Undergraduate Bulletin
Fall 2023
COM: Communication
COM 106: Introduction to Mass Media
A survey of the historical evolution, content, and structural elements of mass media. This introduction to social science research approaches to the study of mass communication enables participants to understand mass media's political, economic, social, psychological influences on individuals and broader U.S. society. Students examine the effect and impacts of mass communication on contemporary society and consider how global media influence and are influenced by U.S. media. This course was previously known as JRN 106.
SBC: SBS, USA3 credits
COM 120: Fundamentals of Public Speaking
Focuses on the core principles underlying effective oral presentations and the development of effective presentations in public and professional settings. There is an emphasis on analyzing audiences, composing meaningful, coherent messages, conducting responsible research, developing effective arguments, and improving delivery skills to strengthen confidence and credibility. Students will develop skills that lay the foundation for success in future speaking endeavors in both professional and personal settings. This course will also focus on how to make critical judgments as an audience to public discourse. Upon completion of this course students will be more confident and effective speakers and listeners.
SBC: SPK3 credits
COM 207: Media Writing
A hands-on approach to different forms of media writing online and in print. Careful examination of professional media writing enables students to understand informational and persuasive writing, evaluation, and judgement. Participants will understand the difference between journalistic writing and other forms of media writing and learn how media professionals construct different story forms based on ethical principles.
COM Major or Minor
3 credits
COM 208: History of Mass Communication
A survey of the history of mass communication in the American colonies and the United States. Students examine the ways in which mass communication has shaped, and has been shaped by, technological, economic, political, social, and cultural changes across the globe. Students will apply the skills and tools used by historians and journalists to understand the presence of the past in their lives and the critical role they play in the ongoing history of mass communication. This course is was previously known as JRN 208.
COM Major or Minor
SBC: USA3 credits
COM 305: Mass Communication Law & Ethics
Provides students with a model by which they can analyze, understand, and act upon the law and ethical considerations that journalists and mass media professionals and consumers face in the 21st century. The class will use case studies, the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, the First Amendment Handbook from the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, and current newsworthy stories to build an analytical model. This course is offered as both JRN 305 and COM 305.
Prerequisite JRN Maj/Min or COM Maj/Min; and U3 or U4 status
SBC: ESI3 credits
COM 306: Modes of Media Criticism
An introduction and overview of methods of criticism that guides participants to analyze contemporary forms of media and media culture. Students systematically work through different types of critical media analysis, including textual, production, and audience-centered approaches. Participants learn to situate these methodological approaches within a critical and cultural studies framework. Each methodological approach is paired with a screening and readings that model the respective forms of criticism being explored in class. Through hands-on analysis of media (television, film, Internet, video games, advertising, etc.) and application of media/cultural studies theory, participants build the required skills to produce methodologically rigorous critical media analyses.
Prerequisite JRN Maj/Min or COM Maj/Min; and U3 or U4 status
3 credits
COM 307: Critical Media Theory
An introduction to critical theory as it relates specifically to media and mass communication. The course will survey the most significant theoretical developments in media and cultural studies in a chronologically structured order, following the Frankfurt School through contemporary critical/cultural studies of the media to cover the diverse and important debate on the relationship between individuals, society, and the media we create and consume. Participants engage in thoughtful debate and undertake their own examination of a specific theory or body of theory.
Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status; one course that meets the HUM, ARTS, or LANG SBC requirements
SBC: HFA+3 credits
COM 316: Mass Communication Research Methods
A systematic overview of key contemporary research methods in media and mass communication. Based in social science methods, participants pursue a deeper understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods. The course provides opportunities to apply those methods through individual and team-based research projects. Participants will build on and apply their existing understanding of media and mass communication to explore the principles behind well-conducted research, including the design of research questions, a range of methodological approaches, development and application of these approaches, and standards related to research on human subjects.
Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status; C or higher in COM 106 or COM 208; completion of the SBC QPS requirement
SBC: SBS+3 credits
COM 317: Mass Communication Theory
An overview of historical and contemporary theories of mass communication, media, and culture with particular focus on social and behavioral theory. The course covers key empirical theoretical perspectives on mass communication processes and examines the foundations of theoretical inquiry and applications of theory.
Prerequisite JRN Maj/Min or COM Maj/Min; and U3 or U4 status
3 credits
COM 346: Race, Class, and Gender in Media
A critical examination of race, class, and gender in contemporary media. The class will explore traditional and social media to understand how identity and social configurations shape and are shaped by media. Participants will analyze how media industries and media representations relate to national and global diversity and explore theories that seek to explain media's role in representing race, class, and gender and how media influence our experience of diversity. Course participants will produce a collaboratively designed media project that comments on and challenges misrepresentations.
Prerequisite JRN Maj/Min or COM Maj/Min; and U3 or U4 status
3 credits
COM 351: Team Collaboration
This course takes a team science approach to enhance project-based, cross-disciplinary collaboration. There is an emphasis on small group communication for enhanced collaboration among team members who offer a range of expertise, perspectives, and experiences. Students will work together on a variety of short projects that seek to address community needs, both within Stony Brook University and the broader Long Island community. Each project requires students to answer complex questions, communicate effectively and efficiently in small group settings, and assess their team¿s ongoing performance. Through this process students will gain clarity on their own communication styles, and learn key communication skills for effective leaders.
CBI minor/ U3 U4
SBC: EXP+3 credits
COM 365: Talking Science
Designed to help undergraduate students in the sciences communicate effectively and responsively with multiple audiences, from peers and professors to potential employers and the media. Rather than a bag of tricks and techniques, this course will push a shift in the students' understanding of communication: 1) audience-centered, 2) goaloriented, and 3) dynamic. Among the techniques we use are improvisational theatre exercises that will help you connect with an audience, pay close and dynamic attention to others, read non-verbal cues, and respond freely without self-consciousness. We also will strongly focus on storytelling as a medium through which this communication shift occurs.
Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing
SBC: SPK3 credits
COM 399: Topics in Mass Communication
Selected topics in Mass Communication. Topics may include U.S., international contexts. This course enables participants to engage with timely and contemporary issues in mass communication and media. May be repeated as the topic changes.
Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status
3 credits
COM 415: Data Analysis and Storytelling
A skill-building exploration of communicating empirical data to different audiences using stories. Using existing data, students practice interpreting data and implementing storytelling tools to create clarity and meaning within goal-oriented, narratives about topics from climate change, to population health, and plant science. Through the Alda Method® for science communication, students learn to engage in clear and vivid communication that ensures data is communicated with integrity and accuracy, which leads to improved understanding by the public, media, patients, elected officials, and others outside of their own discipline. The Alda Method® supports experiential learning by integrating teaching strategies from improvisational theater, communication, journalism, public health, and other relevant fields. This course is offered as both JRN 415 and COM 415
Prerequisite JRN Maj/Min or COM Maj/Min; and U3 or U4 status
SBC: STAS3 credits
COM 436: Environmental Communication
An overview of the growing field of Environmental Communication. Over the past decades, an important body of scholarship has emerged in Environmental Communication that includes a number of edited books, dozens of peer-reviewed publications in a wide range of prestigious journals, a series of edited conference proceedings, and an international, peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture. The course gives students an opportunity to participate in engaged research with a local community on an environmental or sustainability problem and link what they have learned through the course materials with action.
Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status
3 credits
COM 487: Independent Study
Intensive study of a special topic undertaken with close faculty supervision. May be repeated with a different topic.
Prerequisite: Permission of director of undergraduate studies
0-6 credits, S/U grading
COM 491: Mass Communication Senior Project
A required capstone course for all mass communication majors. Students produce a major project that combines a strong research base with creative elements. Each project will have written, visual, and/or interactive components and must include a public outreach component. Students may choose between (1) a creative multimedia project (e.g., short film, documentary, podcast, etc.) that centers on a mass communication topic that is research-based, or (2) an academic research paper that is an original analysis of a mass communication topic (e.g., gender portrayals in the media). Students attend a weekly seminar and work independently to create public-facing work that meets professional standards. They interact with members of the community and because the work is publicly available, students are exposed to the full range of community response.
PQ COM491- Grade of C or higher in COM306 and COM307 or COM316 and COM317
SBC: EXP+, WRTD3 credits
COM 494: Mass Communication Internship
Participation in local, state, and national public and private agencies and organizations. Students are required to submit written progress reports and a final written report on their experiences to the faculty sponsor and the department. May be repeated up to a limit of 12 credits.
Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing and permission of director of undergraduate studies
SBC: EXP+0-6 credits, S/U grading
