Communication

Jeff Ryder
jryder@uarts.edu
Director
215-717-6562

The Bachelor of Science in Communication takes advantage of courses offered throughout the College of Media and Communication. It allows students to learn about all forms of media - both their concept and their practice. Highly flexible and production-based, the degree is designed for students who wish to work in any one of a number of media-related industries or intend to continue on to graduate or professional school.

Students take courses in a range of major and emerging media - Web, print, television, digital video, and Web radio - and are introduced to media economics, audiences, and technologies. They develop production skills within their first semester of study, while also being introduced to the theory of media and communication, along with a study of the impact of media on culture and society. Highly cross-disciplinary, the program prepares students for the growing integration of communication media by showing them how to incorporate different media and different messages. Its flexible structure allows students to design their own curriculum so that it meets their current goals and prepares them for any number of possibilities when they graduate.

The Four-Year Course of Study

Freshmen take courses that give them a historical and a social perspective to communication, while also providing them a chance to begin to master video production and other media skills.

The year-long course in Media Forms and Concepts taken in the sophomore year acts as a keystone to the basic Communication program. The course gives students both experience in producing in a broad range of media genres, and an introduction to theoretical and conceptual issues. Students continue to take both skill building and media studies courses while beginning to explore the program’s application areas.

By the junior year, students work more intensely in two application areas. This combination gives students both depth and breadth and allows them to work across and connect different media-making disciplines.

In their senior year, students take an intensive team-based senior studio course where they develop a portfolio of media work, pulling together their previous experiences and interests into a project that can represent their abilities to the professional world. Additional courses, including an internship, prepare students for professional life beyond the University.

Special Resources and Opportunities

In support of this curriculum the College sponsors a number of publishing and broadcast environments that take advantage of its new media capabilities and are open to first-year students. Students run Webzine, Web radio/video sites, as well as publish a literary magazine, a print ‘zine, and political broadside.

The College of Media and Communication is housed in a state-of-the-art media environment, which includes a multifunctional production studio; a sound studio; digital labs for audio and video editing; multimedia studios that provide MAC, PA, and Unix-based operating systems and industry-stand software; a MIDI studio; and a black box production space, as well as a wireless environment that supports collaboration and independent work.

Application Areas

Advertising prepares students to be copywriters, creative directors, and producers.
Documentary Video prepares students for careers in documentary production, educational media, news and feature production, corporate media, and television commercial production.
Game Design prepares students for online advertising, interactive Web drama and interactive art, electronic publishing, and the game industry.
Media Studies prepares students to develop critical skills addressing issues in media.
Narrative Video prepares students to be editors, producers, and directors for television, film, and commercials, sound recordists, and production managers.
Professional Writing prepares students to be writers in non fiction for publication in magazines and the Web.
Screenwriting prepares students to be screenwriters, producers, story analysts, and film/TV executives, corporate videographers, or producers in advertising and the media.
Webcasting prepares students to develop media strategies for digital distribution.
Web Design prepares students to work in advertising agencies and in corporate and institutional settings.

Depending on their interests, students combine two of these areas to help them design new fields of study or prepare for careers in traditional or emerging industries. They may, if they wish, continue this integration through their work on their senior projects.