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COMM 104W: Reporting, Writing, and Understanding the News

Techniques of news reporting and writing. The value and role of news in democratic societies. Gateway class to journalism. Prerequisite for all COMM 177/277 classes. Limited enrollment. Preference to COMM majors.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

COMM 122: Trust and Safety (CS 152, INTLPOL 267)

Trust and Safety is an emerging field of professional and academic effort to build technologies that allow people to positively use the internet while being safe from harm. This course provides an introduction to the ways online services are abused to cause real human harm and the potential social, operational, product, legal and engineering responses. Students will learn about fraud, account takeovers, the use of social media by terrorists, misinformation, child exploitation, harassment, bullying and self-harm. This will include studying both the technical and sociological roots of these harms and the ways various online providers have responded. The class is taught by a practitioner, a professor of communication, a political scientist, and supplemented by guest lecturers from tech companies and nonprofits. Cross-disciplinary teams of students will spend the quarter building a technical and policy solution to a real trust and safety challenge, which will include the application of AI technologies to detecting and stopping abuse. For those taking this course for CS credit, the prerequisite is CS106B or equivalent programming experience and this course fulfills the Technology in Society requirement. Content note: This class will cover real-world harmful behavior and expose students to potentially upsetting material.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3

COMM 124: Truth, Trust, and Tech (COMM 224)

(Graduate students enroll in COMM 224. COMM 124 is offered for 5 units, COMM 224 is offered for 4 units.) NOTE: offered only at Stanford in New York winter quarter 2022-23. Deception is one of the most significant and pervasive social phenomena of our age. Lies range from the trivial to the very serious, including deception between friends and family, in the workplace, and in security and intelligence contexts. At the same time, information and communication technologies have pervaded almost all aspects of human communication, from everyday technologies that support interpersonal interactions to, such as email and instant messaging, to more sophisticated systems that support organization-level interactions. Given the prevalence of both deception and communication technology in our personal and professional lives, an important set of questions have recently emerged about how humans adapt their deceptive practices to new communication and information technologies, including how communication technology affects the practice of lying and the detection of deception, and whether technology can be used to identify deception.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

COMM 132: Just Algorithms? Race, Regressions, and Resistance

What does it mean to say that algorithms are racist? If they can be, what are the stakes? Who is accountable? And what are the levers for change? Students will explore these questions as they learn about multiple forms of algorithmic oppression throughout the past and present.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3
Instructors: ; Riley, S. (PI)

COMM 138A: America in One Room: Research Practicum (COMM 238A)

In 2019, Stanford's Deliberative Democracy Lab brought together a national random sample of 523 Americans to deliberate on five major policy issues before the American electorate. We called it America in One Room (A1R). Using the methodology of a Deliberative Poll developed by Professor James Fishkin, the experiment recorded many significant changes in opinion after the participants deliberated, and a substantial decline in partisan polarization. This pattern of change in opinion and depolarization has been evidenced in two subsequent A1R's, in 2021 on Climate and Energy and in June 2023, on options for democratic reform in the US. This research practicum will expose students to the theory and methodology behind these grand experiments and offer students an opportunity to analyze and interpret data?both qualitative (the transcripts from the actual citizen deliberations) and quantitative (the statistical results of the deliberative polls). Students' research and analysis will advance the work of this vital collaborative research project and where possible, joint publications could be pursued. Note, in addition to the weekly course meetings, the teaching team highly recommends scheduling weekly office hours to have dedicated time for individual/group practicum projects.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5

COMM 140X: Solving Social Problems with Data (DATASCI 154, EARTHSYS 153, ECON 163, MS&E 134, POLISCI 154, PUBLPOL 155, SOC 127)

Introduces students to the interdisciplinary intersection of data science and the social sciences through an in-depth examination of contemporary social problems. Provides a foundational skill set for solving social problems with data including quantitative analysis, modeling approaches from the social sciences and engineering, and coding skills for working directly with big data. Students will also consider the ethical dimensions of working with data and learn strategies for translating quantitative results into actionable policies and recommendations. Lectures will introduce students to the methods of data science and social science and apply these frameworks to critical 21st century challenges, including education & inequality, political polarization, and health equity & algorithmic design in the fall quarter, and social media, climate change, and school choice & segregation in the spring quarter. In-class exercises and problem sets will provide students with the opportunity to use real-world datasets to discover meaningful insights for policymakers and communities. This course is the required gateway course for the new major in Data Science & Social Systems. Preference given to Data Science & Social Systems B.A. majors and prospective majors. Course material and presentation will be at an introductory level. Enrollment and participation in one discussion section is required. Sign up for the discussion section will occur on Canvas at the start of the quarter. Prerequisites: CS106A (required), DATASCI 112 (recommended as pre or corequisite). Limited enrollment. Please complete the interest form here: https://forms.gle/8ui9RPgzxjGxJ9k29. A permission code will be given to admitted students to register for the class.
Terms: Aut, Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: WAY-AQR, WAY-SI

COMM 149F: Technology and Fascism: History of a Paradox (FEMGEN 149)

In the cultural imagination, technological innovation has often been associated with social progress. But the history of fascism reveals the multitude of ways that technologies have been harnessed by, and have themselves helped shape, reactionary movements and regimes. In this course, we will explore the multifaceted relationship between technology and fascism, with a particular focus on the role of gender and race. We will approach these topics from a range of angles, drawing from the fields of history, gender studies, science and technology studies, and media studies. We will also engage with a wide range of technologies, from radio to guns to the birth control pill; and with a broad range of "fascisms," from the 20th century regimes of Italy and Germany to the online Manosphere. Ultimately, we will illuminate and untangle the strategic and symbolic roles of technologies as they relate to reactionary politics.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Lewis, R. (PI)

COMM 154: The Politics of Algorithms (COMM 254, CSRE 154T, SOC 154, SOC 254C)

(Graduate students enroll in 254. COMM 154 is offered for 5 units, COMM 254 is offered for 4 units.) Algorithms have become central actors in today's digital world. In areas as diverse as social media, journalism, education, healthcare, and policing, computing technologies increasingly mediate communication processes. This course will provide an introduction to the social and cultural forces shaping the construction, institutionalization, and uses of algorithms. In so doing, we will explore how algorithms relate to political issues of modernization, power, and inequality. Readings will range from social scientific analyses to media coverage of ongoing controversies relating to Big Data. Students will leave the course with a better appreciation of the broader challenges associated with researching, building, and using algorithms.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

COMM 177A: Advanced Data Journalism (COMM 277A)

In this course, students will learn about and experiment with a variety of advanced data and computational techniques used in the news industry to hold powerful individuals and institutions to account. Topics may include geospatial analysis, image classification and entity extraction. Students will learn how these techniques are used to develop and tell stories, and then apply that knowledge in small-scale, novel exercises.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5
Instructors: ; Tumgoren, S. (PI)

COMM 177D: Specialized Writing and Reporting: Narrative Journalism (COMM 277D)

(Graduate students register for COMM 277D. COMM 177D is offered for 5 units, COMM 277D is offered for 4 units.) How to report, write, edit, and read long-form narrative nonfiction, whether for magazines, news sites or online venues. Tools and templates of story telling such as scenes, characters, dialogue, and narrative arc. How the best long-form narrative stories defy or subvert conventional wisdom and bring fresh light to the human experience through reporting, writing, and moral passion. Prerequisite: 104 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Brenner, R. (PI)

COMM 177I: Investigative Watchdog Reporting (COMM 277I)

Graduate students register for COMM 277I. COMM 177I is offered for 5 units, COMM 277I is offered for 4 units.) Learn how to apply an investigative and data mindset to journalism, from understanding how to background an individual or entity using online databases to compiling or combining disparate sets of information in ways that unveil wrongdoing or mismanagement. Focuses on mining texts, tracking associations, and using visualizations. Stories produced apply investigative techniques to beat reporting, breaking news, and long form journalism. Instructor permission required for freshmen and sophomores. (Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center)
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5
Instructors: ; Phillips, C. (PI)

COMM 177SW: Specialized Writing and Reporting: Sports Journalism (COMM 277S)

(Graduate students register for COMM 277S. COMM 177SW is offered for 5 units, COMM 177S is offered for 4 units.) Workshop. An examination of American sports writing from the 1920's Golden Age of Sports to present. Students become practitioners of the sports writing craft in an intensive laboratory. Hones journalistic skills such as specialized reporting, interviewing, deadline writing, creation of video projects, and conceptualizing and developing stories for print and online.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Pomerantz, G. (PI)

COMM 177Y: Specialized Writing and Reporting: Foreign Correspondence (COMM 277Y)

(Graduate students register for COMM 277Y. COMM 177Y is offered for 5 units, COMM 277Y is offered for 4 units.) Study how being a foreign correspondent has evolved and blend new communication tools with clear narrative to tell stories from abroad in a way that engages a diversifying American audience in the digital age. Prerequisite: COMM 104W, COMM 279, or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Zacharia, J. (PI)

COMM 184: Race and Media (COMM 284)

(Graduate students register for 284. COMM 184 is offered for 5 units, COMM 284 is offered for 4 units.) This course explores the co-construction of media practices and racial identity in the US. We will ask how media have shaped how we think about race. And we will explore the often surprising ways ideas about race have shaped media practices and technologies in turn. The course will draw on contemporary debates as well as historical examples and will cover themes such as representation and visual culture, media industries and audience practices, and racial bias in digital technology.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

COMM 195: Honors Thesis

Qualifies students to conduct communication research. Student must apply for department honors thesis program during Spring Quarter of junior year.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 5 | Repeatable 3 times (up to 15 units total)

COMM 199C: Major Capstone Research

Supervised research with a faculty member of the Department of Communication to fulfill COMM major capstone requirement. See https://comm.stanford.edu/major for prerequisites of individual COMM faculty. For permission number to enroll, email a brief research proposal including the expected number of hours per week to the prospective faculty advisor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 3

COMM 224: Truth, Trust, and Tech (COMM 124)

(Graduate students enroll in COMM 224. COMM 124 is offered for 5 units, COMM 224 is offered for 4 units.) NOTE: offered only at Stanford in New York winter quarter 2022-23. Deception is one of the most significant and pervasive social phenomena of our age. Lies range from the trivial to the very serious, including deception between friends and family, in the workplace, and in security and intelligence contexts. At the same time, information and communication technologies have pervaded almost all aspects of human communication, from everyday technologies that support interpersonal interactions to, such as email and instant messaging, to more sophisticated systems that support organization-level interactions. Given the prevalence of both deception and communication technology in our personal and professional lives, an important set of questions have recently emerged about how humans adapt their deceptive practices to new communication and information technologies, including how communication technology affects the practice of lying and the detection of deception, and whether technology can be used to identify deception.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5

COMM 238A: America in One Room: Research Practicum (COMM 138A)

In 2019, Stanford's Deliberative Democracy Lab brought together a national random sample of 523 Americans to deliberate on five major policy issues before the American electorate. We called it America in One Room (A1R). Using the methodology of a Deliberative Poll developed by Professor James Fishkin, the experiment recorded many significant changes in opinion after the participants deliberated, and a substantial decline in partisan polarization. This pattern of change in opinion and depolarization has been evidenced in two subsequent A1R's, in 2021 on Climate and Energy and in June 2023, on options for democratic reform in the US. This research practicum will expose students to the theory and methodology behind these grand experiments and offer students an opportunity to analyze and interpret data?both qualitative (the transcripts from the actual citizen deliberations) and quantitative (the statistical results of the deliberative polls). Students' research and analysis will advance the work of this vital collaborative research project and where possible, joint publications could be pursued. Note, in addition to the weekly course meetings, the teaching team highly recommends scheduling weekly office hours to have dedicated time for individual/group practicum projects.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5

COMM 254: The Politics of Algorithms (COMM 154, CSRE 154T, SOC 154, SOC 254C)

(Graduate students enroll in 254. COMM 154 is offered for 5 units, COMM 254 is offered for 4 units.) Algorithms have become central actors in today's digital world. In areas as diverse as social media, journalism, education, healthcare, and policing, computing technologies increasingly mediate communication processes. This course will provide an introduction to the social and cultural forces shaping the construction, institutionalization, and uses of algorithms. In so doing, we will explore how algorithms relate to political issues of modernization, power, and inequality. Readings will range from social scientific analyses to media coverage of ongoing controversies relating to Big Data. Students will leave the course with a better appreciation of the broader challenges associated with researching, building, and using algorithms.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5

COMM 277A: Advanced Data Journalism (COMM 177A)

In this course, students will learn about and experiment with a variety of advanced data and computational techniques used in the news industry to hold powerful individuals and institutions to account. Topics may include geospatial analysis, image classification and entity extraction. Students will learn how these techniques are used to develop and tell stories, and then apply that knowledge in small-scale, novel exercises.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5
Instructors: ; Tumgoren, S. (PI)

COMM 277D: Specialized Writing and Reporting: Narrative Journalism (COMM 177D)

(Graduate students register for COMM 277D. COMM 177D is offered for 5 units, COMM 277D is offered for 4 units.) How to report, write, edit, and read long-form narrative nonfiction, whether for magazines, news sites or online venues. Tools and templates of story telling such as scenes, characters, dialogue, and narrative arc. How the best long-form narrative stories defy or subvert conventional wisdom and bring fresh light to the human experience through reporting, writing, and moral passion. Prerequisite: 104 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5
Instructors: ; Brenner, R. (PI)

COMM 277I: Investigative Watchdog Reporting (COMM 177I)

Graduate students register for COMM 277I. COMM 177I is offered for 5 units, COMM 277I is offered for 4 units.) Learn how to apply an investigative and data mindset to journalism, from understanding how to background an individual or entity using online databases to compiling or combining disparate sets of information in ways that unveil wrongdoing or mismanagement. Focuses on mining texts, tracking associations, and using visualizations. Stories produced apply investigative techniques to beat reporting, breaking news, and long form journalism. Instructor permission required for freshmen and sophomores. (Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center)
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5
Instructors: ; Phillips, C. (PI)

COMM 277S: Specialized Writing and Reporting: Sports Journalism (COMM 177SW)

(Graduate students register for COMM 277S. COMM 177SW is offered for 5 units, COMM 177S is offered for 4 units.) Workshop. An examination of American sports writing from the 1920's Golden Age of Sports to present. Students become practitioners of the sports writing craft in an intensive laboratory. Hones journalistic skills such as specialized reporting, interviewing, deadline writing, creation of video projects, and conceptualizing and developing stories for print and online.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5
Instructors: ; Pomerantz, G. (PI)

COMM 277Y: Specialized Writing and Reporting: Foreign Correspondence (COMM 177Y)

(Graduate students register for COMM 277Y. COMM 177Y is offered for 5 units, COMM 277Y is offered for 4 units.) Study how being a foreign correspondent has evolved and blend new communication tools with clear narrative to tell stories from abroad in a way that engages a diversifying American audience in the digital age. Prerequisite: COMM 104W, COMM 279, or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5
Instructors: ; Zacharia, J. (PI)

COMM 280: Immersive (VR/AR) Journalism in the Public Sphere

The immersive space (cinematic VR, virtual reality, and augmented reality) is journalism's newest and most exciting reporting and storytelling tool. We survey best practices and methods in this emerging medium and learn 360-degree video production and postproduction. Teams will illuminate issues and provoke conversation in the public sphere. Prerequisite: Preference to Journalism M.A. students. Please contact instructor for permission number to enroll.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Migielicz, G. (PI)

COMM 284: Race and Media (COMM 184)

(Graduate students register for 284. COMM 184 is offered for 5 units, COMM 284 is offered for 4 units.) This course explores the co-construction of media practices and racial identity in the US. We will ask how media have shaped how we think about race. And we will explore the often surprising ways ideas about race have shaped media practices and technologies in turn. The course will draw on contemporary debates as well as historical examples and will cover themes such as representation and visual culture, media industries and audience practices, and racial bias in digital technology.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5

COMM 289P: Journalism Thesis

MA thesis course. Focuses on development of in-depth journalism project, culminating in work of publishable quality.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 2-4

COMM 290: Media Studies M.A. Project

Individual research for coterminal Media Studies students.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-2 | Repeatable 2 times (up to 4 units total)

COMM 308: Graduate Seminar in Political Psychology (POLISCI 321, PSYCH 284)

For students interested in research in political science, psychology, or communication. Methodological techniques for studying political attitudes and behaviors. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-3 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Krosnick, J. (PI)

COMM 318: Quantitative Social Science Research Methods

An introduction to a broad range of social science research methods that are widely used in PhD work. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 1-5
Instructors: ; Krosnick, J. (PI)

COMM 369: Measurement and the Study of Change in Social Science Research (PSYCH 253)

This course is a survey of methodological issues associated with the measurement of psychological constructs and processes of change. General areas to be covered include use of latent variable models (structural equation modeling), classical test theory, generalizability theory, principal component analysis, factor analysis, item response theory and how these models facilitate and/or constrain the study of change processes. Students will work through application/implementation of the models through hands-on analysis of simulated and empirical data, acquire experiences in the formulation of research questions and study designs that are appropriately tethered to the different theoretical perspectives invoked by the different models.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3

COMM 372G: Seminar in Psychological Processing

Media and Mental Health is the topic for the Comm 372G seminar in Winter Quarter 2022. The seminar will focus on new ways to define media interactions that can be linked to mental health, taking advantage of new methods and computational analytics that provide granular details about media use. We will consider both the role of media in diagnosing mental illness, as well as how media use may change the onset, course and treatment of mental illness. We will discuss and write about psychiatric illnesses including bipolar disorder, suicide and suicidal ideation, post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, attention disorders, addiction, schizophrenia, post-partem depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders and eating disorders. Dr. Thomas Robinson (MD, Stanford Medical School) will join in instruction, and mental health experts will provide briefings on different diagnoses. The main focus of discussions (and writing), however, will be on media and technology content, applications, contexts, functions, sequences, rhythms, applications and services. We will be guided by new work and data from the Screenomics Lab that records moment-by-moment changes in screen use (see screenomics.stanford.edu for background). The seminar is open to MA and PhD students across the university, and with permission of the instructor, to advanced undergraduates.
Terms: Spr | Units: 1-5 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Reeves, B. (PI)

COMM 387: Bodies as Technology: Media History Between Human and Machine

This course explores the mutual definition of human bodies and technical systems in the historical development and use of media technologies across scientific and cultural domains. Drawing on scholarship in media studies, history of science/technology, and STS, we will examine how bodies and machines were imagined and configured relative to one another and how these complex entanglements both shaped and were shaped by new media technologies and practices. Limited to PhD students or with consent of the instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 1-5
Instructors: ; Li, X. (PI)
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