A first year seminar for majors and minors, this course is designed to orient students to the field of communications, provide an overview of career possibilities and give students a critical analysis of the importance of communication in today's world. The emphasis on the course is identifying the communications values which reflect the theme of the program-communicating for social justice. Formerly CMS 100.

This course is an introduction to the history, basic concepts, and skills of digital media design and production. Through the creation and critique of projects incorporating images, audio, and video, students will gain knowledge of potential careers, acquire life-long production skills, and produce a portfolio of their digital media work. Formerly CMS 245.

A specialized discussion of how to communicate through the mass media, focusing on the planning and writing of effective messages for print, radio, television, and web media. For analysis purposes, the student concentrates on journalism and public relations and their communicative and social role in contemporary society.

The course combines a cross cultural history of the communication field with a survey of the main theoretical models advanced to explain the relationship between media and society during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Students formulate positions on the role and effects of theory in daily media practices. (Satisfies Media and Culture Elective)

This course provides an overview and critique of mass media research methods and techniques. The research process, a survey of scientifically studying mass media as a human phenomenon is explored. The course will also focus on the particular roles and problems of public opinion research and television ratings methodology in determining mass tastes and preferences. Students will also gain a practical understanding of data analysis. Formerly CMS 330.

After a detailed survey of the vocabulary, tools, techniques, and conventions of video production, the student is led through a series of creative exercises in both studio and remote video production. Students will learn producing and directing techniques in preproduction, production, and post-production, developing both a critical aesthetic and technical proficiency. Course includes lab exercises and projects in non-linear digital video production. Formerly CMS 215.

This course will introduce students to the basics of screenwriting for film. By taking on the role of a professional screenwriter, students experience the complete process of screenwriting by learning how to create plot, theme, characters and dialogue, resulting in an original screenplay. (Satisfies Media Writing Elective)

This course provides an introduction to writing for digital environments, with specific emphasis on web pages. Students learn about the history of The Internet, the development of network digital information production/retrieval environments, and the forms and practices of writing for a web page. Activities occur in the classroom and in a web-based online lab. (Satisfies Media Writing Elective) Formerly Digital Journalism.

Students will read and write creative nonfiction from a number of sub-genres, including nature writing, personal essay/memoir, profiles, and reportage, considering possibilities for publication. They will explore the literature of reality from the power of true stories, to the fascination of odd facts, to the revelation of insight. (Satisfies Media Writing Elective)

This course introduces students to the many kinds of special interest journalism while conducting exercises in the shared skills required to practice any of them. Students learn about the industry as well as the research techniques, writing methods, ethics, and editing procedures used to practice specialty journalism. Areas of content may change from semester to semester. They will include sports, business and finance, ethnicity, the environment, science, technology and the arts. (Satisfies Media Writing Elective)

This course is designed to give a basic understanding of communications and mass media law. Students will examine free speech, press issues and more contemporary topics in a case law format. Students will learn how First Amendment jurisprudence, as well as common and statutory laws, impact media and media producers. Formerly CMS 395.

Sports Broadcasting is a hands-on course designed around the production and broadcasting of sporting events at Niagara University using live, multiple camera production techniques. Students learn the principles, tools, and techniques of producing for live sporting events aired on ESPN and other web streaming platforms.

This is an introduction to the interpretation of cinema. Students learn the cultures, practices, genres, directors, theories, technologies, politics and economics that have influenced the development of motion pictures. Required for the Film Studies Minor.

Basic course in the strategy and execution of advertisements for the mass media. Topics include the history of advertising, relationship to economy and society, organization, selection of media, layout, production and use of advertising appeals in radio, television and the press.

An analysis of the principles and practices of public relations in corporate, institutional and public service organizations including the technical and human relations skills utilized in the public relations profession.

This course focuses on the acquisition of investigative skills, techniques and ethics used for research and writing in academic and journalistic work. Students apply their acquired tools in a semester long investigation of issues within an International Public Affairs sector. In an ongoing lab setting students interact continuously within an Internet environment. (Satisfies Media Writing Elective)

This is a course in the fundamentals of digital photography designed for students with little or no previous experience. Students will learn basic photographic skills including manual camera operation and digital image manipulation and printing. Photographic history, and visual theory and criticism will be addressed in class discussions and critiques. The course explores the use of photography as a tool of communication and self-expression.

This course presents a critical analysis of the meaning and function of the mass media and culture in our world. Fictional programming, entertainment and sport media are analyzed for their impact on individuals, society and the media themselves. (Satisfies Media and Culture Elective)

Students will study the documentary film genre by learning to critically deconstruct, analyze, and perform deep readings of innovative and important contemporary works. Through film screenings, criticism, readings, and discussion, students will explore the way that the genre addresses ethical, philosophical, technical, and aesthetic representations of the lived human experience.

This course will examine contemporary cultural perceptions through a variety of cinematic examples taken from feature films. The impact of film on social, historical, and economic cultural traits will be analyzed. Although the primary focus is cultural analysis, thematic discussion will be coupled with an introduction to vocabulary used in cinema and historical discussion of the evolution of the film industry. (Satisfies Media and Culture Elective, Film Studies Elective)

This course presents a critical analysis of television and how it impacts our lives. Via in-class screenings, class discussion, and written assignments students will learn the history of television, the business of the industry, and the ways in which a variety of social issues manifest through the medium.

This course is designed as a one-time course to be offered whenever departmental resources are sufficient to do so. It will deal with special topics in the mass media, journalism, or broadcasting according to the research agenda and interests of a particular professor. Topics could include, but are not limited to: ethical, legal, theoretical, and societal issues in the mass media; practical applications of video, photographic, print, and/or computer-based media production.

This course examines the role of communications media in a democratic system of governance. We will look at the media's performance in electoral and other public campaigns, the role of the news media in presenting information on national and global issues and how political themes surface in non-news media genres. (Satisfies Media and Society Elective)

There are many oversimplified categorizations by which societies make distinctions among their members, including race, class, gender, and age. Such distinctions often lead to an inequitable distribution of political power, social well-being, and the resources available to individual members of society. In this course we seek to increase our awareness and understanding of such inequities and the power of the mass media in creating and potentially destroying them. (Satisfies Media and Society Elective)

This course introduces students to the study of comics as medium and narrative art form. Students explore important examples of comics storytelling, fundamentals of comics theory, and significant comics scholarship. The course may be focused on a particular creator, genre, or topic (e.g., the relationship between comics and other media).

Environmental humanities deconstruct how climate change and environmental issues are represented in different media and humanities content. Students will explore representations of the environment in film and television, literature, social media, music, gaming, graphic novels, news/journalism and others to understand what the environment and climate change mean to our culture.

This course focuses exclusively on films about young women and girls in the United States and other countries. We will examine how their lives and experiences are represented in coming of age films from the 1990s to the present. To these ends, we will analyze multicultural representations of young women and girls in order to understand the complex ways in which identity and experience shape growing up female and the transition from girlhood to womanhood. This course is part of the Women's Studies Minor and Film Studies Minor.

This course aims to introduce students to the cinematic genre of horror and the ways in which classic and modern horror films have reflected various social and cultural dynamics throughout history and continue to do so today.

Individual research of a substantive nature pursued in the student's major field of study. The research will conclude in a written thesis or an original project, and an oral defense. Required for University and Departmental Honors students.

Individual research of a substantive nature pursued in the student's major field of study. The research will conclude in a written thesis or an original project, and an oral defense. Required for University and Departmental Honors students.

This course is a continued exploration of the medium of digital photography, which begins where Basic Photography ends. The course includes creative problem solving through alternative photographic techniques, advanced digital imaging, and an introduction to the practices of photojournalism and social documentary photography.

An upper-level course in video production. Student will apply knowledge of production aesthetics and theory in producing short videos. Course covers effective message design, script writing, video production, and non-linear postproduction. Assignments focus on producing videos for non-profit organizations and for submission to various video festivals.

A research seminar designed to evaluate areas of media effects, creative media projects, and critical analysis of media content. Majors will complete an individually designed research or media production project. Oral defense and written documentation will be required.

The media internship is an independent applied experience in the field of mass media. With guidance from the instructor, students are expected to contact an appropriate organization and set up guidelines for working. The course allows students to apply class room knowledge while exploring a professional position in the mass media. Determination of credit hours will be established at pre-registration by the chair of the department in consultation with the dean. Junior or Senior ranking.

The media internship is an independent applied experience in the field of mass media. With guidance from the instructor, students are expected to contact an appropriate organization and set up guidelines for working. The course allows students to apply class room knowledge while exploring a professional position in the mass media. Determination of credit hours will be established at pre-registration by the chair of the department in consultation with the dean. Junior or Senior ranking.

A junior or senior work study program providing relevant paid employment experience. The student must work full-time for one semester. Registration will occur at the beginning of experience. The objective of the program is to integrate classroom theory and practical work experience, thus lending relevancy to learning and providing the student with a realistic exposure to career opportunities.

A junior or senior work study program providing relevant paid employment experience. The student must work full-time for one semester. Registration will occur at the beginning of experience. The objective of the program is to integrate classroom theory and practical work experience, thus lending relevancy to learning and providing the student with a realistic exposure to career opportunities.

A junior or senior work study program providing relevant paid employment experience. The student must work full-time for one semester. Registration will occur at the beginning of experience. The objective of the program is to integrate classroom theory and practical work experience, thus lending relevancy to learning and providing the student with a realistic exposure to career opportunities.

A junior or senior work study program providing relevant paid employment experience. The student must work full-time for one semester. Registration will occur at the beginning of experience. The objective of the program is to integrate classroom theory and practical work experience, thus lending relevancy to learning and providing the student with a realistic exposure to career opportunities.

The independent study elective provides an opportunity to do intensive work in an area of particular interest to the student under the supervision of an individual faculty member. Departmental approval necessary.