COMM216

Contemporary culture is dominated by film, television, video, and related media that convey information, provide entertainment, and influence both belief and action. Media/Cinema Studies is an introduction to the discipline of media and cinema studies and their influence. The course will introduce students to the critical terms and methods required for reading and writing about these media and related cultural texts, with an emphasis on developing skills in the close reading of such texts and the writing of critical responses to them. Media/Cinema Studies is intended as a foundation for further courses in the Communication Arts major while also serving as a general interest course to students in other programs. The course deals with Hollywood movies past and present; international cinema and media; television; video; and emerging forms of new media. This course will examine images as well as the institutions that produce them in order to show why and how the production and consumption of media have become a defining characteristic of contemporary culture.