University of Wisconsin–Madison

course_term: Spring 2021

COM ARTS 368

A theory-based examination of the role of communication in attitude formation and planned social change. Analysis and creation of persuasive messages.

COM ARTS 355

Theory and practice of media production and screenwriting.

COM ARTS 351

Critical overview of the cultural industries driving television in the United States, from broadcast networks and cable to downloading and streaming, focusing on economic and regulatory structures, programming practices, labor, globalization,audiences, and adaptations to changing conditions in the digital age.

COM ARTS 350

Explains how films work using classics such as CITIZEN KANE, VERTIGO, BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, THE MATRIX, and DO THE RIGHT THING (all shown during the “lab” screenings). Students study film as an art form and a medium, cover all the major film types (silent, classical, and contemporary narrative cinema, art cinema, animation, documentary, and experimental film), …

COM ARTS 347

Introduction to the changing images of race and ethnicity in U.S. entertainment media and popular culture. Surveys history, key concepts and contemporary debates regarding mediated representation of ethnic minorities. Critical and cultural studies approaches are emphasized.

COM ARTS 325

Investigate the ways in which individuals use, create, and respond to media content in the context of increasingly blurred boundaries between “mass” and “interpersonal” media. We will consider social scientific theories and research on a wide array of topics, including media uses and effects with regard to social connection, learning, judgments, perceptions, stereotypes, violence, consumption, …

COM ARTS 317

Investigate how the concept of health is rhetorically constructed and deployed in a number of different contexts. Explore how language and argument shape our understanding of health, how health is positioned in opposition to illness and disability, and how the meaning of health has become a site of argument and controversy.

COM ARTS 272

Survey of concepts, theories, and research concerning communication across all phases of interpersonal relationships, focusing on both theoretical and practical applications.

COM ARTS 260

Concepts and processes relevant to the study of communication and human behavior including approaches to communication inquiry, the dynamics of face-to-face interaction, and the pragmatic and artistic functions of public communication.

COM ARTS 250

Key concepts for the critical analysis of television, film, radio, and digital media. Focusing primarily on meanings, aesthetics, technology, media industries, representations, and audiences.