Honors Thesis expectations are high. The intended end-product is a traditional research manuscript with accompanying artifact(s), all theses: - 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.

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.

The spring semester of the year-long Honors capstone course is devoted to carrying out and writing up the research projects that students designed in the fall. Students will both complete their own independent research projects and provide comments and suggestions on each other's work at weekly class meetings. The majority of the semester will be devoted to data collection as well as the analysis and interpretation of research findings. Students will prepare the final reports associated with their thesis research, in the form of an archivable Honors Thesis.

This course examines how media technologies shape the way we communicate and how the way we communicate in turn shapes the development of media technologies as evolving cultural practices. We will read technologies not as machines or tools invented to perform preconceived functions, but as forms of tech, understood as way of making things. So, in this course, we will try to understand how media users cause media to improve their efficiency as much as how media users themselves are changed as they continue to communicate.

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.

This course will examine the different ways that communication and digital technologies are shaping notions of work and labor. We will engage with ongoing debates on topics such as the sharing economy (e.g., Uber/Lyft driving), microwork (e.g., Amazon Mechanical Turk), microcelebrity (e.g. YouTube stars and Instagram influencers), tech entrepreneurship both in Silicon Valley and other parts of the world, as well as the work that goes into making popular consumer technologies like the iPhone.

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.

This course examines conflict and collaboration in relation to language, processes of human interaction, and the rich settings where people conduct their lives. We'll study communicative approaches to argumentation and focus on disagreement management and interventions to improve communication. We will investigate conflict and collaboration both in ordinary face-to-face conversations and in professional settings, including dispute mediation and the workplace. We will also analyze how cultural issues can produce miscommunication and conflict.