The Commonwealth Honors College thesis or project is intended to provide students with the opportunity to work closely with faculty members to define and carry out in-depth research or creative endeavors. It provides excellent preparation for students who intend to continue their education through graduate study or begin their professional careers. The student works closely with their 499Y Honors Research sponsor to pursue research on a topic or question of special interest to them in preparation for writing a 499T Honors Thesis or completing a 499P Honors Project.

Honors Project expectations are high. The intended end-product is a traditional project manuscript with accompanying artifact(s), all projects: - are 6 credits or more of sustained research on a single topic, typically conducted over two semesters. - begin with creative inquiry and systematic research. - include documentation of substantive scholarly endeavor. - culminate in an oral defense or other form of public presentation.

This is a stand-alone independent study designed by the student and faculty sponsor that involves frequent interaction between instructor and student. Qualitative and quantitative enrichment must be evident on the proposed contract before consent is given to undertake the study.

This course uses tools from the study of everyday interaction to explore one-on-one interactions in the electronic media. The course focuses on two genres in two different media: television news and call-in radio. Alongside theoretical studies, the course uses data sessions to analyze different television and radio segments. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Comm majors.

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.

This course explores the genre of Experimental Film and Video with a critical eye toward the history and current articulations of this form of production in both feature film and short form movies and videos. The course begins with an introduction to the genre, then explores Experimental Film; video according to three different categories: Experimentation with Narrative, Experimentation with Structure/Form, and Experimentation with the line between Fact and Fiction.

This course examines how genre conventions are reshaped by shifting media forms, industrial structures, and audience practices across film, television, and media industry studies. Students will explore how medium specificity (cinema, television, digital media) and broader media formations (platformization, global circulation, convergence) complicate traditional understandings of genre. The course encourages critical engagement with how texts are structured, interpreted, and experienced through viewing.

This course will cover filmmaking techniques (both black and white and color reversal) with a Super 8mm film camera that will train students how to craft compelling silent films and films with an optical soundtrack. Students will learn the basics of shooting with analog film that include its anatomy, its sensitivity (ISO), and how to properly expose the film's emulsion to light using the camera functions and lenses.