Algorithmic systems are at the center of today's digital world, and mediate communication processes in areas as diverse as social media, journalism, healthcare, and governments. How do algorithmic systems capture, represent, and transmit information about everyday interactions? How do they shape, and are shaped by, social, cultural, and political life? What kind of new issues and concerns arise from their ubiquitous use? This course provides a critical introduction to algorithmic systems, and how they relate to issues of communication, power and inequalities in society.

Digital technology has transformed the news environment and diversified how public opinion is formed and expressed. This course is designed to offer a framework for understanding the broad impact of these changes on citizens as well as the democratic system. We will discuss foundational theories of political communication and address emerging issues in the digital news environment, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom to the changing perceptions of information credibility. This course fulfills the IE (Integrative Experience) requirement at UMass Amherst.

This course examines the ways food is made meaningful through discourse and performance. While the need for food to satisfy hunger and strengthen the body is universally understood, what counts as food, its relative abundance or scarcity, and its relationship to the body, identity and culture are socially created and highly symbolic. Still, for most people what we eat and why we choose to eat it seems common sense. Meanings attached to what is edible or inedible, good or bad, nutritional or unhealthy, gourmet or junk food are highly subjective and deeply cultural.

As forms of communication contribute to the growing integration of the planet, the planet itself is threatened by unprecedented environmental and economic crises. This course will examine ecology and sustainability through the mediating logic of communication technologies, institutions and texts, as well as insights drawn from a variety of disciplines. Students will develop an interdisciplinary theoretical and practical framework that will allow them connect their everyday life to the dynamics of the socio-environmental world.

An exploration of the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s and 70s and later, hosted by someone who was there and lived to tell the tale. Through the medium of documentary and fiction films, we will delve into the musical, sexual, artistic, political and spiritual upheavals that rocked America and Europe back then and that continue to reverberate today. This course satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Comm majors.

An exploration of the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s and 70s and later, hosted by someone who was there and lived to tell the tale. Through the medium of documentary and fiction films, we will delve into the musical, sexual, artistic, political and spiritual upheavals that rocked America and Europe back then and that continue to reverberate today. This course satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Comm majors.

Semiotics is the study of meaning within society. It deepens our understanding of culture, communication and philosophy, and provides us with a theoretical and practical framework for analyzing the world. The course will introduce and develop the semiotic approach, using literature, politics, film, TV, music, and our everyday surroundings and conversations.

This course is a workshop-style ?hands-on? class in digital film production, in which we will take a deep dive into advanced techniques and aesthetics of cinematography. Utilizing a state-of-the-art high-end professional 4K camera, students will learn how to master technical settings, including exposure, aperture, shutter speed, focus, ISO, depth of field, white balance, gamma assist, recording formats and codecs.

This course is a workshop-style class in digital film production, in which we will take a deep dive into advanced techniques and aesthetics of cinematography, lighting, sound recording and editing. Through hands-on exercises and production of two short films, students will develop a solid practice in the technical skills needed to create visually and aurally compelling moving images and sound. Students will learn how to manage and organize large amounts of raw footage, edit sequences and create engaging story structures using Adobe Premiere.

We will view, analyze, and discuss films from the recent past and present from a filmmaker?s perspective, along with some limited hands-on work in pre-production techniques. Students will view, analyze, and critique works from modern documentary masters such as Betsy West & Julie Cohen ("RBG"), Michael Moore ("Where to Invade Next"), Questlove ("Summer of Soul"), Robert Kenner ("Food Inc."), and others to further their understanding of the documentarian's art and craft.