MFJS 4001 Producing Video for Social Media and Advocacy (4 Credits)

This course covers the basics in video production and video storytelling for social media and is open to all graduate students at the University of Denver who are interested in YouTube and other social media video content creation for advocacy, education, and support of social movements. Students will maximize their video storytelling abilities, producing storytelling content that can be shared across multiple social media platforms using mobile phones or equivalent basic consumer equipment. Learning takes place within justice, equity, diversity, inclusion and internationalization frameworks consistent with department, College, and University expectations. The course fulfills elective requirements within MEPC and IIC graduate programs and serves as a university graduate level elective.

MFJS 4050 Foundations of Strategic Communication (4 Credits)

Focuses on understanding and implementing public communication campaigns. Central to the course is the exploration of the theoretical social science framework underlying communication campaigns and examination of the ways theories are used to define and explain communication problems and to plan and evaluate campaigns.

MFJS 4055 Media and Cultural Studies (4 Credits)

This class surveys key ideas and authors in the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies with a focus on their contributions to the study of media and communication. Some theoretical concepts to be discussed include: representation, identity, cultural production, ideology, hegemony, intersectionality, and power as these relate to the analysis of media institutions, technologies, cultures, audiences/users, texts, and artifacts. Students will develop an understanding of cultural studies as a theoretical, methodological, and political project, devoted to social critique and transformative praxis.

MFJS 4060 Strategic Messaging (4 Credits)

Continues the focus on learning and applying public relations techniques, emphasizing media relations and media writing. Students develop the ability to formulate and evaluate appropriate communication objectives, strategies, and tactics in response to real-world public relations problems, paying attention to ethical considerations. Students produce a portfolio of written public relations materials. Prerequisite MFJS 4050 or instructor permission.

MFJS 4065 Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding (4 Credits)

Drawing on research from strategic communication, cultural studies, international relations, and marketing, this interdisciplinary course examines how nation-states strive to manage their reputations and increase their influence in the context of globalization and mediatization. Students will learn about the evolution of public diplomacy and nation branding from the Cold War to present day and will discuss current developments and challenges. The course will introduce several theoretical approaches and will use a variety of case studies to help students gain insights into public diplomacy and nation branding as fields of research and of practice. Instructor approval required for all non-MEPC and IIC students.

MFJS 4070 Seminar in Strategic Communication (4 Credits)

Through a combination of course readings, case study analyses and guest speakers, students will observe and learn about the practice of public relations in the health and nonprofit sectors. Students will also learn about the goals, challenges and opportunities specific to these sectors. Prerequisite: MCOM/MFJS 4060 or permission of instructor.

MFJS 4080 Global/Multicultural Campaigns (4 Credits)

Explores aspects of international and intercultural public relations, including intercultural communications issues, international media issues, international corporate PR, cross-cultural and diversity training, international media relations, and international public relations of governments. The class focuses on relevant theories and issues, rather than on techniques.

MFJS 4160 Media Theories (4 Credits)

Surveys a number of theoretical approaches to the study of media and mass communication, paying attention to the historical context in which they arise. Students explore the relationships among media technologies, institutions, content, and audiences as well as their impacts on culture and society. The class prepares students to formulate theoeretically grounded research questions within the field of media and mass communication.

MFJS 4165 Global Health and Development Communication (4 Credits)

This course will begin with an overview of health communication (which includes but is not limited to health promotion and behavior change). We will discuss individual, social, cultural & technological factors, and relevant theories and concepts in relation to international health communication and development. Students will then learn about the role of communication in international health and development and the way it is practiced in the field. We will also discuss and apply the social and cultural factors that influence the design, delivery, reception, and effectiveness of international health communication programs, the role of international health’s important players big and small (e.g. WHO, UNAID, PEPFAR, Doctors without Borders, pharmaceutical companies, local village leaders, local ministries of health, husbands, mothers, etc.), and the ways in which the use of both upstream and downstream communication is imperative. We will examine case studies and the latest research for international health communication and its effectiveness while we also apply health communication theories from a variety of perspectives.

MFJS 4175 Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion in Health Communication (4 Credits)

The course will begin with an overview of Health Communication in the United States and the ways in which health and illness are defined through communication, including media. We will discuss existing health disparities and social determinants of health as we examine health communication in multicultural settings in the U.S. We will further examine multicultural audiences and perspectives about health and illness, including diverse meaning systems and their influences on health attitudes and behaviors. Students will learn about cross-cultural concepts of health and disease and how those are represented in communication about health and illness. As students learn about what it means to develop culturally grounded health communication campaigns, they will examine culture centric messaging in health promotion. We will also discuss the ways in which health care systems are promoting patient-centered, culturally sensitive health care.

MFJS 4200 Topics in Mass Communications (4 Credits)

MFJS 4222 Experimental Theory and Production (4 Credits)

This course is an historical, critical overview of experimental film/video movements; training in experimental projection techniques; production of own experimental projects. Lab fee required. Cross listed with MFJS 3222. Prerequisite: MFJS 4470 or permission of instructor.

MFJS 4227 Producing the Environmental Documentary (4 Credits)

This course is designed to provide you with a basic understanding of cinematography: cameras, lenses, grip equipment, lighting, and composition. When you complete this course, the goal is for you to have an intermediate understanding of cinematography and that which motivates lighting and composition choices. Because people are the most important part of any production, emphasis will be placed on your ability to work effectively with class members. Learning to collaborate is crucial to your success in this class.

MFJS 4229 Video Editing is for Everybody (4 Credits)

Video has become ubiquitous. Whether on YouTube, Hulu, television or a friend's Facebook page, people are exposed to thousands of edited videos every year. From business to anthropology, chemistry to journalism, students in every discipline want to create videos to enhance class projects, aide business plans, promote good works, accompany science processes and create lasting memories. This course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of television and film editing. When completing this course, the goal is for students to have a basic working knowledge of editing using various media elements (video, audio, photos, music, graphics), editing software and applying a mixture of editing theories and techniques (continuity and montage style editing). There are no prerequisites for this course.

MFJS 4242 Reel Women (4 Credits)

Reel Women explores films from the U.S., England, Senegal, India, Canada, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia that are made for, about, and/or by women with the aim of better understanding and centralizing issues pertinent to women’s daily lives across the world.

MFJS 4300 Media Law (4 Credits)

Introduction to freedom of expression and media law. Students learn how the American legal system works and gain an understanding and appreciation of the philosophical foundations of free expression. In addition, students confront many of the issues facing professional communicators today. Topics include incitement, hate speech, student speech, copyright, defamation, and other issues crucial to mass media professionals. The course examines also explores challenges to free expression brought by new(er) communication technologies. The purpose of this class is to give students the knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to be successful in today’s rapidly changing communication environment. Cross-listed with MFJS 3040.

MFJS 4310 New Media Law & Regulation (4 Credits)

Examination of current conflicts in mass communications law. Particular emphasis is given the legal problems of communications technologies. Topics may include libel, privacy, obscenity, news gathering, copyright, media ownership and comparative approaches to media law. The course provides insight into how the legal process works and an understanding of the principles and philosophies that underlie the restraints on new communication technologies.

MFJS 4320 Brands and Identities (4 Credits)

Reviews theories and cases of the role and meaning of brands in a consumer society, with a particular emphasis on understanding how brands are implicated in the construction and presentation of personal and group identities. The course combines insights from marketing, social psychology, and cultural studies to explore the importance of brands for both consumers and practitioners. Students master core branding concepts and use them to critically analyze salient social and cultural issues.

MFJS 4504 Social Media Strategies (4 Credits)

In this class, students get familiar with the principles of social media strategy and learn how to design messaging strategies and tactics for social media. In addition, students work with a real client on a strategic communication campaign for social media.

MFJS 4506 Audio Documentaries (4 Credits)

In the past decade, an explosion in the production and accessibility of audio documentary work has created an unprecedented interest and expansion of the documentary form in nearly all sectors of public life. Building on this trend, this course teaches the skills of ethnographically informed audio documentary work that can record and interpret culture and lived experience. We focus on learning the techniques of non-fiction storytelling used in established public radio programs like This American Life, Radio Lab, or Snap Judgement, as well as newer podcasts like Reply All, Invisibilia, or Embedded. The course will prepare students to tell complex stories using strong character-driven narrative. Sound documentation and representation will not be done along journalistic principles, but instead through rigorous ethnography that relies on participant-observation and immersion. Through practical application and the exploration of ethnography and documentary approaches to communication, the course explores questions that surround the interpretation and representation of socio-cultural experience via a sonic medium. To understand the basic mechanics of sound and its narrative form, participants will learn to digitally record and edit audio. Storytelling will then become more complex as students learn to conduct ethnography, interviews, and develop a script for radio. Students will ultimately analyze and create audio documentaries in an effort to understand a significant form of digital storytelling. There are three central learning objectives that will guide us through the course: (1) we will practice ethnographic and documentary methodology, (2) learn to write for radio, and (3) learn the workflow of audio editing to produce an audio documentary.

MFJS 4560 Audience and Communication Research (4 Credits)

This class offers an introduction to social science methods applied to communication and audience research. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with: the role and functions of communication and audience research in contemporary society; the processes and practices involved in developing and executing a research project; the basic different forms of research, both qualitative, such as interviews and focus groups and quantitative, such as surveys and experiments; how to use research skills for different career paths. Cross-listed with MFJS 3110/4560.

MFJS 4567 Activist Media (4 Credits)

In the mediated digital era, communication is changing fast and shifting the dynamics of real-world power, expanding spaces for journalism and activist communication aimed at working for social change and social justice. This dynamic space has enabled citizens, protesters, journalists, PR professionals, tech developers and hacktivists to harness a diverse range of media tools and platforms for activism and social change. Media has played a key role in social and political movements of the past and more recent online movements. Social media platforms have provided new tools to resist the domination and limitations of mainstream corporate media and create new media strategies and messages to promote social change. But these platforms have also created new risks and challenges for activists. In this course, we will address these issues of communication power dynamics and also media strategies and tools of social and political movements working towards social change.

MFJS 4650 Global Media and Communication (4 Credits)

Major theories concerning international communication flows, the impact of globalization and global media, issues of new communication technologies, the rhetoric and media framing of global politics and culture; international marketing and public relations; and national and cultural sovereignty issues related to communication.

MFJS 4652 Feminist Media Studies (4 Credits)

MFJS 4652 (Feminist Media Studies) explores the gendered intersections between media and society through the analytical lens of Feminist Media Studies (FMS). While aligned with the discipline Media Studies, FMS centers questions related to power and patriarchy, and aims to create space for praxis. Paying close attention to issues of intersectionality, this course surveys the historical emergence, and contributions, of feminist methodology and inquiry related to issues such as sexism within gaming, the politics of visibility in television production, the celluloid ceiling, and networked bodies. During the quarter, you will engage in multiple points of active and reflective learning that provide the space to strengthen both your understanding and application of FMS. Assignments include discussion questions, self-reflective analysis, and a final project that highlights application, creativity, and subversion. Cross listed with MFJS 3652.

MFJS 4653 Language, Power, and Globalization (4 Credits)

This course focuses on scholarly and political debates surrounding the social nature of language, language and (inter)national and individual identity, language policy, multilingualism and linguistic diversity, language and globalization, language and media and communication technologies, and, finally, the future of the global language landscape.

MFJS 4654 Intercultural Communication (4 Credits)

This course focuses on the intersections between culture & communication, including intercultural communication in interpersonal and mediated contexts at the local, national and global levels as shaped by processes of globalization. It covers major theoretical perspectives and methods, the role of power and privilege in the construction and articulation of culture and cultural identity, and intersections with race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class, intercultural training and the role of communication and culture in conflict and conflict resolution.

MFJS 4655 JEDII (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Internationalization) Storytelling (4 Credits)

This course focuses on multicultural approaches to journalism and media, including representations and news coverage related to gender, race/ethnicity, class, and sexuality, disabilities, religion, and nationality, etc.. The class explores culture and intercultural communication and ways to apply these to journalistic writing as a creative process and craft. Prerequisite: Prior journalistic coursework or its equivalent (including writing experience). Cross-listed with MFJS 3655.

MFJS 4656 Cross-Cultural Travel Seminar: Immigration, Communication, and Border Cultures (4 Credits)

This is a one-week intensive travel course that takes place in Tucson, Arizona and south to the US-Mexican border region. The focus of this experiential learning class is to study immigration issues, border cultures, and the role of communication and media through testimonies of immigrants, and visits to key sites such as the migrant trail, immigration detention center and courts. Also included are talks by activists and officials involved in the immigration debate. Class meets for two pre-class sessions in spring quarter. Cross-listed with MFJS 3656.

MFJS 4660 Global Edutainment & Narrative Persuasion (4 Credits)

MFJS 4660 Global Edutainment & Narrative Persuasion serves as a gateway to explore the potential of entertainment as an educational tool that can spread awareness, change attitudes, and/or influence behaviors. In this course, students will trace the history of narrative persuasion strategy, pinpoint the modalities it has embraced (e.g., films, TV shows, music, books, and TikTok videos, etc.), highlight topical areas it has addressed, and assess its effectiveness cross-culturally. MFJS 4660 will culminate in the production of student Edutainment projects that tackle global issues of concern.

MFJS 4912 Seminar in Media Film & Journalism Studies (1-5 Credits)

MFJS 4980 Internship (1-8 Credits)

Arrange with internship director to complete internship with Denver-area media organization. Prerequisite: varies; consult internship director.

MFJS 4991 Independent Study (1-10 Credits)

MFJS 4995 Thesis/Substantial Research Paper (1-8 Credits)