MCS-205, MCS-292W, and one 300 level course between 300 and 375. Senior standing or permission of instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    MCS-491. Research/Independent Work

    This course is open to candidates for departmental honors with the permission of the instructor and the departmental chair. Prerequisites: MCS-201, MCS-205, MCS 292W, and one 300 level course between 300 and 375.  Four semester hours. (XLP.)

    MCS-492W. Research/Independent Work

    A continuation of MCS-491. Prerequisite: MCS-491. Four semester hours. (XLP.)