Digital Media and Communications Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• Develop a foundational understanding of the theories and methods of media and communication studies, including communication strategies, media analysis, message design, audience, research, and critical examination of the impact of our current media and communication technologies;
• Learn and cultivate the skills and practices of journalism and documentary storytelling, including generating story ideas, reporting, interviewing, writing, professional ethics, and understanding legal precedents and frameworks;
• Analyze and understand the essential role accurate, responsible and ethical journalism across media platforms plays in a healthy democracy;
• Learn how to apply media analysis and storytelling conventions in the creation of dynamic and compelling digital visual art and professional multimedia productions in such forms as photography, film/video, digital imaging, illustration, animation, web design and other areas of emerging media;
• Develop skills and understandings in international and global media and be able to apply these to sensitively and critically create and analyze media message for a global audience, including understanding comparative international media systems and encountering global communication directly through a study away experience;
• Become independent media producers engaging in a long-form documentary project (book, web, documentary film, podcast) for the capstone project.  This involves learning interdisciplinary research methods, interviewing, critical analysis, and professional digital media production in both content and design.