SC&I Courses

This course explores how political, economic, and social actors leverage emerging communications media to pressure and persuade one another.  Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to use new media tools for digital advocacy and persuasion, and will also develop a critical perspective on how these tools are changing society.

The last thirty years have seen a fundamental transformation in society. Characterized as a transformation from industrial to informational, this new system is marked by the increased velocity and fluidity of capital, goods, people and ideas. Facilitated by new information and communication technologies (ICT), the increased flows of both objects and ideas have led to shifting notions of identity, nation, democracy and society among others.   In this class we seek to more fully understand the shifting nature of society today particularly as this new and complex world intersects with media and communication. We pay particular attention to considering the different causes for change in society, as well as the new complex human and at times computer mediated configurations. Finally, we focus on how these shifts are both impacted by and impact media and communications.

Exploring the process of moral decision-making—that is, doing ethics—is an inescapable part of life. We routinely make ethical judgments, assess our values, and interrogate our moral outlooks, whether or not we think much or put names to this process. Many of us start our professional careers more or less accepting the beliefs and values we’ve inherited from culture, society, and/or family. But only through a deliberative critical examination of our decision-making processes do we make our ethical frameworks truly our own.

This course raises the questions and requirements associated with autonomous ethical action but with no ready answers. The overriding goal is, through using various theoretical frameworks to reach logically defensible answers instead of reacting with your gut or anecdotal evidence, to spur you to continuing reflection on your moral approaches in professional settings and in your broader “digital lives.” The process of doing ethics is nothing if not devoted to serious, careful reflection and application. As such, this course emphasizes both the theoretical underpinnings of how we come to a given moral philosophy and case studies specific to digital media. We will
consider how different moral philosophies apply across cultures and across different contemporary media practices and platforms in areas such as advertising, promotional marketing, big data, software and interface design, and fake news.

Social or community-engaged storytelling is rooted in empowering a community to lead the telling of its own story. This class looks at ways in which those stories facilitate a community or constituent messaging outcome. Those who practice creative engagement serve as stewards for a greater narrative.  Students will have the opportunity to work with local advocacy organizations and artists around issues of houselessness and economic vulnerability, racial justice, and environmental resiliency. The culmination of the class will task groups of students to develop the full design of a new project proposal in response to one of these advocacy issues.

Below are some sample topics courses offered in the last few years.

Explorations in Play and Creativity
The course examines the last 100 years of social scientific research on creativity in well known creative individuals and in the creative life of "so-called" everyday persons. We will take "life themes" approach to the development of creativity in famous creators (Darwin offers a classic case study, for example). We will also explore the important of creativity and innovation in business and industry. Of relevance also is how our everyday communication, media, and information practices are actually experienced, and how they can be studied using naturalistic or quasi-naturalistic methods that put the researcher in situ.

History of the News Media in 20th Century America
The course looks at the news media not as freestanding institutions but as a part of American politics and culture in the 20th century. It explores several periods of major change, including the Progressive era, the Depression, the Red Scare, the civil rights movement, and others. During these moments, journalists and news institutions interacted in complex ways with political actors - while at the same time both expressing and helping to shape public attitudes about key events and policy decisions. The class examines these interactions of political actors and the public with the media in an effort to understand the underlying ideological and cultural currents of American life.

Media and Politics

Audience Studies
The audience remains elusive, despite many attempts to understand, study, and measure it. Each week we will explore one of these methods and concepts, examining its contributions and limitations to understanding media and culture. While we will occasionally discuss what audiences/ do/ (in their various guises as readers, viewers, writers, citizens, and activists), the main focus of this course is to examine how the object "audience" has been constructed through a variety of research methods and theoretical frameworks. The course is roughly divided into two parts: The first part will be a survey of canonical debates and problematizations in media studies. After establishing this base of knowledge, we will explore how recent political, economic, and technological transformations have produced new forms of media practices (especially interactivity and collective participation) that once again challenge the notion of a self-identical audience.

This course examines the exciting world of law and policy relevant to digital media: the Internet, mobile media, and social media.

The course will address such timely questions as:

• Why have you been getting all those emails telling you that websites or apps “value your privacy” and want you to click “OK” on a statement about your data?
• Why did a federal court rule in May ‘19 that President Trump violated the First Amendment rights of Twitter users when he blocked them?
• What was behind the “delete Facebook” movement of spring 2018?
• Can you successfully sue someone for libel if that person said something false and reputation-harming about you on social media?

And others.

The purpose of this course is to provide a critical understanding of popular culture’s role in society. The course introduces a range of theoretical approaches to study popular culture, exploring the intersections between everyday life, media, and broader political and historical contexts within (mostly) the United States.

We will examine the history of mediated pop culture, the commercial and social aspects of its texts, and the cultural industry's influence on social relations and values. Drawing on theoretical concepts and concrete examples, we will delve into cultural texts and practices in an attempt to reveal the social processes that exist beneath the surface

Ultimately, this course will provide the tools to study media and popular culture (e.g. television, music, games, film, advertising, and social media). The course will expand notions of popular culture by focusing on digital media dimensions via examples and approaches.

Students who must interrupt their studies may, with the approval of a program director, register for Matriculation Continued (leave of absence). There is no tuition fee for this registration, although a student fee is charged. Students who do not register for Matriculation Continued will be charged a reactivation fee upon their return to the program. (Students on temporary visas who interrupt their studies must in most cases leave the United States during such periods.) Matriculation Continued is available only to students not enrolled in any coursework and not using faculty time and university facilities, except to complete previous coursework from classes with incomplete or temporary grades. Students may enroll in Matriculation Continued for a maximum of two consecutive semesters.

A brief orientation to the Rutgers MI program, the information professions, basic concepts and vocabulary, and the literature of the field. Required of all students at the beginning of the first semester of study.

A series of lectures with discussions, featuring guest speakers, that highlight current and recurring issues and introduce students to leaders and issues in the field.

Note: Required of all students during a fall or spring term late in their program of study. Students must attend at least three events offered through the school/program or an event of their choice pending approval of instructor. No credit given.