Welcome to the course “Media in Film”, an entirely online, asynchronous course.

In this Welcome Message, I will discuss the contents of the course, the readings and other learning material, as well as the grading elements. In case you do not know yet, asynchronous means, in the context of online teaching, that we will NOT meet at regular times as a group. You will find online all the material you need to success in the course. You will have the flexibility to work whenever you can plan it in your schedule. It is, thus, very important that you regularly (at least once a day) log in to Blackboard Learn in order to keep up to date. 

Personal Introduction

My name is Jose Carlos del Ama.

Although I originally come from Spain, I have spent the most important part of my life and academic career in Germany. I received my PhD from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.

Before I came to the United States in 2003, I had been teaching and researching in Spain at the Universidad de Navarra (Pamplona) and in Germany at the above mentioned university.

My emphasis areas of teaching and research are

• Public Opinion,
• Mass Communication Research,
• Filmic Narrative,
• Persuasive Communication and
• New Technologies.

More information about the instructor, you can become in this link:

José Carlos del Ama

Learning Material

The most important content area in the course’s Web-site is dedicated to the “course contents”. Here you can find the online lectures, the readings, and the audiovisual material that you need to succeed in this course. I have divided the course contents in 11 learning units. To create a Web-site for the course is a tremendous effort that demands a considerable amount of time. I have been working on it for several months – and hope to finish the course contents area in the next weeks. All the material you need for the midterm exam is already available, though. We organize each weekly schedule based on those contents. However, You should start exploring the contents as soon as possible. Since you have to start immediately doing research for Film Analysis Paper.
As I said in the syllabus, this online course is reading intensive. You will find the contents in three main formats:
Online Lectures (HTML documents)
Readings (mostly PDF documents)
Streaming Media (videos)

About the Course Contents

Media in Film has to be regarded as a complement to the existing departmental courses in Mass Communication (COMM 230 Intro to Mass Communication, COMM 405 Principles and Process of Mass Communication and COMM 431 Mass Media and Society). In those courses, we study the nature and development of Mass Communication and the impact of Mass Media on individuals and society.
This course explores how the same topics are treated in filmic fiction. The human being is, as defined by Walter Fisher, a narrative animal. We invent and tell stories in order to make sense of the world around us, our society, our lives. There is a rich tradition of movies that delve into the media industry. The filmmakers study through their characters’ fates the nature of mass communication and how media shape the life of the people who work for them or are exposed to them. Filmmakers do not want to establish theories, systematic explanation of what Mass Communication is and how it works. Their approach is much more intuitive. Narrators usually have a stronger sensibility that allows them to cast a personal glance on the issues they touch and describe in their stories. We will use this especial feature of storytellers to approach the study of mass communication from a new perspective.
The course will analyze how cinema, advertising, public relations, TV or Radio, are portrayed in the selected films. We will combine critical movies with other stories that deal with the subject in a more positive – in some cases also ideal – way. Since digital communication technologies are introducing a new communication paradigm that blurs the traditional difference between mass and interpersonal communication, we will end the course with a reflection on the power of new media to establish virtual relationships.
In addition to watching the mandatory movies, the course requires intensive reading. Our methodology will base on a constant comparison of the film contents with theoretical work of classic authors in Mass Communication. We want to see to what extent the intuition of the filmmakers coincides with – and in some cases anticipates – the observations of the experts in the field.

Goals

This course helps us

• understand the work of the main theorists in mass communication and mass culture, such as Marshall McLuhan, Neil Postman or Walter Lippmann.
• Identify the role of public opinion in politics and business,
• gain a deep insight into the effects of Mass Media on individual, society and politics,
• understand how new digital technologies have changed the rules of the game in contemporary mass communication,
• become aware of how the persuasion industry, in particular advertising and Public Relations, might have shaped personal beliefs, social trends and political dynamics.

Grading Elements

Exams
	Midterm Exam	20%
	Final Exam	35%
Film Analysis Paper		25%
Participation		20%

Examinations

The midterm and the final exam will have the same format: Short essay questions. You can perfectly answer each essay question in around 200 words. The final exam covers the contents of the whole course.

You will have 3 hours available to complete both the midterm and the final exam. All the examinations will be available the whole day scheduled for the exam in the corresponding folder in Blackboard Learn. Please, be aware that time starts running when you begin the assessment.

Film Analysis Paper

You will have to write a Film Analysis Paper,  worth 25% of your final grade, following the APA style guidelines. The first step is to select a movie that deals with the subject of Mass Communication and analyze it on the basis of the theories discussed in the course. You can find a good selection of films in film collection page in this Website.
You can perfectly write your film analysis in 8-10 pages (doubles spaced, Times New Roman font size 12).

Participation

The participation grade will be based on your activity in the online discussion forums that will be announced every week in the course’s home page in Blackboard Learn. The grade will be based on the regularity of your participation and the quantity and quality of your entries. Discussion forums should as as spontaneous and interactive as possible. You must read the entries of your fellow students and post your own comments. The goal is to make those forums as interactive as possible (similar to the class discussions triggered by students’ presentations in on-ground classes). Online forums are design to help you concentrate on the more relevant topics for the exam.

Interaction with the Instructor

Please, use the “Contact the Instructor” area in the course’s main menu to ask questions related to this course. I monitor my Blackboard Learn courses daily, and check regularly your messages.
I will also hold office hours for those students who want/need a face-to-face interaction with the instructor.
Office hours schedule:
M: 8:30 – 10:30 am
T: 1:30 – 2:30 pm
F: 12:10 am – 2:10 pm
You can contact me anytime to make an appointment if you cannot make it during the office hours. We can always schedule virtual (zoom) meetings outside the official office hours.  
Please, follow the announcements every day.
Good luck!

Technical Issues with Blackboard Learn

If you have any technical issue with the online learning system, please contact the help-desk at CCSU (860) 832 1720.