These courses are offered to MIT students and affiliates. More information can be found at the MIT subjects catalogue.
(
, 
) 
(Same subject as 21W.790[J])
(Subject meets with 21W.890)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR1-2.30 (26-142)
Focuses on the production of short (1- to 5-minute) digital video documentaries: a form of non-fiction filmmaking that has proliferated in recent years due to the ubiquity of palm-sized and mobile phone cameras and the rise of web-based platforms, such as YouTube. Students shoot, edit, workshop and revise a series of short videos meant to engage audiences in a topic, introduce them to new ideas, and/or persuade them. Screenings and discussions cover key principles of documentary film – narrative, style, pace, point of view, argument, character development – examining how they function and change in short format. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 16.
Fall: R. Adams
Spring: R. Ellis Adams
(, ) 
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: MW2-3.30 (26-142) or TR10.30-12 (1-375)
Offers an overview of the social, cultural, political, and economic impact of mediated communication on modern culture. Combines critical discussions with experiments working with different media. Media covered include radio, television, film, the printed word, and digital technologies. Topics include the nature and function of media, core media institutions, and media in transition. Enrollment limited.
Fall: J. Picker, W. Uricchio
Spring: S. Costanza-Chock, J. Picker
() 
(Subject meets with CMS.861)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: R1-4 (5-231)
Provides an overview of social movement studies as a body of theoretical and empirical work, with an emphasis on understanding the relationship between social movements and the media. Explores multiple methods of social movement investigation, including textual and media analysis, surveys, interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and co-research. Covers recent innovations in social movement theory, as well as new data sources and tools for research and analysis. Includes short papers, a literature review, and a final research project. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 16.
S. Costanza-Chock
()
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: MW10-11.30 (E15-335)
An advanced introduction to core theoretical and methodological issues in comparative media studies. Topics covered typically include the nature of theory, the gathering and evaluation of evidence, the relationship of media to reality, formal approaches to media analysis, the ethnographic documentation of media audiences, cultural hierarchy and taste, modes of production, models of readership and spectatorship.
W. Uricchio
()
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: T2-5 (E15-335) Lab: M EVE (5-7 PM) (E15-335)
Intensive close study and analysis of historically significant media “texts” that have been considered landmarks or have sustained extensive critical and scholarly discussion. Such texts may include oral epic, story cycles, plays, novels, films, opera, television drama and digital works. Emphasizes close reading from a variety of contextual and aesthetic perspectives. Syllabus varies each year, and may be organized around works that have launched new modes and genres, works that reflect upon their own media practices, or on stories that migrate from one medium to another. At least one of the assigned texts is collaboratively taught, and visiting lectures and discussions are a regular feature of the subject.
L. Parks
(, ) 
Prereq: None
Units: 2-0-1 [P/D/F]
Lecture: R EVE (5-7 PM) (56-114)
Exposes students to the perspectives of scholars, activists, mediamakers, policymakers, and industry leaders on cutting edge issues in media. Registered CMS graduate students only.
Fall: Staff
Spring: Staff