Spring 2009

North Hall 2208
Social Media and Digital Advocacy

This course will explore how current and rapidly changing technologies can be used in the context of advocacy, collaboration, and social change. Students will participate in thinking about social media in various ways, such as defining and unpacking the problems, considering unintended consequences, generating alternatives, and coming up with practical ideas about implementing solutions. Some of the questions that this course will address include:

This seminar provides a graduate-level overview of the study of political communication. It introduces students to a range of topics, from classic issues in this subfield to current debates and emerging topics associated with "new media." The seminar is open to graduate students regardless of discipline or subfield, though the bulk of the reading addresses political communication in the context of the U.S. The weekly list of topics is as follows:

Political Communication as a Field of Research
Political Discussion and Deliberation
Media and Public Opinion: Classic Effects

A six-quarter practical programming course devoted to digital audio applications development. The emphasis is on learning to use current state-of-the-art programming methods, tools, and library APIs. Programming assignments are given in the C, C++, Java, Smalltalk and/or SuperCollider programming language. Topics: A. Using Commerical I/O APIs; B. Spectral Transformations; C. Spatial Sound Manipulation; D. Sound Synthesis Techniques; E. Multi-rate Control and Synchronization; F. Media Application Integration.

Overview of ethical, social and legal contexts of biological research with special reference to stem cells, embryology, and policy.

This graduate level readings seminar focuses on the history of scientists and scientific communities during the Cold War. A major part of this is an exploration of the involvement of scientists with politics and political and governmental institutions during the Cold War, primarily in the United States. Some of the themes we will address include: the interaction of science, technology, and foreign policy; the production of knowledge during the Cold War; and the evolving institutions of postwar science and technology.

The cognitive and social psychological effects of mass media on the individual and society. Focus is on empirical research as it informs communication theory.