Catalog Course Descriptions
The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.
Courses
Undergraduate
COMM 208: Introduction to Media Production (3 Credits)
Provides a general introduction to media production with emphasis on the basics of multimedia tools for camera, audio, lighting, and editing, focusing on non-fiction, journalism, or public relations/advocacy presentations. Offered by Communication. Limited to two attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 270: Introduction to Screen Cultures (3 Credits)
Introduces students to core questions and methods in screen studies. Looks at the dynamic relationship between screen-based media and their cultural and historical contexts. Teaches analysis of a variety of aesthetic objects including film, TV, video games, animation, social media, and photography while considering how aesthetic practices shape and are shaped by questions of identity, formations of power, and issues of social justice. Offered by English. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
FAVS 225: Introduction to World Cinema (3 Credits)
This course explores examples of many kinds of films from around the world, including documentary, fiction, and experimental. Students will learn to analyze film language and structures, with attention to cinema's many contexts, including economic institutions, historical events, political and social issues that shape and are shaped by movies.Offered by Film & Video Studies. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Arts
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
FAVS 250: Business of Film (3 Credits)
This course provides an overview of the film & television industry from a business perspective. Students learn basic filmed entertainment business practices and protocol, including film financing, copyright & trademark, anti-trust, trademark, IP licensing, Agents & Managers, Entertainment Unions & Guilds, film distribution, and marketing techniques.Offered by Film & Video Studies. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
AVT 377: Cyberpunk (3 Credits)
Traces the ways that cinema, music, fiction, cultural theory, visual art, television, theater, and performance have embraced and been shaped by cyberpunk and cyberculture. Includes readings, writings, discussion, screenings, guest speakers, and research projects. Offered by School of Art. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Studio
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
CHIN 320: Contemporary Chinese Film (3 Credits)
Explores China from 1949 to present through cinematic and literary representations. Discussions focus on representations of cultural, social, and political changes in the movies. Also introduces critical readings that address issues of gender and youth, family, ethnicity, modernity and the nation, as well as visuality and memory. Notes: Knowledge of Chinese language helpful but not required. Offered by Modern & Classical Languages. Limited to three attempts.
Specialized Designation: Non-Western Culture
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 302: Media Theory (3 Credits)
Provides a comprehensive review of mass communication and media theory, focusing on media effects and the complex relationships between media producers, messages, technologies, and users/audiences. Examines role of media in news, politics, and popular culture. Offered by Communication. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 350: Mass Communication and Public Policy (3 Credits)
Investigates how matters of public importance are communicated via various mass communication channels. Emphasizes regulations to minimize influence of mass media on public decision-making, and media manipulation by pressure groups, politicians, and media gatekeepers. Offered by Communication. Limited to three attempts.
Recommended Prerequisite: COMM 202, 255, or 302, or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 358: Multi-Camera Studio Production (3 Credits)
Provides an in-depth exploration of the creative, technical, logistical, and aesthetic requirements of production in a multiple camera environment. The fundamental skills learned in this class will serve as a foundation for narrative, event, live sports, talk show, broadcast journalism, and magazine-styled television and webcast programming. Offered by Communication. Limited to three attempts.
Registration Restrictions:
Required Prerequisites: COMM 355C, FAVS 255C, 255XS, COMM 208C, 208XS, L355, FAVS U255 or COMM U208.
C Requires minimum grade of C.
XS Requires minimum grade of XS.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 360: Digital Postproduction (3 Credits)
Offers instruction on delivering high-quality image and video products for digital media. Students will be introduced to an array of video-audio editing and digital image software for integrating video, audio, photo and graphic postproduction. Student projects focus on journalism, public relations, and advocacy contexts. Offered by Communication. Limited to two attempts.
Registration Restrictions:
Required Prerequisites: COMM 355C, FAVS 255C, 255XS, COMM 208C, 208XS, L355, FAVS U255 or COMM U208.
C Requires minimum grade of C.
XS Requires minimum grade of XS.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 364: Videography (3 Credits)
Provides a comprehensive overview of the principles and practices of visual storytelling, encompassing short documentaries, campaigns, commercial work, news and other non-fiction narratives. Mobile, DSLR and fixed-lens cameras will be used to explore all facets of visual production that tell human stories, with emphasis on character, conflict, drama, and surprise. Offered by Communication. Limited to three attempts.
Registration Restrictions:
Required Prerequisites: COMM 355C, FAVS 255C, 255XS, COMM 208C, 208XS, L355, FAVS U255 or COMM U208.
C Requires minimum grade of C.
XS Requires minimum grade of XS.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 365: Gender, Race, and Class in the Media (3 Credits)
Introduces concepts of power, influence of mass media. Allows students to see themselves as products, producers of media influence, and gives sense of the roles in the media or lack thereof, of groups based on their gender, race and/or class. Offered by Communication. Limited to three attempts.
Recommended Prerequisite: COMM 302 or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 372: Sports and the Media (3 Credits)
Examines the role of mass media in constructing images of athletes, sport, and sports culture. Critical attention is given to broadcast, print, and film of sport media. Assesses sociological and cultural issues that shape sport media and culture. Offered by Communication. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 380: Media Criticism (3 Credits)
Examines practical criticism of a wide variety of media texts including television programs, newspapers, articles, films, photographs, and advertisements. Introduces principles of major contemporary modes of analysis for systematically interpreting visual and verbal forms of communication. Offered by Communication. Limited to three attempts.
Recommended Prerequisite: Completion of 60 hours or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 370: Documentary and Non-Fiction Film/Media (3 Credits)
Considers fundamental concepts of documentary form, style, and subject matter, ethical considerations, and theories of documentary. Includes close analysis of a series of representative film and television texts. Offered by English. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Arts
Recommended Prerequisite: Satisfaction of University requirements in 100-level English and in Mason Core literature.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 371: Global TV (3 Credits)
Learn to identify and analyze formal elements of television. Learn how to situate and evaluate television in their cultural and historical contexts, interpret specific texts, and understand the relationships among broadcasting and networks, citizenship, audiences, and the public sphere. Offered by English. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Arts
Recommended Prerequisite: Satisfaction of University requirements in 100-level English and in Mason Core literature.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 372: Introduction to Film (3 Credits)
Introduces film medium as an art form. Offered by English. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Arts
Recommended Prerequisite: Satisfaction of University requirements in 100-level English and in Mason Core literature.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 374: Screening the Global City (3 Credits)
Familiarizes students with an essential subfield of film and media studies—the relationship of urban space to screen cultures. Addresses the construction of the global city on screen in relation to questions of wealth and poverty; crime and criminality; surveillance, occupation, and the state of emergency; gender and sexuality; space, place, and shooting on location; among other things. Explores the central role the “global city” plays in the generation and global circulation of wealth while also attending to the marginal spaces of such cities. Offered by English. Limited to three attempts.
Recommended Prerequisite: ENGH 372 Introduction to Film
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
FAVS 300: Global Horror Film (3 Credits)
This course is an introduction to the horror film genre. Looking at various national and transnational cinemas, the course traces horror’s development from its literary beginnings through contemporary filmic storytelling. We’ll consider artistic, commercial, and sociopolitical aspects of the horror film and explore themes such as war, terror, and censorship. Students will learn to identify how horror texts both reflect and influence cultural interdependence and inequality across the world.Offered by Film & Video Studies. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
FAVS 352: Ethics of Film and Video (3 Credits)
An examination of ethical issues associated with image production and consumption. Topics include the technological development of the film apparatus, privacy, the pursuit of objectivity, excess, consent, and representing others. All issues highlight the increasingly sophisticated and powerful role of film and media authorship. Students will develop a more complex view of the ethics of screen representation (both fiction and nonfiction) and be encouraged to take stock of the ethics of their own media literacy.Offered by Film & Video Studies. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Mason Apex
Recommended Prerequisite: Completion of 21 credits within the Film program.
Registration Restrictions:
Required Prerequisites: ((ENGH 302C, 302XS, HNRS 360C, 360XS, 361C or 361XS) and (FAVS 255C or 255XS)).
C Requires minimum grade of C.
XS Requires minimum grade of XS.
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Film and Video Studies.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
FAVS 399: Special Topics in Film and Video Studies (1-3 Credits)
In-depth presentation and exploration of topical studies. Notes: Subject matter varies. May be repeated when taken under different topics.Offered by Film & Video Studies. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 12 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
FRLN 331: Contexts for Global Cinema (3 Credits)
Major works of world cinema with varying perspectives and topics, such as specific genres, periods, schools. Notes: Coursework in English. May be repeated when topic is different with permission of department. Offered by Modern & Classical Languages. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 9 credits.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Global Understanding
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: ENGH 101 or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
JAPA 320: Japanese Cinema (3 Credits)
Comprehensive analysis of Japanese cinema based on cross-cultural perspectives and cultural criticism. Major developments and trends as viewed in selected Japanese films with emphasis on post war and contemporary eras. Knowledge of Japanese history, communication, and cultural studies or film and media studies helpful. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different with approval of department. Offered by Modern & Classical Languages. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
MUSI 301: Music in Motion Pictures (3 Credits)
Intensive study and analysis of using music tracks in motion pictures to introduce the picture, set a scene, create moods, or for musical numbers. From the silent film scores of the 1920s to the present (including electronic music). Offered by Dewberry School of Music. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Arts
Recommended Prerequisite: Completion of 30 credits. Music and non- music majors welcome.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
COMM 452: Advanced Portfolio in Media Production (1-3 Credits)
Theory and practice in creation, distribution, and response to media productions. Students complete minimum 150 hours of work as assistants to engineers, producers, directors, and organizers of media production facilities on campus, under supervision of a sponsoring faculty member. Notes: Only 3 credits may be applied to the communication major. Offered by Communication. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Recommended Prerequisite: COMM 208, 303, or 348.
Schedule Type: Internship
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 470: RS: Topics in Screen Cultures Research (3 Credits)
Advanced studies of development of film language, both as cultural practice and medium for formal innovation. Topics might include studies of national cinemas, historical periods, genres, or individual directors. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. Offered by English. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Mason Apex
Specialized Designation: Research/Scholarship Intensive, Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: ENGH 372 or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 472: Topics in Film/Media Theory (3 Credits)
Advanced studies of theories about various aspects of production, distribution, and reception of film-mediated experiences. Topics may include theories of spectator, semiotics, feminist film theory, theories of narrativity, structuralist film theory, or deconstruction. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. Offered by English. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: ENGH 372 or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 474: Topics in Screen Cultures (3 Credits)
American and foreign films selected by type, period, or director with emphasis varying from year to year. Required viewings, student discussion, and written critiques. Notes: May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits with permission of department. Offered by English. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: ENGH 372 or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 470: RS: Topics in Screen Cultures Research (3 Credits)
Advanced studies of development of film language, both as cultural practice and medium for formal innovation. Topics might include studies of national cinemas, historical periods, genres, or individual directors. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. Offered by English. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Mason Core: Mason Core, Mason Apex
Specialized Designation: Research/Scholarship Intensive, Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: ENGH 372 or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
ENGH 472: Topics in Film/Media Theory (3 Credits)
Advanced studies of theories about various aspects of production, distribution, and reception of film-mediated experiences. Topics may include theories of spectator, semiotics, feminist film theory, theories of narrativity, structuralist film theory, or deconstruction. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. Offered by English. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: ENGH 372 or permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
JAPA 320: Japanese Cinema (3 Credits)
Comprehensive analysis of Japanese cinema based on cross-cultural perspectives and cultural criticism. Major developments and trends as viewed in selected Japanese films with emphasis on post war and contemporary eras. Knowledge of Japanese history, communication, and cultural studies or film and media studies helpful. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different with approval of department. Offered by Modern & Classical Languages. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.