These courses are offered to MIT students and affiliates. More information can be found at the MIT subjects catalog.
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Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: MW1-2.30 (4-257) or TR12-1.30 (1-277)
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: I. Condry, E. Schiappa
Spring: H. Hendershot
No textbook information available
()
(Subject meets with CMS.841)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: TR11-12.30 (E15-335)
Introduction to the interdisciplinary study of videogames as texts through an examination of their cultural, educational, and social functions in contemporary settings. Students play and analyze videogames while reading current research and theory from a variety of sources in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and industry. Assignments focus on game analysis in the context of the theories discussed in class. Includes regular reading, writing, and presentation exercises. No prior programming experience required. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 20.
M. Jakobsson
No textbook information available
() 
(Subject meets with CMS.807)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: W1-4 (4-149) Lab: R EVE (7-10 PM) (4-149)
Studies the design and analysis of invented (or constructed) worlds for narrative media, such as television, films, comics, and literary texts. Provides the practical, historical and critical tools with which to understand the function and structure of imagined worlds. Examines world-building strategies in the various media and genres in order to develop a critical and creative repertoire. Participants create their own invented worlds. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 13.
J. Diaz
No textbook information available
()
(Same subject as 21W.790[J])
(Subject meets with 21W.890)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR3.30-5 (2-103)
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.
V. Bald
No textbook information available
()
(Subject meets with CMS.865)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: F1-4 (2-103)
Critical examination of the history, aesthetics, and politics of virtual reality and related media. Focuses on virtual space and embodiment; cultural reception and industry hype; accessibility, surveillance, and data privacy; and debates surrounding the use of immersive media in social, work, art, and entertainment contexts. Projects include experimentation with VR development tools and critical analysis of existing immersive works. Graduate version includes additional research. Enrollment limited to 15.
P. Roquet
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(Subject meets with CMS.861)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: W2-5 (56-162)
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. Zidani
No textbook information available
()
(Subject meets with CMS.875)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: M EVE (7-10 PM) (E25-117)
Explores how climate is construed in the contemporary media in order to gain a better understanding of how views of climate change are shaped and received in the public sphere. Studies the pathways that take us from climate science to media content, from the big data of global scale to the particulars and narratives of the human experience. Surveys a variety of media forms–reports, articles, comics, videos, films, photography, poetry and fiction–that reflect on the contemporary human challenges of dealing with a changing natural environment of our own making. Emphasizes the role of media in shaping public opinion, both in the US and globally, and its influence on public (and voter) perceptions on which a vast body of regulation and funding for environmental management is based. Students work individually and in teams to produce a selection of the media forms studied. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 20.
J. Paradis
No textbook information available
()
(Subject meets with CMS.876)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: W EVE (7-10 PM) (E25-117)
Surveys the interrelated histories of communications media and technological development, from the emergence of 19th-century forms of mass print media and telegraphy, to sound capture and image-based forms (e.g., film, radio, and television), to the shift from analog to digital cultures. Examines how new forms of communication exert social, political, and cultural influences in the global context. Explores how technological innovation and accelerating media affect social values and behaviors in the popular and global adoption of a media device. Includes two papers and a research project on aspects of media history. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Enrollment limited.
J. Paradis
No textbook information available
()
(Same subject as 21W.764[J])
(Subject meets with CMS.846)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: T2-5 (1-277)
Video games, digital art and literature, online texts, and source code are analyzed in the contexts of history, culture, and computing platforms. Approaches from poetics and computer science are used to understand the non-narrative digital uses of text. Students undertake critical writing and creative computer projects to encounter digital writing through practice. This involves reading and modifying computer programs; therefore previous programming experience, although not required, will be helpful. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 18.
N. Montfort
No textbook information available
()
(Same subject as 6.4570[J])
Prereq: 6.100A or CMS.301
Units: 3-3-6
Lecture: TR2-5 (1-150)
Introduces students to the complexities of working in small, multidisciplinary teams to develop video games. Covers creative design and production methods, stressing design iteration and regular testing across all aspects of game development (design, visual arts, music, fiction, and programming). Assumes a familiarity with current video games, and the ability to discuss games critically. Previous experience in audio design, visual arts, or project management recommended. Limited to 36.
P. Tan, S. Verrilli, R. Eberhardt, A. Grant
No textbook information available
(, )
(Same subject as 21W.791[J])
(Subject meets with CMS.867)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: M2-5 (56-162)
Focuses on the social and cultural aspects of networked life through internet-related technologies (including computers, mobile devices, entertainment technologies, and emerging media forms). Theories and readings focus on the cultural, social, economic, and political aspects of internet use and design. Topics include online communication and communities, social media, gender and race in network spaces, activism and hacking, networked publics, remix culture and intellectual property. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Students taking the graduate version complete additional readings and assignments.
Fall: S. Zidani
Spring: C. Peterson
No textbook information available
()
(Same subject as 21W.768[J], WGS.125[J])
(Subject meets with CMS.868)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
http://wgs.mit.edu/wgs-subjects/fall2020/wgs125
Lecture: W EVE (7-10 PM) (56-180)
Examines the social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of digital games. Topics include the culture of gameplay, gaming styles, communities, spectatorship and performance, gender and race within digital gaming, and the politics and economics of production processes, including co-creation and intellectual property. Students taking graduate version complete additional readings and assignments.
T. L. Taylor
No textbook information available
()
(Same subject as 21L.489[J], 21W.765[J])
(Subject meets with CMS.845)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: W2-5 (66-156)
Provides a workshop environment for understanding interactive narrative (print and digital) through critical writing, narrative theory, and creative practice. Covers important multisequential books, hypertexts, and interactive fictions. Students write critically, and give presentations, about specific works; write a short multisequential fiction; and develop a digital narrative system, which involves significant writing and either programming or the structuring of text. Programming ability helpful.
N. Montfort
Textbooks (Fall 2022)
() 
(Subject meets with CMS.828)
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: T2-5 (E15-335)
Studies and develops computational identity systems for games, social media, virtual worlds, and computer-based artwork. An interdisciplinary set of readings (cognitive science, computer science, art, and sociology) looks at both the underlying technology and the social/cultural aspects of identity. Includes topics such as developing improved characters, avatars, agents, social networking profiles, and online accounts. Engages students in on-going research projects. Explores how social categories are formed in digital media, including gender, class, and ethnicity, along with everyday social categories (such as those based on personality or shared media preferences). Experience required in one of the following: computer programming, graphic design, web development, interaction design, or social science research methods. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
D. F. Harrell
No textbook information available
()
(Subject meets with CMS.833)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: MW3.30-5 (1-277)
Examines theory and practice of using computational methods in the emerging field of digital humanities. Develops an understanding of key digital humanities concepts such as data representation, digital archives, information visualization, and user interaction through the study of contemporary research in conjunction with working on real-world projects for scholarly, educational, and public needs. Students create prototypes, write design papers, and conduct user studies. Some programming and design experience is helpful but not required. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
K. Fendt
No textbook information available
(, )
(Subject meets with CMS.901)
Prereq: CMS.100
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: MW10-11.30 (1-135)
Addresses important, current debates in media with in-depth discussion of popular perceptions and policy implications. Students use multiple perspectives to analyze texts emanating from these debates, and present their findings through discussions and reports. Explores emerging topics (e.g., piracy and IP regimes, net neutrality, media effects, social media and social change, and changing literacies) across media forms and from various historical, transcultural, and methodological perspectives. Examines the framing of these issues, their ethical and policy implications, and strategies for repositioning the debate. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
Fall: E. Schiappa
Spring: S. Zidani
No textbook information available
()
(Subject meets with 21L.432)
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: W EVE (7-10 PM) (56-167)
A cultural approach to television’s evolution as a technology and system of representation. Considers television as a system of storytelling and mythmaking, and as a cultural practice studied from anthropological, literary, and cinematic perspectives. Focuses on prime-time commercial broadcasting, the medium’s technological and economic history, and theoretical perspectives. Considerable television viewing and readings in media theory and cultural interpretation are required. Previously taught topics include American Television: A Cultural History. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
Heather Hendershot
No textbook information available