IM 355 01, 02 & 03: Interactive Media Theories, Concepts, and Practices

Spring 2020

Course Goals and Objectives

Goals:

(1) To examine and develop concepts & ideas derived from scholarship about human communication, mass media, and computational digital technologies. New media theory comes from diverse and interdisciplinary sources.

(2) To examine and develop conceptual foundations derived from the cultural and commercial dimensions of new media history and technologies. Much new media theory is derived from professional practice, including contemporary/everyday phenomena. Ongoing technological innovations and implementations variously conform to and challenge conceptual understandings and explanations. The course examines the everyday, bringing focus to the taken-for-granted, and testing disciplinary/scholarly knowledge.

(3) To provide you with increased and improved technical vocabularies with which to study and discuss conceptual developments.

(4) Developing critical insights about taken-for-granted new media phenomena. Students are encouraged to think critically about the roles of media (new and old) in their lives as well as in our cultures.

(5) To develop informed speculations concerning the future of new media with particular attention to the roles of citizens, consumers, and producers. To the degree that “the new media are us,” the course encourages increased awareness, self-consciousness, and a critical attitude toward participation in mediated communication.

(6) This course fulfills a BU Core Curricula Writing Intensive (WI) requirement.

Objectives:

In order to meet these goals, you develop the ability to comprehend, identify, apply, and critically evaluate the definitions of the concepts. In the case of the core concepts presented in lecture/discussion and web notes, you should be able to:

  • write the definitions of the concepts and of their subparts;

  • compare and contrast aspects of the concepts & subparts among each other in order to explain the differences/similarities among them;

  • observe, identify, and illustrate the concepts and subparts in news/media reports of industry developments (not including personal opinion-based, amateur blogs).

In the case of the reading materials, students should be able to:

  • specify the author’s theses for each chapter/section;

  • identify the claims and sub-claims the authors make;

  • identify the evidence the authors use;

  • make claims about the readings;
  • support your claims about the readings with evidence from the readings;
  • summarize the readings.

© Ed Lamoureux, 2020

Goals and Objectives
(A) Concept Exams

(B) Text Reading
Summaries/Analyses

(C) Concept Application
Notes & Discussions
(D) 3-part-Research Writing Project
(E) Extra Credit Grading Special Considerations
Concepts Schedule IM 355 Homepage