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MDST 3230 Basic Multimedia Reporting
Fall 2025

Basic Multimedia Reporting teaches the hands on skills required for professional level news reporting, news production and short documentaries. Students may choose to specialize in Written Journalism, TV Journalism or …

2.0
Rating
4.7
Difficulty
3.78
GPA
MDST 3277 Film, Television and Popular Culture of the U.S. in the 1950s
Summer 2025

The 1950s has been written about variously as the age of innocence, the height of the Cold War, a decade of great economic prosperity, the decade in which television first …

Rating
Difficulty
GPA
MDST 3281 Reimagining the News
Fall 2026

In this course, we will explore the obstacles confronting the news industry -- disinformation, declining trust in institutions, eroding business models, inequitable practices -- but we won't dwell on what's …

Rating
Difficulty
3.93
GPA
MDST 3307 Animated Media
Fall 2022

This course considers how animation and cartoons have historically been translated into the media of cinema and television. Focal points will be: Disney in traditional cinema animation, Hanna-Barbera in the …

Rating
Difficulty
3.74
GPA
MDST 3320 The Politics of Video Games
January 2023

Video gaming is the fastest growing form of media: Americans spend twice as much on gaming as on recorded music and it is estimated that young men average over 670 …

Rating
Difficulty
GPA
MDST 3338 New Cinema History: Nontheatrical Films
Spring 2024

This course studies nontheatrical films such as public relations films, management films, educational films, industrial films, and government-sponsored films. We will treat film as visual evidence to explore social, cultural, …

Rating
Difficulty
3.36
GPA
MDST 3388 Friday Night Lights
Fall 2025

This course will explore the TV show Friday Night Lights through study of its narrative, characters, themes, filming style and the media's response. Through episodic examinations, students will explore topics …

Rating
Difficulty
3.92
GPA
MDST 3402 War and the Media
Fall 2026

This course examines media coverage of American wars from World War I to the present. Study of the evolution in media coverage of war provides an ideal vantage point for …

3.1
Rating
3.4
Difficulty
3.54
GPA
MDST 3404 Democratic Politics in the New Media Environment
Spring 2026

This course examines the ways a changing media system is altering the dynamics of public discourse and democratic politics in the United States. Throughout the course we will critically analyze …

3.5
Rating
3.0
Difficulty
3.61
GPA
MDST 3407 Racial Borders & American Cinema
Spring 2023

The history of American cinema is inextricably and controversially tied to the racial politics of the U.S. This course will explore how images of racial and ethnic minorities such as …

4.3
Rating
3.0
Difficulty
3.51
GPA
MDST 3409 LGBTQ Issues in the Media
Summer 2025

This course will explore the complex cultural dynamics of LGBTQ media visibility, along with its social, political, and psychological implications for LGBTQ audiences. It explores four domains: (1) the question …

2.8
Rating
2.5
Difficulty
3.62
GPA
MDST 3410 Media Ethics
Fall 2026

This course provides students a familiarity with the terrain of moral philosophy, improves students' awareness of the complex ethical issues and dilemmas in journalism and other areas of mass media, …

4.3
Rating
1.7
Difficulty
3.70
GPA
MDST 3430 Rendering AI: Cinema and Artificial Intelligence
Spring 2024

This course examines film renderings of artificial intelligence to foster critical perspectives on AI's entanglement with human experiences (e.g., of identity, work, privacy, sex, aging, memory, death). Issues raised will …

Rating
Difficulty
3.50
GPA
MDST 3490 Just Kiddin': Comedy & Humor Across Media
Fall 2026

This course explores humorous and comedic texts and performances across a variety of media forms in America. We will begin by understanding theories of comedy and the logic of jokes …

4.7
Rating
1.5
Difficulty
3.80
GPA
MDST 3501 Special Topics in Directors and Auteurs
Fall 2026

This course will offer historical, comparative, and critical perspectives on a selected major directors and auteurs each semester. Directors might include Hitchcock, Welles, Heckerling, Ray, Speilberg, Renoir, Truffaut, etc.

Rating
Difficulty
3.64
GPA
MDST 3502 Special Topics in Film Genre
Spring 2025

This course will offer historical and critical perspectives on a selected film genre each semester. Genres might include Noir, war, romance, musicals, gangster, New Wave, etc.

4.7
Rating
2.3
Difficulty
3.53
GPA
MDST 3504 Topics in Global Media
Fall 2026

This course offers historical, comparative, critical, and media industry perspectives on global media. It explores how capital, geopolitics, new technologies and forms of production and consumption impact global media flows. …

3.7
Rating
2.9
Difficulty
3.71
GPA
MDST 3505 Special Topics in Diversity and Identity in Media
Fall 2024

This course will offer historical, comparative, and critical perspectives on issues of diversity and identity in media studies. Topics may include the relationship between media and underrepresented groups, media use …

1.7
Rating
1.5
Difficulty
3.75
GPA
MDST 3508 Advanced Topics in Media Practice
Fall 2026

This practice-based course will build on previous knowledge and/or experience in various forms of media, including video, podcasting, film, etc.

Rating
Difficulty
3.96
GPA
MDST 3510 Topics in Media Research
Fall 2026

This hands-on course prepares students to read, evaluate, and design research in media studies. Drawing on critical, historical, administrative, and industrial traditions in the field, students will learn to assess …

4.3
Rating
2.7
Difficulty
3.77
GPA