Results for COMM

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.

(Graduate students register for COMM 208.) The process of communication theory construction including a survey of social science paradigms and major theories of communication. Recommended: 1 or PSYCH 1.

Contemporary debates concerning the social and cultural impact of digital media. Topics include the historical origins of digital media, cultural contexts of their development and use, and influence of digital media on conceptions of self, community, and state. Priority to juniors, seniors, and graduate students.

Preference to freshmen. An examination of the meaning of freedom of the press, tied to but not bound by various Supreme Court rulings on the scope and purpose of the First Amendment's speech and press clauses. Discussions will include a look at the recent and rapid computerization of communication and what it portends for the future of a free press.

This seminar examines the dynamic interaction at the highest levels of government and the media when news coverage of secret national security policy and operations impinges on United States defense, diplomatic and intelligence activities and decision making and affects the American political system. Prime examples: intelligence information about Russian hacking operations during the 2016 presidential election campaign, the unverified intelligence dossier on Donald Trump's Russian connections, the torrent of secret NSA programs disclosed by Edward Snowden. Students explore attitudes, practices, and actions by the media and the government through a series of case studies and simulations. Former editors, reporters, and government officials appear as guest speakers, including Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA. The goal of the course is to inform students about the vital but often fraught relationship between a free press and the government in a democratic society. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Application for enrollment required. The instructor is a former Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. Email Kiley Roache (kiley@stanford.edu) to request an application. Completed applications are due by 6pm (pacific) on March 25, 2017. Early applications welcome.

This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to discuss politics or policy together? The course draws on ideas of deliberation from Madison and Mill to Rawls and Habermas as well as criticisms from the jury literature, from the psychology of group processes and from the most recent normative and empirical literature on deliberative forums. Deliberative Polling, its applications, defenders and critics, both normative and empirical, will provide a key case for discussion.

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.

Focus is on how politicians and government learn what Americans want and how the public's preferences shape government action; how surveys measure beliefs, preferences, and experiences; how poll results are criticized and interpreted; how conflict between polls is viewed by the public; how accurate surveys are and when they are accurate; how to conduct survey research to produce accurate measurements; designing questionnaires that people can understand and use comfortably; how question wording can manipulate poll results; corruption in survey research.

In-depth reporting and production using audio, images and video. Focus on an in-depth journalism project with appropriate uses of digital media: audio, photography, graphics, and video. Topics include advanced field techniques and approaches (audio, video, still) and emphasis on creating a non-fiction narrative arc in a multimedia piece of 10-12 minutes. Prerequisite: COMM 275 or consent of instructor

Focuses on using data and algorithms to lower the cost of discovering stories or telling stories in more engaging and personalized ways. Project based assignments based on real-world challenges faced in newsrooms. Prior experience in journalism or computational thinking helpful. Prerequisite: Comm 273D, COMM 113/213, or the consent of instructor.

This workshop will offer secrets to good storytelling, and constructive feedback every step of the way on a significant piece of journalism you want to publish. The instructor, a senior editor who has helped New York Times reporters win 10 Pulitzer Prizes, will teach the course along with some of those reporters as well as other journalists with expertise in various aspects of storytelling. The sessions will include 1) elements of a great story; 2) finding a great story; 3) reporting a story; 4) writing the proposal; 5) making a story come alive online; 6) giving feedback on and editing a story; 7) assuring your story gets maximum readership online. Your piece could be one you conceive for this class, or one you have already begun reporting. Prerequisite: COMM 104 or consent of instructor.

Graduate students register for COMM 277I.) 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. Prerequisite: COMM 104W, or consent of instructor

(Graduate students register for COMM 277Y.) 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.

Qualifies students to conduct communication research. Student must apply for department honors thesis program during Spring Quarter of junior year.

For students with high academic standing. May be repeated for credit.

(Graduate students register for COMM 208.) The process of communication theory construction including a survey of social science paradigms and major theories of communication. Recommended: 1 or PSYCH 1.

Contemporary debates concerning the social and cultural impact of digital media. Topics include the historical origins of digital media, cultural contexts of their development and use, and influence of digital media on conceptions of self, community, and state. Priority to juniors, seniors, and graduate students.

This seminar examines the dynamic interaction at the highest levels of government and the media when news coverage of secret national security policy and operations impinges on United States defense, diplomatic and intelligence activities and decision making and affects the American political system. Prime examples: intelligence information about Russian hacking operations during the 2016 presidential election campaign, the unverified intelligence dossier on Donald Trump's Russian connections, the torrent of secret NSA programs disclosed by Edward Snowden. Students explore attitudes, practices, and actions by the media and the government through a series of case studies and simulations. Former editors, reporters, and government officials appear as guest speakers, including Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA. The goal of the course is to inform students about the vital but often fraught relationship between a free press and the government in a democratic society. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Application for enrollment required. The instructor is a former Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. Email Kiley Roache (kiley@stanford.edu) to request an application. Completed applications are due by 6pm (pacific) on March 25, 2017. Early applications welcome.

This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to discuss politics or policy together? The course draws on ideas of deliberation from Madison and Mill to Rawls and Habermas as well as criticisms from the jury literature, from the psychology of group processes and from the most recent normative and empirical literature on deliberative forums. Deliberative Polling, its applications, defenders and critics, both normative and empirical, will provide a key case for discussion.

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.

Focus is on how politicians and government learn what Americans want and how the public's preferences shape government action; how surveys measure beliefs, preferences, and experiences; how poll results are criticized and interpreted; how conflict between polls is viewed by the public; how accurate surveys are and when they are accurate; how to conduct survey research to produce accurate measurements; designing questionnaires that people can understand and use comfortably; how question wording can manipulate poll results; corruption in survey research.

In-depth reporting and production using audio, images and video. Focus on an in-depth journalism project with appropriate uses of digital media: audio, photography, graphics, and video. Topics include advanced field techniques and approaches (audio, video, still) and emphasis on creating a non-fiction narrative arc in a multimedia piece of 10-12 minutes. Prerequisite: COMM 275 or consent of instructor

Focuses on using data and algorithms to lower the cost of discovering stories or telling stories in more engaging and personalized ways. Project based assignments based on real-world challenges faced in newsrooms. Prior experience in journalism or computational thinking helpful. Prerequisite: Comm 273D, COMM 113/213, or the consent of instructor.

This workshop will offer secrets to good storytelling, and constructive feedback every step of the way on a significant piece of journalism you want to publish. The instructor, a senior editor who has helped New York Times reporters win 10 Pulitzer Prizes, will teach the course along with some of those reporters as well as other journalists with expertise in various aspects of storytelling. The sessions will include 1) elements of a great story; 2) finding a great story; 3) reporting a story; 4) writing the proposal; 5) making a story come alive online; 6) giving feedback on and editing a story; 7) assuring your story gets maximum readership online. Your piece could be one you conceive for this class, or one you have already begun reporting. Prerequisite: COMM 104 or consent of instructor.

Graduate students register for COMM 277I.) 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. Prerequisite: COMM 104W, or consent of instructor

(Graduate students register for COMM 277Y.) 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.

MA thesis course. Focuses on development of in-depth journalism project, culminating in work of publishable quality.

Individual research for coterminal Media Studies students.

For students interested in research in political science, psychology, or communication. Methodological techniques for studying political attitudes and behaviors. May be repeated for credit.

Topics include the theoretical construct of person identity, the evolution of that construct given the advent of virtual environments, and methodological approaches to understanding virtual human representation. Prerequisite: PhD student or consent of instructor.

This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to discuss politics or policy together? The course draws on ideas of deliberation from Madison and Mill to Rawls and Habermas as well as criticisms from the jury literature, from the psychology of group processes and from the most recent normative and empirical literature on deliberative forums. Deliberative Polling, its applications, defenders and critics, both normative and empirical, will provide a key case for discussion.

Limited to Ph.D. students. Advanced topics. Prerequisite: 272 or consent of instructor.

Practical experience in the communication industries. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Meets requirements for Curricular Practical Training for students on F-1 visas. (Staff)

Individual research for Ph.D. candidates. Course may be repeated for credit.

Individual research for Ph.D. candidates.