NEW MEDIA MINOR (6 Courses, 18 credits)

COURSE OFFERINGS

1. Required Foundation Course (3 credits)

All New Media Minor students should complete the following foundation course (with grades no lower than a C-) before taking minor electives:

• Introduction to New Media (RTF 03295)

Prerequisite: CCII

(Note: RTF 03275 Applied Media Aesthetics is currently listed as a pre-req for Intro to New Media, this is a mistake that is in the process of being remedied. Please reach out to the New Media Minor Coordinator, Jonathan Olshefski - olshefski@rowan.edu, to override this issue)

Introduction to New Media surveys emerging digital communication and entertainment media and teaches new media from the perspective of the producer. Students will discuss the evolution, social and historical implications, and production of media forms with an emphasis on social networking, user generated and other web media.

2. Technical Proficiency Electives (6 - 9 credits)

Each student must take a total of 2 technical proficiency electives (with grades no lower than a C-), if student takes all three of the following courses only one minor related elective is required:

• Digital Media Processes (CMS 04315)

Prerequisite:CCII

An examination of social interactivity and networking in new media, providing a student in the minor with an option to more deeply understand the role of social media, among other emerging trends.

• Digital Journalism I (JRN 02321)

Prerequisite: Journalism, Principles & Practices

An exploration of writing and producing news for online consumption. This course would be a productive elective for a student leaning toward production of news-based media, including blogs.

• New Media Production (RTF 03394)

Prerequisite: Introduction to New Media

3. Minor Related Electives (3 -6 credits)

Each student must take a total of 2 minor related electives (with grades no lower than a C-) OR take 1 minor related elective if taking all three technical proficiency electives. Student must include one of two sequencing options:

1. 1 or 2 courses from the following list College of Communication & Creative Arts Electives (listed alphabetically by department below)

***OR***

2. 1 course from the list of College of Communication & Creative Arts Electives, plus an addtional related elective (3 credits).

NOTE: Additional related electives must be approved prior to taking the course by the New Media Minor Coordinator.

CCCA Electives List:

• Advertising Media Budgeting (ADV 04232)

Media planning is a key element of advertising campaigns, focused on configuring the brand message, audience, frequency, time/timing, and advertising media mix within a given budget. In this course, students use primary and secondary data from a variety of marketing consumer information sources, databases, and reports to define the consumer profile and media mix
for an advertising campaign.

• Essentials of Design (ADV 04370)

This course develops visual communication skills, teaching non-art majors how to think like a designer. Students will explore the creative design process with digital tools and design software, learning to effectively use and organize basic elements: typography, images, and color. They will examine and analyze case studies in graphic design, developing ability to critique design solutions. Students will use critical thinking skills, learning the essential descriptive vocabulary of graphic design and typography and how a designer's choices about type and image work together to communicate specific content.

• Motion Graphics (ART 09215 / RTF 03215)

This course introduces fundamental concepts in moving image theory and practice. Motion graphics, compositing, codecs, LUTS, kinetic typography, motion perception, lenses and lighting, video editing, animation, projection, video art, immersive video and other applications are explored through use of readings, screenings, and studio projects. Students will gain an understanding of both historical and contemporary moving image concepts and technologies and apply them to kinetic works in both analog and digital formats.

• Intro to Natural Science & Zoological Illustration (ART 09252)

This course is designed to develop a strong foundation in concept development and observational drawing skills. As well as integrate traditional and introductory digital media techniques within the subject matter of drawing plants, animals, and natural science content. Both traditional forms of media (graphite, pen/ink, charcoal, color pencil etc.) and digital forms of media production will be used to illustrate subjects through demonstrations and visual problems. The course will focus on
the integration of traditional and digital media, as it related to realistic and representational drawing. Students will learn professional production methods and design conventions within the field of natural science and zoological illustration.

• Intro to Digital 3D Modeling (ART 09253 / BMV 09253)

This is an aesthetics based media course that communicates digital 3D content for both biomedical art (didactic) media and entertainment media (illustration, animation, game design etc.). The course is designed to cover concepts in digital 3D organic and inorganic object modeling, which includes observational modeling, conceptual process modeling, and narrative modeling. Students will learn to develop a broad range of modeled content including but not limited to characters, objects, and environments. The digital models designed are rendered and composited as 2D illustration to solve specific visual communication problems. The software (Autodesk 3D Studio Max and Mudbox) used in the course are industry standards for 3D computer graphics production. The subject matter within the Specialization in Biomedical Art and Visualization reflects the subject matter of science and medicine. Students in broader areas of art (sculpture, illustration, painting, etc.) will be able to focus on specific subjects relevant to their artistic goals using the 3D methods and techniques.

• Web Design (ART 09358)

Prerequisite: Intro to Graphic Design I or Essentials of Design

This course introduces students to basic concepts and techniques for conceptualizing, planning and designing intelligent, usable, and well-designed web sites. Students will explore principles in communication hierarchy based on contemporary internet standards for use on computer and/or mobile devices. They will learn to manage content and develop relationships of type and image for clarity, distinctiveness and contextual appropriateness. Students without the prerequisite may enroll with instructor’s permission.

• Storyboarding and Animation (ART 09360 / BMV 09360)

This is an aesthetics based course that communicates animated narratives in the areas of art and science. This course serves as an introduction to animation of objects, environments, animals, humans and natural science subjects. Students will learn to create 2D and 3D animations of narratives with goals to communicate a message and/or educate the viewer on their story.
The student will learn pre-visualization skills in the form of storyboarding to problem solve their ideals before animation. The student will use pre-visualized concept art to animated short stories of the body, environment, and/or natural science through the medium of 2D and 3D digital animation software (Adobe Flash, After Effects and Autodesk 3D Studio Max.) The principles of 2D and 3D digital space and motion/timing will be used as the foundation of production. The subject matter within the Specialization in Biomedical Art and Visualization reflects the subject matter of science and medicine. Students in broader areas of art (sculpture, illustration, painting, etc.) will be able to focus on specific subjects relevant to their artistic goals using the animation methods and techniques.

• Intro to Game Media Design (ART 09453 / BMV 09453)

This is an aesthetics based course that communicates and focuses on educational and casual game content through the fundamentals of game media design. The course materials and projects will help students understand how and why games can be used for learning in the fields of health, medicine, science, and social change. Students will also learn how casual games can be a powerful learning tool in social situations. The course exposes students to examples of current work and research in game design mechanics, game art production, game learning mechanics, and assessment mechanics, which are important to designing successful and engaging games. Students will learn use traditional drawings media, the Adobe Creative Cloud, and specific game engines to develop their games. Students will be exposed to industry-specific examples of educational and casual games (social games, learning games, news games, health and science games, and exercise-games etc.) These examples alone with specific lecture topics, demonstrations and material, will allow students to learn how to develop their own educational and casual games projects that deliver content through game media and design.

• Time-Based Media: Animation (ART 09365)

This course is a hands-on studio workshop that covers concepts, issues, and techniques related to 2-D animation, exploring the growing range of genres and applications from within the arts including stop-motion, computer-generated animation and experimental animation techniques. Students will create their own 2-D animations as well as study the theory and practice of artists working in the medium. This course supports the fine arts experience by cultivating innovation, visual creativity, experimentation, intellectual enquiry and the acquisition of professional animation techniques.

• Video Art (ART 09375)

This course is a hands-on studio workshop that covers concepts, issues, and techniques related to video, exploring the growing range of genres and applications from within the arts and industry including video installation, narrative film, documentary film, performance video, and exhibition documentation. Students will create their own video-based projects as well as learn about the theory and practice of artists working in the medium. This course supports the fine arts experience by cultivating innovation, visual creativity, experimentation, intellectual enquiry and the acquisition of professional video production techniques.

• Mediated Interpersonal Communication (CMS 04316)

Prerequisite: CCI or College Sophomore Engineering Clinic I

The study of mediated interpersonal communication focuses on the role that communication technologies play in meaning making within interpersonal communication contexts, such as personal, family, community, and professional relationships. The purpose of the course will be to discuss the history and changing meaning of mediated interpersonal communications, survey relevant theoretical perspectives in the research literature, and apply those perspectives in contemporary issues. This course may not be offered annually.

• Social Media Strategies (CMS 04317)

Prerequisite: Public Speaking

This course focuses on the role of digital media in a group’s or organization’s communication practices. It includes a service learning component that allows students to apply what they are learning to a community management campaign for a local nonprofit organization. Students will learn about media ecology, network theory, the characteristics of community,strategies and approaches that groups and organizations us to enact a community management plan, best practices for messaging strategies and the ways in which discourse shapes understanding, details about what online community managers do and why they do it, and ways to adapt messaging to specific technological platforms. This course may not be offered annually.

• Photojournalism (JRN 02314)

Prerequisite: 45 Credits

This course covers the practices and techniques used by photojournalists on modern American newspapers. Students take digital photographs and edit in Photoshop. Weekly laboratory assignments are required.

• Media Ethics (JRN 02319)

Prerequisite: Journalism Principles & Practices

Discussions, case histories, and analyses of right and wrong in media, and the considerable gray area in between right and wrong. Examination of these areas is provided in Introduction to New Media; therefore, a stand-along course in ethics is not essential. However, this course adds many layers of knowledge and understanding and will be of particular benefit for any student considering, for example, a career in new-media management.

• Digital Journalism II (JRN 02325)

Prerequisite: Digital Journalism I

Specific instruction in presentation and structure of news for the Web. Again, a choice for students pursing journalistic endeavors.

• Data Journalism (JRN 02363)

Prerequisite: 45 Credits

This course covers the basic concepts and techniques of data journalism to inform and engage the public. Students will find, evaluate, organize and analyze data and learn how to transform it into compelling news stories and graphic visualizations.

• Introduction to Entrepreneurial Media (JRN 02365)

Introduction to Entrepreneurial Media examines ways media professionals can profit from the technological and economic upheaval in the mass media environment - the ability of individuals and small groups to produce high-quality media on a shoestring budget -- by inventing new business models for themselves and new enterprises that focus on media and journalism.

• Social Media Metrics and Analytics (JRN 02366 / PR 06324)

Media Metrics and Analytics provides a thorough grounding in how media consumption is measured (metrics) and utilized (analytics) by media organizations and independent professionals. The course spans traditional circulation of print publications, broadcast, cable, and radio ratings, web site traffic measures, social media statistics and advertising data. Media Metrics and Analytics examines the types of measures that, for example, are now commonly displayed on monitors in
newsrooms as a way to gauge success of a story, or are used by entrepreneurs to evaluate the overall success of various media. No special statistical background is necessary, and the course is geared toward using programs and tools that are designed for use by non-technical personnel.

• Social Media & Sports Communication (PR 06306)

In this course students will learn strategies for engaging key constituencies through the use of targeted social media communication. Key concepts include choosing appropriate social media platforms, building a social media policy, crafting and planning messages that enhance current communication activities, and using social media to build relationships with the fan base and local communities.

• IMC & New Media Overview (MAPR 01565)

TBA

• Strategic Visual Communication (MAPR 01568)

The ability to conceive, produce and deploy rich visual imagery is now a core requirement for advertising and PR practitioners. To help students prepare for this rapidly evolving field, this class explores how and why visual media have overtaken text-based content. Through practical, hands-on individual experiences and class projects, it provides a framework for understanding the different types of visual media and their participants, choosing the right tools, and devising the strategies to succeed in this new digital era.

• Online Public Relations (MAPR 06515)

The tools and techniques of reaching and influencing the public through web-based and interactive media. An obvious choice for students pursuing PR or marketing.

• Writing Electronic Communities (MAWR 01555: a graduate course that can be taken under senior privilege)

Focusing on how writing reaches and impacts various online audiences, this elective will be particularly productive for students who wish to concentrate in written online material, such as blogs and opinion pieces.

• Foundations in Media Production (RTF 03201)

This course is a hands-on overview of the technology currently applied in the fields of radio, television, film and new media. From the elements of photography, sound capture, editing, lighting, and studio operation, students will rotate through workshops and assignments that will give them the necessary foundations to pursue more field-specific courses in media production. This course is only open to RTF majors.

• Film Production 1 (RTF 03370)

Prerequisite: Applied Media Aesthetics

The course introduces students to the principles and techniques of film style production. Students work in production teams to make a series of short films designed to familiarize them with film production techniques including camera operation, shot composition, and editing. In addition students gain experience applying basic cinematic narrative concepts.

• New Media Production 2 (RTF 03472)

Prerequisite: New Media Production

This class builds upon the production foundation that was started in the New Media Production 1 course. It will provide the opportunity to further develop technical skills relating to new media.

• Introduction to Esports (SPRT 09201)

Introduction to Esports is foundational course for students interested in learning the language, history, and culture of the esports industry and entertainment experience. It is the prerequisite for students completing the CUGS in Esports. The class cover the historical development of several of the most popular esports games as well as the cultural and economic implications of those games on the videogame industry.

• Writing, Research, and Technology (WA 01301)

Understanding of writing styles in a cybermedia context, with a strong emphasis on web-based research. A particularly useful elective for those planning a career involving educational or academic use of interactive media.

• Self-Publishing (WA 01356)

This course considers the histories, technologies, and practices of self-publishing. Students will examine how writers have historically made and circulated texts on their own for different rhetorical purposes — artistic, civic, academic, or entrepreneurial — and have innovated using a variety of technologies in the process. They will then use these disparate contexts and technologies to articulate professional trajectories that make use of emerging and self-made networks and intermediaries as a pathway toward or alternative to traditional sponsorship. Rather than imagine themselves as writers who inevitably must work with large publishing companies or major organizations in order to be heard, students will learn how localized communities (such as those who produce zines, small presses, and e-books), production services (such as print on demand and web hosts), and practices (such as niche marketing and crowdfunding) can support and sustain their writing in the short- and long-term.

• Internship (varies: all departments in the College of Communication currently offer their own section of internship)

In keeping with the College of Communication's tradition of integrating classroom and the workplace, an elective internship - chosen in consultation with the New Media Coordinator and based in production and use of new media - will serve as a valuable learning experience to students who have the inclination and opportunity to work in new media settings during an internship experience.

4. Required Capstone Course (3 credits)

• New Media Practicum (INTR 01490)

Prerequisite: Introduction to New Media, 4 approved minor electives