Communication Ethics: This course explores ethical issues facing media workers and media users in culture and society today. Students learn to: (a) identify how ethical theory and frameworks can inform communication in various. contexts, (b) apply various theoretical frameworks to understand the ethical use and development of media and technology, and (c) develop interpersonal communication and collaborative work skills.
For their final project,students developed a synopsis for the sci-fi dystopian Netflix show, Black Mirror, based on their area of study, and applied an ethical framework to identify solutions to reduce the likelihood of that dystopian future existing.
Immersive Media Psychology: Instead of focusing on just the media technology, or just the individual user, media psychology is a discipline that focuses on the interplay between messages, the platforms they are distributed through, and the humans that receive them. This course will present you with an overview of media psychology with an emphasis on emerging media platforms. Students learn about various theoretical frameworks for studying why humans consume specific types of content, as well as understanding the affective, behavioral, and cognitive implications of particular media messages. After completing this course, you should have the capability to think critically about how particular communications strategies may influence your target audience(s).
Research Methods: This course covers various methodological approaches and principles in the communication field, with an emphasis on immersive and interactive media and technology. Students learn to: (a) identify different types of methodological approaches , (b) apply different methods to various scenarios and defend these choices, (c) identify the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches, (d) utilize collaborative and interpersonal skills, and (e) utilize presentation and public speaking skills.
Virtual Environments: Virtual environments have become an integral component of people’s everyday lives for multiple uses such as socializing, learning, and behavior change. The focus of the course is to examine people’s social and psychological experiences of virtual environments, such as in virtual reality. Through the course students will learn about the research behind people’s experiences of virtual environments. Part of the course involves interacting with virtual worlds and software used to build virtual environments.
Designing User Interfaces for Children: Interactive digital technology infiltrates homes, schools, and entertainment venues, changing how people think, and socialize. What is the impact of growing up with substantially greater access to information? How might a user’s age influence such technologies’ use? Throughout the course students will begin to answer these questions to understand and design media-technologies for youth.