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1 - 10 of 145 results for: COMM

COMM 1: Introduction to Communication

Our world is being transformed by media technologies that change how we interact with one another and perceived the world around us. These changes are all rooted in communication practices, and their consequences touch on almost all aspects of life. In COMM 1 we will examine the effects of media technologies on psychological life, on industry, and on communities local and global through theorizing and demonstrations and critiques of a wide range of communication products and services.
Terms: Aut | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

COMM 1B: Media, Culture, and Society (AMSTUD 1B)

The institutions and practices of mass media, including television, film, radio, and digital media, and their role in shaping culture and social life. The media's shifting relationships to politics, commerce, and identity.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

COMM 11SC: Deliberative Democracy in Theory and Practice: Deliberating the Issues that Divide Us and Beyond

American democracy is increasingly polarized and dysfunctional. Levels of public trust in the Congress and politicians are at virtually all-time lows, and so is the ability of members of different parties to work together in Washington, D.C., and in many state capitols, to find solutions to our major public policy problems. Much is written about the growing polarization of American society, yet public opinion polling suggests that the public is not as bitterly divided as the political class.
nOne perspective on the current crisis stresses the lack of opportunities for the American public to deliberate on key issues and challenges under good conditions - where they can receive balanced and informed briefings and talk with one another face to face, away from the glare of broadcast media and social networks that only reinforce their initial points of view. 'Good' conditions also provide trained moderators to encourage and ensure mutual respect for divergent points of view. When a represe more »
American democracy is increasingly polarized and dysfunctional. Levels of public trust in the Congress and politicians are at virtually all-time lows, and so is the ability of members of different parties to work together in Washington, D.C., and in many state capitols, to find solutions to our major public policy problems. Much is written about the growing polarization of American society, yet public opinion polling suggests that the public is not as bitterly divided as the political class.
nOne perspective on the current crisis stresses the lack of opportunities for the American public to deliberate on key issues and challenges under good conditions - where they can receive balanced and informed briefings and talk with one another face to face, away from the glare of broadcast media and social networks that only reinforce their initial points of view. 'Good' conditions also provide trained moderators to encourage and ensure mutual respect for divergent points of view. When a representative, random sample of a population - be it a city or an entire nation - is brought together in this way to deliberate, while being polled on their opinions before and after deliberation, new insights emerge about what decisions 'the people' collectively might come to if they could talk in one room together as fellow citizens. We call this innovative method of democratic dialogue and opinion formation 'Deliberative Polling.' It has been used over 100 times in over 30 countries to help register public opinion in a more democratic and constructive fashion.nThis course will first examine basic theory on deliberative democracy, with emphasis on the state of polarization in American democracy and the issues that appear to most bitterly divide the American public. Then it will study the method of Deliberative Polling and look at a number of specific instances where it has been applied to help inform public policy dialogue or decision-making. We will read studies evaluating applications of Deliberative Polling in cities and countries around the world. We will watch documentary films describing the experience with deliberative polls in several settings. We will examine in detail some of the statistical polling results from previous Deliberative Polls to determine whether and why (and to what extent) people change their opinions on policy issues as a result of the deliberative process. As hands-on experience, students will prepare briefing materials and surveys for an upcoming Deliberative Polling experiment that will be implemented by a cross-institutional deliberative democracy practicum course that is being led by Stanford's Center for Deliberative Democracy and the Haas Center for Public Service. They may also contribute to the planned state wide deliberation on the future of California. In addition, students will engage in their own deliberations using the Stanford Platform for Online Deliberation, which has been deployed around the world. Students will complete background reading over the summer and will write short papers during the course analyzing specific previous experiences with Deliberative Polling.
Last offered: Summer 2022

COMM 100S: Introduction to Digital Labor

Digital technologies have had a profound influence on our economy, the ways we communicate, and the ways in which we work. This course will provide a lens through which to understand digital labor and digital work today. We will explore the ideological and cultural values of Silicon Valley and their role in shaping the new business models of the Internet Age (such as crowdsourcing, the sharing economy, and humans-as-a-service). We will examine the past, present, and future of mechanisms of workplace control (from clocks to algorithmic management) and the implications of the digital turn on spatial and material dimensions of labor. Finally, we will turn our attention toward possible futures of work, given the increasing presence of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace. By engaging with social scientific analyses and popular media, students will leave the course with a greater appreciation of worker perspectives and challenges in the digital era.
Last offered: Summer 2019 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

COMM 101S: History of YouTube

Since its launch in 2005, YouTube has become the second most visited website in the world, with more than 1 billion monthly users. It has influenced the worlds of entertainment, politics, and business alike. It has launched the careers of A-list celebrities while also creating an entirely new celebrity ecosystem. It has become a crucial political tool for presidential candidates and political subcultures alike. In the process, it has upended the entertainment industry and much of its business model. From the beginning, it has also been a source of controversy, raising questions about its role in promoting cyberbullying, radicalization, and harmful content. This course will provide an overview of the platform's cultural history. Drawing on communication studies, media theory, and science and technology studies, we will explore how the platform has evolved in its seventeen years of existence, and how it has influenced, and been influenced by, its cultural and social environment. Students more »
Since its launch in 2005, YouTube has become the second most visited website in the world, with more than 1 billion monthly users. It has influenced the worlds of entertainment, politics, and business alike. It has launched the careers of A-list celebrities while also creating an entirely new celebrity ecosystem. It has become a crucial political tool for presidential candidates and political subcultures alike. In the process, it has upended the entertainment industry and much of its business model. From the beginning, it has also been a source of controversy, raising questions about its role in promoting cyberbullying, radicalization, and harmful content. This course will provide an overview of the platform's cultural history. Drawing on communication studies, media theory, and science and technology studies, we will explore how the platform has evolved in its seventeen years of existence, and how it has influenced, and been influenced by, its cultural and social environment. Students will be introduced to concepts such as participatory culture, microcelebrity, and platform politics. We will grapple with questions such as: how have YouTube's new technological features shaped the culture of the platform, and vice versa? How does community function on the platform, and how has that changed over time? And how have YouTube's content policies affected each of these dynamics? As we address these questions, we will come to grapple with the broader concerns of what it means to be a platform online and why a history of platforms matters.
Last offered: Summer 2023 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

COMM 102S: Deception and Technology

Deception has been around since the start of human history, but technology has affected the process of deceiving and being deceived in profound ways. This course provides an introduction to understanding deception as it is mediated by modern technologies. We will begin by reviewing theories and frameworks from psychology and interpersonal communication to build a basic understanding of how deception is produced and consumed, and how people determine what and whom to trust. The class will primarily focus on using these perspectives to understand contemporary online deception - including phenomena like mis/disinformation, deepfakes, scams, fake reviews, and more. We will also explore a number of potential solutions to lessening the prevalence and impact of online deception on society (e.g., interventions to reduce the spread of misinformation).
Last offered: Summer 2023 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

COMM 103S: Digital Media and Personalization

The rise of personalization technologies has disrupted domains ranging from political campaigns to fashion with reverberating societal consequences. People who use digital media platforms leave behind a data trail that can be used to peer into their minds and make inferences about their psychological characteristics. These inferred psychological characteristics, in-turn, can be used to dynamically customize messages to individual users at a granular scale. Personalization technologies operate with the goal of maximizing persuasive appeal of messages by creating a psychological fit between mediated content, the characteristics of individual users and the context(s) in which people are receiving the message. In this course, we will examine (1) the basic psychological mechanisms underlying personalization technologies, (2) the role played by big data and machine learning techniques in facilitating persuasion and (3) the ethical issues associated with the rise of modern-day personalization more »
The rise of personalization technologies has disrupted domains ranging from political campaigns to fashion with reverberating societal consequences. People who use digital media platforms leave behind a data trail that can be used to peer into their minds and make inferences about their psychological characteristics. These inferred psychological characteristics, in-turn, can be used to dynamically customize messages to individual users at a granular scale. Personalization technologies operate with the goal of maximizing persuasive appeal of messages by creating a psychological fit between mediated content, the characteristics of individual users and the context(s) in which people are receiving the message. In this course, we will examine (1) the basic psychological mechanisms underlying personalization technologies, (2) the role played by big data and machine learning techniques in facilitating persuasion and (3) the ethical issues associated with the rise of modern-day personalization technologies. By combining a big data lens with socio-cognitive psychological research, we will understand how, why and when personalization technologies work. We will pay close attention to generative artificial intelligence technologies like ChatGPT and DALL-E in the context of facilitating persuasion. We will also spend time formulating the future of persuasion technologies while considering the broader societal repercussions that might originate from their continued widespread adoption.
Last offered: Summer 2023

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 105S: Public Understanding of Science

This course is about the interrelationship between science and the public, where "science" is understood in a broad way including both social and natural sciences. It examines how communication about science (in classrooms, in the news media, etc.) influences how the public thinks and acts when it comes to scientific issues. This course explores public perceptions, representations, and assessments of science by drawing together studies from psychology, communication, political science, and environmental science.
Last offered: Summer 2023

COMM 106: Communication Research Methods (COMM 206)

(Graduate students register for COMM 206. COMM 106 is offered for 5 units, COMM 206 is offered for 4 units.) Conceptual and practical concerns underlying commonly used quantitative approaches, including experimental, survey, content analysis, and field research in communication. Pre- or corequisite: STATS 60 or consent of instructor. (Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center)
Terms: Aut | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-AQR
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