Communications

Course Description

COMM 1307 - INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION IN THE ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENT

Credit:  3 (3 lecture)

Analyzes communication theory and mass media in 21th century society.  Surveys history, operation, and structure of the American communications system.  Identifies major legal, ethical, and sociocultural issues, studies basic communication theory, and the interrelations between media and the individual, media and society, and media and the future.  Examines career potential and job prospects in today's and tomorrow's electronic culture.

Prerequisites

Course Goals (includes core competencies, incorporation of SCANS, etc.)

This course is designed to provide the student with an understanding of the mass communication media and to emphasize the importance of the communicator in modern society. The course is aimed at consumers of the various mass media products and focuses on the history, development, impact and consequences of the media in society -- past, present and future.  This course will

• provide the student with a fundamental knowledge of how to be an intelligent and selective consumer of mass media
• enable the student to understand how mass media industries and society interact
• show the student career opportunities in mass media
• encourage student thought about how mass communication technologies affect lifestyles
• provide the student with information on mass media trends, with some emphasis on research and theory, communication models, theories of the press, etc.
• provide the student with information on media history for a better perspective on mass media systems today
• provide the student with information related to each segmentof the mass media industry, i.e., the categories of print, broadcast and cable, and film, as well as information about how government and the mass media interact
  

Instructor Information

Napoleon Johnson 
TEL:     713-718-6305 or 713-718-6600
Fax:      713-718-6601 or 713-718-6324
E-mail: napoleon.johnson@hccs.edu
Office Hours:  MW 2-4 p.m.

Textbook Information

Lab Requirements (if any)

No lab requirements

Students with Disabilities

Academic Honesty

Attendance and Withdrawal Policies

Student must attend class regularly and punctually, missing no more than four and a one-half hours. (HCCS Absence Policy:  If a student is absent more than 12.5 percent of total class time, the instructor may drop the student.)  

It is the student's responsibility to withdraw from a course.  (For example if a student simply stops coming to class and considers that the instructor will drop him or her, they should think twice about that. The instructor can give a failing  grade to someone who does not officially drop from the class.  It is up to the student to take care of the paperwork associatied with withdrawing from a class.

Grading Policy

It is the policy of the Houston Community College instructional area that letter grades A through F can be translated into the numerical ranges listed above.  These ranges should be used in all classes in which grades A - F are appropriate.

This policy does not mandate a specific strategy for grading.  Any number of  kinds of grading scales might be appropriate. They should, however, be able to be equated to the point system; e.g., that system should award an A for 90 to 100 percent of possible points accumulated.

While the final course grade is always a letter, the grades that go into making up that grade should either be numerical or should be translatable into numbers for the purposes of averaging grades.  Example:  If an A, A-, B+, etc., is to be used as the grade for an essay or report of some kind, the instructor's syllabus should indicate specifically how those grades will be translated into number grades for purposes for purposes of achieving a final average.

Every student who is to receive a letter grade in the range of A - F should also receive a final numerical grade that is the basis for the letter grade.

Course Requirements for example: Testing, Projects, Assignments, Portfolios, Service Learning, Internships, etc.

Mid-Term Research Paper:  You will research and write a paper on some aspect of mass communication. This typewritten report shall contain a minimum of four sources (may be books, periodicals, newspapers, video, broadcast, internet or human authority or eyewitness).

Your research paper must be five double-spaced pages of content.  Additional pages will include a cover page (Title Page), and the Works Cited page at the end of the paper. Furthermore, please use the MLA style of "intext" citation of sources (references)  within the body of your paper.  (Instructor will provide an MLA fact sheet.)

Plagiarism is a No-No!!!!  You must give credit to your sources (references)!  Are we clear on this???

Final Project:  You have a choice between doing No.1, No. 2 or No. 3 below:

1.  Student Project Notebook (12 critiques total are required)

• 2  movie reviews
• 2  TV show reviews
• 2  radio show reviews
• 2  advertising analyses (from newspapers or magazines or TV commercials; for all print sources, I want the ad taped or glued onto a separate sheet of paper behind the critique)
• 2  cartoon analyses (TV, newspaper or magazine; if it comes from a newspaper or magazine, tape or glue it onto a separate sheet of paper behind the critique)
• 2  newspaper editorial analyses   (for this, as well, tape or glue the editorial on a separate sheet of paper behind the critique)
• 2.  Special Project.  If you choose this category, your project will be due the _15th__ week.
       Please choose one of the following:
• Video tape project  - Tell a story (humorous, dramatic, documentary, etc.
• 35-mm film - Documentary film project
• 35-mm slide -  Documentary slide project

3.  Or another Research Paper.  If you choose to do this one, follow the same requirements as for the mid-term project (however, eight pages using four or  more sources).

Make-up policy

Assignments, projects, tests, etc. are due on the scheduled dates.  Student will receive one letter grade less  for missed deadlines.

Exceptions to this rule include dates changed by the instructor (who will give students prior notice).  In the same manner, the student must obtain prior consent or in case of emergncies a doctor's statement attesting to the reason for an absence and a missed assignment, project or test.

Course Content

This course is a survey of mass communication systems with emphasis on the evolution of human communication from pre-historic times up to and including modern communication techniques used to produce newspapers, books, magazines, radio and television programs and motion pictures.  Historical media milestones, as well as current controversies, the ever-growing changes in the modern media landscape (including the convergence of new technologies), and the social and political implications and the impact of it all are the subject matter of the next 16 weeks.  The course includes lectures, class discussions, videotapes, several written assignments on various aspects of mass communication, at least one oral presentation and several written assignments requiring computer literacy.

Course Calendar with Due Dates for Assignments and Testing

COMM 1307  Introduction to Mass Communication

WEEK      DATES        Readings, Asignments, Projects, Field Trips, Visitors

    1                                Orientation and Introduction to the course
                                      Ch. 1    Mass Communiction: A Critical Approach
    2                                Ch. 2    Information & New Technology:  Media at the Crossroads
                                      (Ch.15  Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research)

    3                                Ch. 8    Newspapers and the Rise of Modern Journalism
                                      (Ch.13  Economics and the Global Marketplace)
                                      (Ch.15  Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research)

    4                                Ch. 9    Magazines in the Age of Specialization

    5                                Ch. 10  Books and the Power of  Print

    6                                Test - Chs. 8,9,10,13, & 15
                                      Research Topics due today

    7                                Ch. 3    Sound Recording and Popular Music
                                      Media Logs due today

    8                                Ch. 4     Popular Radio and the Origins of Broadcasting
                                       Working bibliography due

    9                                Ch. 5    Television and the Power of Visual Culture
                                      (Ch. 14 The Culture of Jurnalism: Values, Ethics & Democracy)

    10                              Ch. 6    Cable and the Specialization of  Television
                                      Research Paper due today

    11                              Ch. 7    Movies and the Impact of Images

    12                              Test - Chs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
                                      Content Analysis due today

    13                              Ch. 11   Advertising and Commercial Culture

    14                              Ch. 14   The Culture of Journalism:  Values, Ethics & Democracy
                                      Ch. 15   Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research
                                      Final Project Due - Project Notebook, Video or Photo            
                                                                      Documentary

    15                              Ch. 16   Legal Controls and Freedom of Expression
                                      Review for Final Exam

    16                               Final Exam - Chapters 14, 15 and 16   

Other Student Information (clubs, tutoring, web resources, student services, etc.)

HCC Student Communication Association - Napoleon Johnson, Faculty Adviser

Law and the Media Seminar
Annual seminar and panel discussions with professional members of the bar and the media to which student lawyers and student journalists are invited.

Texas Community College Journalism Association (TCCJA)
Annual state-wide student journalism conference in October

Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA)
Annual state-wide student journalism conference in April