Course descriptions

Examination of the social, economic, and political factors contributing to the development of American mass media. Emphasis on significant personalities who helped shape its course; analysis of select critical works.

The study of media content and its effect on society. Reading and viewing of selected works. Independent reading and critical analysis required.

An important element in any communication process is considering the people who receive the communication messages. People reaction is studied in this course as well as concepts such as targeting audience, active and passive reactions.

Special Topics in Visual Communication

Principles of Educational Multimedia

Discussion of laws and ethics affecting the mass media. Exploration of problems and issues in legal regulation of media content, ownership and ethical standards such as privacy, censorship, honesty, fairness, and objectivity.

Survey of elements and processes critical to human communication behavior. Comparison of influential communication theories.

Introduction to the fundamental tools of quantitative research in communication. Focus of the course is on reading and comprehending communication research reports rather than conducting quantitative research.

Multimedia Marketing

Practical work with an off-campus newspaper, magazine, or other news organization, supervised by a journalism professional in consultation with a faculty member. Repeatable, but no more than six hours total credit may be earned in internship courses toward the 36-hour minimum required for the degree.

Practical work at an off-campus radio/TV station, supervised by a professional in consultation with a faculty member. Repeatable, but no more than six hours total credit may be earned in internship courses toward the 36-hour minimum required for the degree.

Enables students to develop creative works such as audio and/or video projects as part of their professional training. The course should be conducted under the mentorship of industry professionals in coordination with the course instructor.

Senior Project

Digital Portfolio Production

This course presents students to a combining approach gathering elements and ideas from marketing and communication as a method to achieve organizational goals. Students learn that organizations mix public relations, advertising, marketing, personal communication and others, can increase their advantages. Students are presented to IMC components, planning, and message design.

Advanced practical work in business communication, political campaign communication, advertising, public relations, or other forms of organizational or public communication. Work must be done off campus, under supervision of a working professional in the field, in consultation with a faculty member. Repeatable, but no more than six hours total credit may be earned in internship courses toward the 36-hour minimum required for the degree.

In this course, students are required to create their own projects in PR/Advertising. The aim of this course is to enable students to create creative works as part of personal portfolios presented to others upon seeking a job.

Focusing on character rigging and animation, expressive timing, staging and fluid movement in character animation, students create original, high quality animated segments in preparation for senior projects and portfolio quality work. Additional advanced techniques are taught such as facial expression and lip-synch.

This subject provides students with an opportunity to undertake professional attachment to an onsite multimedia/graphic project. Students will also produce a seminar paper documenting and evaluating their professional attachment.

Working in small production teams, students in this course learn how to manage the production pipeline for a visual communication project. With the focus on working in a team environment to meet deadlines, students are expected to produce a professional quality projects in the areas of to graphic design, animation, video and audio editing, or web design. Students are encouraged to develop an individual approach that defines them as independent, creative and intelligent thinkers ready to challenge and contribute to a contemporary visual communication environment.

Professional attachment to an onsite professional media organization. Requires students to officially document work and hours performed.

Advanced Multimedia

Topics in Multimedia

Based on faculty’s selection of topics, students are presented to a certain topic focusing on mass communication.

This course is an introduction to the study and practice of acting. It will consider acting from a number of perspectives: the nature of acting, the process of acting, and the relationship between dramatic texts and their performers. Analyzing and building a character, diverse acting styles, realistic and nonrealistic acting and acting for stage, television and cinema will be discussed and practiced.

This course is an introduction to the study of theatre and drama arts. The course will cover theatre and drama from a number of perspectives: the nature of theatre as a performing art, connection between ritual and theatre, relationship of theatre to life, language and literature, stage, acting directing and playwriting. The course covers the history of drama and theatre, the beginnings (ritual drama and Greek drama), the medieval theatre, the renaissance and the 17th-20th centuries.

Examines the organization of natural ecosystem as it relates to the human community. Basic ecological principles are applied to current environmental issues. Among the topics to be examined are past and present uses and abuses of natural resources; environmental ethics and public policy; global environmental problems; human population growth; pollution; waste disposal; habitat loss; species extinction; and strategies for attaining a sustainable earth;

This is an introduction to scientific methods and experimentation studies of life from basic atoms to cellular levels of organization. Emphasis on human biology and its different organs in general educational lecture is followed. This course is designed for non-science major students.

This course is survey of selected basic concepts of biological sciences. Topics covered include the scientific method; cell structure and function; biochemistry, fundamentals of genetics and molecular biology; biotechnology, and current issues in biology. This course is designed for science majors and minors and prepares students for upper level biology courses.

This course provides clear background information and directions for conducting laboratory activities. Students not only learn basic biological information but also gain experience practicing laboratory techniques. It includes basic techniques for handling the organism, experimental design, data collection, interpretation, and scientific writing. Example physiological processes in major organ systems are studied at the chemical, cellular and organ level. This course is designed for science majors and minors and prepares the students for upper level biology laboratory courses.

Introduces chemistry conceptually; focusing on its eminent role in our everyday life, majorly in the environment. Highlights the chemical principles with little emphasis on calculations for non-science major students. Provides essential topics; Molecular Reasons. The chemist's toolbox, Atoms and Elements, Molecules, Compounds, and Chemical Reactions, Energy for Today and Tomorrow, The Air Around Us, The Liquids & Solids Around Us; Especially Water, Acids and Bases.

This course introduces the most elementary principles of chemistry for non-science major students. Describes the central role chemistry plays in our daily life by showing some interesting applications. This course will identify essential concepts first by indicating the importance of chemistry in our lives, explaining atoms, expressing the atomic structures, classifying the chemical bonds, and chemical calculations, emphasizing the properties of gases, liquids, and solids, in addition to summarizing the concepts of acids, bases and reviewing organic chemistry.

Discover atomic structure and stoichiometry, the reactions in aqueous solutions, thermochemistry and quantum theory, the electrons configuration, chemical bonding, molecular geometry, intermolecular forces, gases, and physical properties of solutions.

The Basic Chemistry Principles Laboratory course will focus on introducing qualitative and quantitative analyses and will enhance the student's technical skills.

Provides students with an introduction to laboratory safety and handling hazardous materials in a working laboratory environment. The emphasis is on lab safety culture - using personal protective equipment; handling lab equipment; handling, storing, and disposing of chemicals; informing students about health concerns; safety, planning, and others.

Serves as a general environmental science course for the non-science major. Topics include: atmospheric composition, solar radiation, temperature, moisture and condensation relationship between air pressure and wind, weather patterns, severe weather, optical phenomena in the atmosphere, and the behavior and possible changes of climate, Air Pollution, Climate Changes, Greenhouse Warning.

This course is a review of basic mathematical concepts and applications through the use of a variety of problem solving techniques which includes fundamentals of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in problems involving whole numbers, integers, fractions, decimals, ratios and proportions, percentages, geometric measurements and formulas, related algebraic equations and expressions. Emphasizes is placed on analysis and solution of application problems. Non-matriculating; the credits do not count towards graduation.

This course is a review of basic mathematical concepts and applications through the use of a variety of problem-solving techniques which includes fundamentals of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in problems involving whole numbers, integers, fractions, decimals, ratios and proportions, percentages, geometric measurements and formulas, related algebraic equations and expressions. Emphasis is placed on analysis and solution of application problems. Non-matriculating; the credits do not count towards graduation.

This course is a review of algebraic concepts and applications through use of a variety of factoring techniques, graphing linear equations and inequalities, systems of equations, and an introduction of the main concepts of polynomial, rational and radical functions. Emphasis is placed on algebraic techniques in order to successfully complete MATH 111 College Algebra. Non-matriculating; the credits do not count towards graduation.

Course topics will include polynomial functions, the binomial theorem, logarithms, exponentials, and solutions to system of equations, trignometric and inverse trignometric functions with emphasis on trignometric identities and equations.

This course presents methods of problem solving, centering on problems and questions which arise naturally in everyday life. Includes topics from algebra and geometry, the mathematics of finance, probability and statistics, exponential growth, and other topics chosen from traditional and contemporary mathematics which do not employ calculus.

Course topics will include linear and quadratic equation and inequalities, radical equations, graphs of equations in two variables, functions and their graphs – linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, exponential and logarithmic functions, exponential and logarithmic equations, systems of linear equations, arithmetic and geometric sequences.

Includes the major concepts of descriptive statistics including data collection, frequency distributions and correlation. It also covers an introduction to probability and the normal distribution. The course materials will be supported by computer application using a statistical computer software.

This course is an introduction to probability and statistics. Topics include the concept of probability and its properties, descriptive statistics, discrete and continuous random variables, expected value, distribution functions, the central limit theorem, random sampling and sampling distributions.

Covers the following topics: construction of statistical models, especially the use of statistical tools and techniques such as chi-square tests of independence, analysis of variance, simple and multiple linear regressions and correlation. The course materials will be supported by computer application using a statistical computer software.

This is a course in the calculus of one variable intended for students who pursue a degree in business and economics, but not in computer science. It is open to others who are qualified and desire more mathematics course at the core level. Topics include a brief review of polynomials, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions, followed by discussion of limits, derivatives, applications of differential calculus to real-world problem in business and economics. An introduction to integration concludes the course.

Provides an introduction to differential and integral calculus. Includes limits, derivatives and applications of derivatives such as related rates, Newton's method, the Mean-value Theorem, Max-Min problems, and curve sketching. Covers integrals, the Fundamental Theorem of Integral Calculus, and applications of integrals, volumes, and average values.

Topics include integration techniques for exponential and logarithmic functions, inverse (trigonometric) functions, hyperbolic functions, the use of polar coordinates, improper integrals, some introductory basics of 1st order ordinary differential equations, infinite series and their convergence and divergence, power and Taylor series and their radii of convergence.

Studies of linear equations and their matrix representations. Introduces the Gaussian elimination methods and determinants in matrix algebra. Reviews the geometric vectors in two and three dimensions and their linear transformations. Define vector spaces; linear independence; basis; row; column and null spaces; rank and nullity.

Topics selected from vector spaces, bases, linear transformations, matrices, canonical forms, Eigen values, hermitian and unitary matrices, inner product spaces, and quadratic forms.