Engaged and Sustainable Media

This is a theoretical class with a large media project component using time-based media, virtual or online platforms to address topics in aesthetics, ethics, and participatory culture through texts and the students' own work. The class is divided into two modules. The first module analyzes mass media and forms of media literacy, measured against ethical criteria in the changing landscapes of social and participatory media. This learning shapes the second module, using more than half the class sessions; student teams develop a not-for-profit local media campaign for an environmental or political cause using social, participatory or virtual media as their platform. The local campaign ends with a debriefing on effect, audience, teamwork, and concept. NOTE: A student entering this class should have some basic media production knowledge. A student must be able to work with a team on a hands-on media project and fill one of these roles: social media, writing, graphics, web, motion design, video, or audio.