Media Arts: Sample Courses

MA 530: Communications Law and National Policy

4 Credits
An analysis of the laws and policies that affect all forms of communication, including newspapers, radio, television, cable, film, visual arts, and cyberspace, with emphasis on statute law, case law, and regulatory law. Topics include first amendment freedoms, prior restraint, libel and slander, indecency and obscenity, copyright, fair-trade/free press issues, confidential sources, and advertising. Students will conduct mock trials and prepare legal and regulatory documents on key issues. (Semester varies)

MA 532: Hate.com

4 Credits
Using the Internet, students examine how extremist groups use the media to foment hate and violence against designated racial, religious, and ethnic groups and other non-white, non-Aryan targets and how they are recruiting for a holy war. Neo-Nazis, skinheads, Christian Identity, Klu Klux Klan, Holocaust deniers, armed militias, and similar organizations are included among the extremists. A study of organizations and methods used to counter the hate groups, plus students’ programming of the class’s counterhate.com website, concludes this course. (Semester varies)

MA 612: Sound For Image

4 Credits
This course places professional audio recording and processing methods within the context of video, film, and new media production. Topics include mixing and editing audio, the stages of audio postproduction, audio “sweetening,” sound effects, and integrating audio with interactive applications. (Fall)

MA 621: Documentary Production Workshop

4 Credits
This course serves as an introduction to the practice of documentary video production. There will be an emphasis on documentary strategies, research, budgeting, production and post-production. Students will produce a documentary short. (Fall)

MA 622: Fictional Narrative Workshop

4 Credits
This course serves as an introduction to the theory and practice of dramatic narrative. Topics include pre-production, scheduling, creating a directorial vision, directing actors, production, and postproduction. Students will produce a narrative short. (Spring)

MA 625/626: Computer Animation I/II

4 Credits/4 Credits
This two-course sequence introduces students to advanced three-dimensional modeling and animation. Students learn to develop concepts, create a storyboard, model and texture objects, compose and light scenes, and add dynamics. Students will render their animations into movie shorts, developing their postproduction skills. (Fall/Spring)

Complete Course List...