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.

What is Ethnography? What is Performance (auto) Ethnography? How can we think about Performing Ethnography? Drawing heavily on the works of Dwight Conquergood, Norman Denzin, and D. Soyini Madison, we give a rest to traditional forms of qualitative inquiry as we disrupt the notion of "business as usual" in the academic space. We will examine the interpenetrating relationships among performance, ethnography, and culture. The readings and assignments forefront localized critical pedagogy, critical personal narratives, decolonizing and interpretive inquiry as moral, political discourse.

This course examines the role of different kinds of nonverbal behaviors (i.e., body orientation and posture, gaze direction, gestures, space, etc.) in establishing a joint focus of attention, coordinating turn-taking, conveying meaning, sustaining institutional realities, telling stories, and navigating interpersonal relationships. We will investigate nonverbal behaviors both in ordinary face-to-face conversations and in a variety of professional settings, including courtrooms, doctors' offices, and the workplace. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-COMM majors.

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.

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.

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.