1 - 10 of 19 results for: COMM

Digital media allows ordinary people to document, publicize and reinvent themselves in ways previously only available to the elite. In the first half of this course, we will examine how Westerners have represented themselves as individuals. We will focus on photography, as indicative of a shift in prevalence of self-representation to the masses. In the second half of the course, we will examine how the ways in which individuals are represented may affect their understanding of themselves. Students will experiment with self-representation in different media, including creating virtual representations (avatars) of themselves to be inhabited in immersive virtual reality in the Virtual Human Interaction Lab. In the process, they will learn how the shared digital world shadows, interprets and sometimes overwrites the physical world and day-to day life.

The impact of media entertainment on individuals, social groups, and societies. Sources include a diverse cross-section of entertainment. Introduction to psychological and socio-psychological theories. Empirical findings relating to media entertainment as a stimulus and a reception phenomenon. What renders diverse genres of media content and format enjoyable? Why do individuals pursue entertainment experiences in ever-increasing numbers? What is the political impact of apolitical media entertainment?

Products of design surround us, and shape our lives. This course will explore the human relationship with technology from a psychological point of view, and probe how technology can be designed to work in concert with those who use it. To survey this vast space, the course will cover seminal readings in the areas of human factors, human-computer interaction, product design, and psychology. The course will also delve into the area of design, with a collaborative final project integrating design and psychology.

What is propaganda? What role does it play in our lives? And how do we conceive of propaganda's relationship to politics and culture? This course will examine the evolution of propaganda from the early 20th century to the present. It will take up examples from advertising, journalism, cinema, painting, and digital media. By the end of the course, students will have a broad understanding of the tactics by which various interest groups have sought to influence public communication. Lectures: Monday + Wednesday, 11:00-12:30; Interactive Workshops: Friday, 11:00-12:30. Note: to complete this course students must be enrolled in both workshop and lecture sections.

New business ventures are often incubated on college campuses. What makes the difference between a successful and unsuccessful entrepreneur-nication. Specifically, the entrepreneur's ability to communicate their vision to potential investors, employees, and customers. This seminar will explore successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurial communication. Students will learn the basics of persuasive oral and written communication, and then apply these principles to their own ideas.nThis course will help you to develop confidence in your speaking and writing as an entrepreneur through presentations and assignments, lectures and discussions, guest speakers, simulated activities, and video recorded feedback. In this course you will learn to:n* Create communication strategies at an individual and organizational leveln* Develop clearly organized and effective presentations and documentsn* Diagnose and expand your personal writing and oral delivery stylen* Adapt your delivery style to different material and audiencesn* Enhance oral delivery through effective visual aidsnnLimited enrollment. By application only. Please e-mail lcapello@stanford.edu to request an application. Deadline is May 2, 2014.

As Internet use continues to increase around the globe, social and entertainment media are quickly becoming the preferred modes of communication among the new generation of learners. A growing body of literature suggests that leveraging the psychologically powerful elements of these new forms of media and relevant content can be an effective way to motivate positive behavior and attitude change. Theory-based examples of using media for positive change can be found in areas such as energy consumption, health maintenance, driving safety, and classroom performance. Many other potential applications of this approach have also been identified.nThrough a review of social psychology and media effects literature, this course will provide an introduction to the social science of new media and its potential to affect positive change on a large scale. The first half of the course will be spent exploring psychological processes and associated media effects research to equip students with a fundamental understanding of how humans process interactive media. The second half of the course will leverage this foundation to explore highly social new media and innovative applications of this technology for positive social change. The course will conclude with a group project and presentation that discusses the possibility of using new media to address critical issues in society. Along the way, we will compare different theoretical approaches to media psychology, varying concepts of what constitutes a psychological intervention, and how social media might be used to overcome weaknesses in historical social systems.

This course will survey ways in which people have thought about machines, in social and moral terms, from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. Students will read mostly primary and secondary historical sources, originally published among industrial countries including France, Holland, England, Germany, and the United States, that illustrate major points of contention between actors brought into contact with one another through machine technologies. By the end of the course, students will have a greater understanding of the particular stances taken toward machines throughout modernity, how communication between people during this period has been shaped and occasioned by machines, the variety of forms taken by that communication, and what this history could mean for the role played by machines in our own lives. Topics include the censorship of Julien Offray de la Mettrie, automata and industrialization in 18th century England, the English and French Luddite movements, the literary dystopias of Samuel Butler and Charles Dickens, the American machine breakers movement, Taylorism and technocracy, and the post-war perspectives of Norbert Wiener and Martin Heidegger.

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