Principles of Media Studies (COM 235)
Term: 2025-2026 Fall Semester
Tue-Thu, 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM (8/27/2025 - 12/11/2025) Location: FCSTA PLLRD 220
An introduction to film, television, and digital media from multiple perspectives: formal, cultural, and theoretical. How do films tell their stories? How do they reflect some of the historical and cultural issues of their time, including gender and race? What are the formal and cultural significances of television and digital media? How are we constructed differently, as spectators, in relation to various media? These questions will be addressed by studying a variety of texts, including Hollywood film, documentary film, TV sitcoms and soap opera, and the world wide web. Discussion will focus on applying critical concepts to screenings and clips.