January
2013
Social Media Studies at CU-Boulder
A proposal to establish interdisciplinary undergraduate and
graduate certificates in Social Media Studies and a center for
social media data research.
Committee:
Steven Berthard
Sandra Fish
Mark Gammons
Alison Graber
Steve Outing
Daniel Schaefer
Paul Voakes
Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3
The Graduate Certificate in Social Media .................................................................................. 6
The Undergraduate Certificate in Social Media .................................................................... 10
The Center for Social Media Research ..................................................................................... 15
Appendix A – National Survey of Social Media Programs ............................................... 16
Appendix B – Relevant Courses at CU ..................................................................................... 29
Appendix C – CU Certificate Courses ....................................................................................... 42
Introduction
We are at a profound point in communication history. The phenomenon of hundreds of millions
of humans each day recording their own billions of actions and interactions through social media
continues to grow exponentially. Social media are transforming the dynamics and the very
nature of both interpersonal and mass communication. The need to increase our understanding
of this phenomenon is significant. Fortunately, social media exist in formats that can be
researched. The potential for extracting previously unachievable information and insight from
this flood of fast-moving social data is a major challenge and a grand opportunity.
Social media have changed how we live, work and socialize; they are disrupting most industries
and disciplines. For many of our students, across disciplines, it is imperative that as they leave
CU, they possess a deep understanding of how to use social media and how to imagine further
opportunities for social-media use, whether in practice or for academic research. In many fields,
social-media expertise is essential for beginning a career.
Background
Over the past two years, the campus has been engaged in a wide-ranging discussion about
how we can create UCB as a unique center for work in the areas defined by such terms as
information, communication, journalism, media, and technology. In order to provide some
additional, concrete ideas to aid in campus deliberations, the Office of Academic Affairs has
funded a number of interdisciplinary faculty groups interested in developing course or program
proposals in these areas, in the hope of creating the beginnings of a thoughtful, cohesive
curriculum in a multidisciplinary context.
This is one of the resulting proposals: A plan for multidisciplinary certificates in Social Media
Studies at both the master’s and undergraduate levels, as a first step toward the development of
a Center for Social Media Research at CU-Boulder. Professor Paul Voakes, Journalism & Mass
Communication, served as convener and coordinator of this effort, and he was joined by these
colleagues:
Alison Graber, Assistant Professor, Libraries
Sandra Fish, Instructor, Journalism & Mass Communication
J. Richard Stevens, Assistant Professor, Journalism & Mass Communication
Steven Bethard, Research Associate, Institute of Cognitive Science
Mark Gammon, Academic Technology Researcher, Office of Information Technology
Steve Outing, Program Director, Digital News Test Kitchen (JMC)
Daniel Schaefer, Academic Technology Consultant, Office of Information Technology
The group received word of the funding of this effort on Oct. 9, 2012; the principal expenditure in
the fall was the hiring of three JMC graduate assistants — Caitlin Rockett, Laura Peterson and
Mirav Levy — who conducted research into resources and current course offerings at CUBoulder and peer institutions. The group also expanded to include Melanie Hogan, the postdoctoral fellow in Digital Curation at JMC/Libraries.
The group held its first meeting on Oct. 22; it determined the scope of the proposal and
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assigned the first research tasks to the graduate students. It met again on Nov. 5, Nov.12 and
Dec. 3, each time discussing the grad students’ research results and refining the concepts
underlying the graduate and undergraduate certificates. On Nov. 12 the meeting included Scott
Hendrickson, data scientist at Gnip, one of the world’s only aggregators of social media data,
which is based in Boulder. Gnip has expressed interest in collaborating on social-media
research projects with CU-Boulder faculty.
The group “met” frequently via googledocs.com as it constructed this proposal.
The mission of this Social Media Research proposal is twofold:
1 To offer a graduate- and undergraduate-level certificate program consisting of several
core courses on social media theory, practice, and research methods -- serving
academic disciplines across our campus. Particularly significant will be social media's
intersection with such fields as journalism, communication, political science, marketing,
public relations, education, linguistics, informatics, and more. Certificate courses are
aimed not only at educating our students for deploying social media to further their
professional fields, but also to inspire a new wave of researchers to dive into the rising
ocean of social-media data where many discoveries await them.
2 To mark the beginnings of a Center for Social Media Data Research, which will provide
the foundation for scholars to research and teach social media theory and social media
data analysis. From the beginnings of serious focus on social media at CU-Boulder
represented by the Social Media Certificate program, the Center will evolve to become a
place to assemble researchers who will lead the way in developing new ways to
leverage the high value of social-media data. Further, the Center and its research will
affect and encourage an organically evolving social media curriculum.
Summary of the Proposal
Our group is proposing two certificates.
The Graduate Certificate in Social Media Studies would require a total of 17 credit hours. The
core would consist of three courses: Social Media and Society (a new course described below
in detail), Contemporary Issues in Social Media (a colloquium-style course featuring guest
speakers from within and outside the campus), and Research Methods (a course chosen from a
menu of five existing graduate research methods courses). Realizing that students would come
to the certificate from a variety of disciplines and with a variety of learning goals, we would offer
electives in five “emphases” or cognate groups; each student would take three elective courses
from a menu in his/her chosen emphasis. The five emphases are Computing Media; Journalism
and Communication; Political Science; Business and Marketing; and Global Studies.
The Undergraduate Certificate in Social Media would require 18 credit hours. Its core would
consist of three courses: Digital Media Literacy (a new course described below in detail),
Fundamentals of Social Media (ATLS 4519 in Spring 2013), and Tools and Techniques of
Social Media (another new course described below in detail). Students would also choose three
courses from a menu of 12 courses representing eight different units on the CU-Boulder
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campus.
Finally, our proposal outlines the goals of a Center for Social Media Research. It would hope to
establish CU-Boulder as an international leader in social-media research by advancing both
social theories and methodologies in this new vein of research; by nurturing collaborations
among colleagues from various units on campus as well as private-sector partners; and by
hosting conferences and publishing a peer-reviewed journal for inquiry into social media.
Our scan of social-media curricula at other institutions suggests that these certificates would be
unlike any others in the nation. The vast majority of social-media instruction at U.S. colleges
and universities focuses on business development and other pragmatics. This enterprise would
seek also to deepen students’ understandings of the technological structures and social
meanings and potentialities of this emerging communication phenomenon. It would explore
intersections with computer science, geography, anthropology, communication, political science,
social psychology, and sociology, as well as with business and professional media curricula.
CU-Boulder is well positioned for this initiative. Aspects of social media are being taught in
pockets of several courses already. Social-media data research is taking place at a high level
via "Project Epic," recipient of a $2.8 million NSF grant focused on "crisis informatics." The
proposed ICJMT college would provide an ideal base for research and teaching of this important
social phenomenon — one that defies traditional academic boundaries.
5
The Graduate Certificate in Social Media
Total of 17 credit hours
A) Core courses (3 core courses)
1) Social Media and Society (3 credit hours)
Nature of the course activity:
Lecture and seminar
Description:
Surveys contemporary theories of the impact of social media on individuals, community, culture, and the state.
Themes include identity, privacy, digital divide, community, participatory culture, economies, space/place, mobility,
law, and politics. The course examines social media’s co-evolution with other social processes, so that by the end of
the course students are able to critically analyze and evaluate social media’s relationship with contemporary social
life.
How this course fits in with the rest of the certificate’s curriculum:
The course would provide an introduction to social media and its intersections with social science disciplines
including anthropology, communication, political science, social psychology, and sociology. The course affords an
opportunity to think critically about social media through the lens of social and cultural theories. The course also
offers an opportunity for understanding related research methods. Within the certificate curriculum, the course would
complement other offerings by providing an academic grounding in social and cultural theories related to social
media.
Outline of course content/topical areas:
History, Concepts, Definitions and Terms (20%)
Theory (CMC, sociology, social capital)
Communication
Social Media/Social Network Sites (SNS)
Core Issues in Social Media (50%)
Self/Identity/Subjectivity
Relationships
Privacy
Age/Race/Class/Gender/Sexuality
Access/Digital Divides
Community
Virtual community
Social movements/Collective action (crowd-sourcing, smart mobs)
Spaces/Places
Games/Virtual Worlds
Mobility
Resistance, opting-out
Audiences
Participatory culture
Content creation
Memes/Virality
Content curation
Institutions/Industries (15%)
Learning/education
Personal Learning Networks
Legal
Net Neutrality
Copyright
Politics/Governments
News/Journalism
Business/Marketing
Research methods (15%)
Essential learning materials (e.g. books, Websites, other readings, tech tools) that would be required:
Possible books:
 Howard Rheingold The Virtual Community
 The Internet in Everyday Life, edited by Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite. Oxford: Blackwell
 Lawrence Lessig, Code 2.0
 Lawrence Lessig, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace
 Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.
 Paul Durrish Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction
 Paul Durrish Divining a Digital Future: Mess and Mythology in Ubiquitous Computing
 Sherry Turkle The Second Self
 Sherry Turkle Alone Together
 Erving Goffman The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
 Lisa Nakamura Cybertypes
 Castells, M. The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on The Internet, Business, and Society.
 Markham, A. & Baym, N., Internet Inquiry: Conversations about method.
 Markham, A. Life Online: Researching real experiences in virtual space.
Possible types of articles:
 Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230.
 Mark Granovetter. 1982. "The Strength of Weak Ties (Revisited)
 John Perry Barlow, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
 Kraut, R., Lundmark, V., Patterson, M., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T., & Sherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox:
A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well being? American Psychologist,
Retrieved December 7, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/journals/amp/amp5391017.html
 Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J., Helgeson, V., & Crawford, A. (in press). Internet Paradox
revisited. Journal of Social Issues. Retrieved December 7, 2001, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.webuse.umd.edu/webshop/resources/kraut.pdf
 boyd, danah. (2007) “Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage
Social Life.”
 Wellman B and Anabel Quan-Haase "How Does the Internet Affect Social Capital?"
 Sherry Turkle “Always-on/Always-on-you: The Tethered Self.”
 Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.
 Jenkins, H. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st
Century
 MacArthur Foundation. (2008). Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital
Youth Project
 Hargittai, E. (2010). Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the ‘‘Net
Generation.’
 Carr, N. Is Google Making Us Stupid?
 Sherry Turkle. The Flight From Conversation
 Green, J. & Jenkins, H. The moral economy of Web 2.0: audience research and convergence culture.
 Litt, Eden Knock, Knock. Who's There? The Imagined Audience
 Baym, Nancy K. & boyd, danah Socially Mediated Publicness: An Introduction
 Debatin, et al. Facebook and Online Privacy: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Unintended Consequences
 Dibbel, Julian. "A Rape in Cyberspace."
 Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
 boyd, danah. “Real Names” Policies Are an Abuse of Power
 SteinKuehler and Williams. Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as "Third Places"
 Hargittai, Eszter, and Steven Shafer. "Differences in Actual and Perceived Online Skills: The Role of
Gender”
 Zhang, Weiwu, et al. "The Revolution Will be Networked The Influence of Social Networking Sites on
Political Attitudes and Behavior."
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Miscellaneous:
 boyd, danah. Personal bibliography of on-line social network research
 Wellman, Barry http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/
 Cyborgology http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/
List the kinds of assignments that would constitute most of the students’ work:
Quizzes
Exams
Participative use of social media for class:
 Student Blog Posts
 Social Media Commenting
 Content Curation
Applied Research Projects
2) Contemporary Issues in Social Media (1-2 credit hours)
Nature of the course activity:
Seminar
Description:
Explores issues and research practices emerging as multiple disciplines investigate the impact of Social Media on
society. This broad ranging colloquium will include faculty, professionals, and visiting scholars discussing specific
examples/cases of contemporary issues, diverse theoretical approaches, as well as methods in social media
analysis. Topics will vary based on participating presenters.
How this course fits in with the rest of the certificate’s curriculum:
Within the certificate’s balance of academic and professional perspectives this core course will provide the foundation
for academic work in this certificate. Because its focus is the operationalization of the social concepts and theories
that underlie social media, this course is taken after (or concurrently with) the Social Media and Society course. This
interdisciplinary colloquium will provide students with a broad range of contemporary perspectives on issues and
research related to Social Media
Outline of course content/topical areas:
Course content will vary with participating faculty members. Each emphasis within the certificate will be represented
with specific and detailed examples/cases in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Each presenter/segment
will explore a different issue focusing on understanding the impact of social media and underlying social networks
and the application of social media research techniques using diverse social media platforms/data such as YouTube;
Twitter, Google, etc.
Emphases:
Computing
Media, Journalism and Communication
Political Science
Business and Marketing
Global Studies
Other
Possible Topics:
Privacy management
Social movements
Ethics
Government and Twitter
Managing Big Data
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Crisis Informatics
Essential learning materials (e.g. books, Websites, other readings, tech tools) that would be required:
Students will be assigned readings for each presenter consisting of their published work on social media research
and issues.
Example articles depending on participants:
Palen, Leysia, Sarah Vieweg*, Kenneth M. Anderson (2011). Supporting “Everyday Analysts” in Safetyand TimeCritical Situations. The Information Society Journal, 27 (1), pp. 52-62.
List the kinds of assignments that would constitute most of the students’ work.
A. Class Blog: Post Reflective Posts and Discussion after each speaker (40%)
B. Final Presentation: Students select one of the topics of interest and relate it to their own research interests (60%).
3) Research Methods (3 credit hours). Choose one of the following courses:
CSCI-4502 Data Mining
JOUR-6061 Methods of Mass Communication Research
COMM-6020 Quantitative Research Methods
COMM-6030 Qualitative Research Methods
SOCY-5111 Data 1, Intro to Social Statistics
SOCY-7121 Qualitative Analysis
B) Electives (9 credit hours).
Emphases: (Choose 2 courses from your emphasis and a third final elective from any other
Emphasis menu)
Computing
CSCI-5412 (3) Design, Creativity, and New Media
CSCI-5417 (3) Information Retrieval Systems
CSCI-5832 (3) Natural Language Processing
CSCI-5919 (3) Human-Computer Interaction: Survey and Synthesis
Media, Journalism and Communication
COMM-5720 (3) Readings in Communication and Technology
COMM-6435 (3) Interpersonal Processes in Communication
JOUR-5562 (3) Digital Journalism
JOUR-6051 (3) Media Theory
JOUR-4XXX/5XXX (3) Digital Media Literacy (see course proposal in Undergraduate
Certificate below)
LAWS-6065 (3) Media, Popular Culture and the Law
Political Science
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PSCI 3051: Public Opinion and Political Behavior
PSCI 7011: American Politics
PSCI 7091: Politics of Social Movements
PSCI 4774: Democracy and the First Amendment
GEOG 5702: Digital Literacy and Citizenship
Business and Marketing
MBAX 6300: Marketing Communication
MBAX 6330: Market Intelligence
MBAX 6350: Digital Marketing
CESR: 4825 Privacy in the Age of Facebook (Taken for graduate credit)
OPIM 7820: Advanced Research in Information Systems
(MBA students can take up to 4 courses outside Leeds as electives, which would work with
our certificate format.)
Global Studies
ATLS-5210: Global Development I
ATLS-5220: Global Development II
JOUR-5201: Media, Culture and Globalization
JOUR-5341: International Media and Global Crises
GEOG-5103: Introduction to Geographic Information Science
Computing
Media,
Journalism and
Communication
CSCI-5412 (3)
COMM-5720 (3)
CSCI-5417 (3)
Political
Science
Business and
Marketing
Global Studies
PSCI 3051
MBAX-6300
ATLS-5210
COMM-6435 (3)
PSCI 7011
MBAX-6330
ATLS-5220
CSCI-5832 (3)
JOUR-5562 (3)
PSCI 7091
MBAX-6350
JOUR-5201
CSCI-5919 (3)
JOUR-6051 (3)
PSCI 4774
CESR-4825
JOUR-5341
LAWS 6065 (3)
GEOG 5702
OPIM-7820
GEOG 5103
The Undergraduate Certificate in Social Media
Total of 18 credit hours
A) Core courses (3 core courses)
1) Digital Media Literacy (3 credit hours)
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Nature of the course activity:
Lecture
Description:
Explores the various dimensions of digital media so that students may develop deeper understandings of media as
they strengthen their own digital literacy skills. Topics include technology (technical processes of digital media and
convergence); societal factors (digital culture, inequalities, economics, copyright law and visual culture), and digital
media’s impact on everyday personal lives (privacy, identity, creativity, autonomy and play).
How this course fits in with the rest of the certificate’s curriculum:
This is the foundational theoretical course for the certificate, and as such it is one of the three courses in the required
core. It is not a course in social media per se; rather, it provides the conceptual background for success in the other
two core courses: Fundamentals of Social Media and Tools and Techniques of Social Media. Without strong literacy
in digital media, students’ learning in the subsequent social-media courses would be superficial at best.
Outline of course content/topical areas:
Basic Literacy (15%)

Key Concepts: Media Literacy, Digital Media

Technical Processes of Digital Media
Societal Dimensions of Digital Media (60%)

Cultural Forms of Digital Media

The Culture and Technology of Convergence

Digital Media’s Social and Political Inequalities

Economics of Digital Media
Digital Copyright and the Culture of Sharing

The Internet and Visual Culture
Digital Media and Everyday Life (25%)

Privacy, Identity and Autonomy in a Networked Environment

Gaming, Play and Creativity

Other Aspects of Digital Media in Everyday Life
List the kinds of assignments that would constitute most of the students’ work.
Two required textbooks:
Miller, Vincent. Understanding Digital Culture. Sage, 2011.
Lister, Martin, John Dovey, Seth Giddings, and Kieran Kelly. New Media: A Critical Introduction. 2d Ed. Routledge,
2009.
Selected Readings from two other books:
Nicholas, Tessa J. (ed.). Introduction to Digital Culture: Living and Thinking in an Information Age. Cognella
Academic Publishing, 2012.
Jones, Rodney HK., Christoph A. Hafner. Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction. Routledge,
2012.
Assigned articles including (but not limited to):
Karl Bode, "What Network Neutrality Is REALLY About." DSLReports (2009 September 24).
Robert Boynton, "The Tyranny of Copyright?" The New York TImes, (January 25, 2004).
Umberto Eco, "Vegetable and Mineral Memory: The Future of Books," Al-Ahram Weekly, (November 20-26, 2003).
Roger Fidler, Mediamorphosis, (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1997).
Ted Friedman, "Tweeting the Dialectic of Technological Determinism," FlowTV (June 27, 2009).
“How Luther went viral.” The Economist (December 17, 2011).
Henry Jenkins, "Why Heather Can Write," Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, (New York: NYU
Press, 2006): 169-205.• PDF
Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital, (New York: Alfred E. Knopf: 1995): 58-61.
Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, (New York: Free Press, 1995): 6-20.
List the kinds of assignments that would constitute most of the students’ work.
60%: Three five-page papers on:
One aspect of digital media technology
One aspect of digital media culture
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One aspect of digital media in everyday life
15% Book Review (critical review of one book from a list of recent titles on digital media)
15% Presentation of one of the three papers (above) using innovative presentation technology and multiple media
10% Participation in weekly discussion on course topics, via social media
2) Tools and Techniques of Social Media (3 credit hours)
Nature of the course activity:
Lecture
Description:
Enables students to develop first-hand expertise in various social media tools and techniques, including
photographic, video and geo-positioning tools. Students will learn strategies for effective social-media
communication, including strategies on behalf of various organizations. The course introduces students to analytics
and research into social-media data. Course includes techniques of crowd-sourcing and verification of information in
journalistic uses of social media.
How this course fits in with the rest of the certificate’s curriculum:
This course will be the most experiential course within the undergraduate Social Media Certificate program,
complementing the more theoretical companion courses (Digital Media Literacy and Fundamentals of Social
Media). It will provide exposure to and understanding of the most important services and elements of social media,
as well as practical experience using them and measuring the impact of their personal social-media activity.
Outline of course content/topical areas:

History of social media (5%)
From Friendster to today's crowded social-media landscape.

Social media tools and services: overview (5%)
The important players in social media as it stands today, including statistics on number of users; time spent
on social-media sites; how users spend time on the sites (viewing vs. posting/sharing, etc.). How they
interact and connect with each other. Why Facebook and Twitter are so dominant. Why Pinterest took off
faster than any other social network in history. Why Instagram outraced many other photo services. Why
early "stars" Friendster and MySpace failed. New tools that represent social media trends, such as
incorporating video (Socialcam, Flixwagon, VYou). Etc.
Mobile devices, geo-location, geo-targeting (of advertising, informational and news content).

Social media content and strategy (20%)
From brand perspective, and personal-brand. What makes a good tweet? Good Twitter strategy? How to
best post to and share on Facebook. How to best leverage LinkedIn. How to keep followers and not drive
them away. How many social networks should you juggle, either to enhance your "personal brand" or an
organizational or corporate brand?
Social media etiquette, privacy, ethics, and law.
Focus on Facebook.
Focus on Twitter.

Social media strategy for... (20%)
Corporations and marketers.
Non-profit organizations and advocacy groups.
Journalism, media, and public relations.
Politicians, government entities.

Social media measurement (10%)
How effective? Determining ROI. Tools for social media measurement.

Social media data (10%)
Its hockey-stick growth; new efforts to pull insights and new information out of massive amounts of socialmedia activity. The growing social media data industry.
Introduction to and use of tools to filter and analyze social media data for research, marketing, news, political
sentiment, etc.

Social media as a reporting and research tool for journalists and analysts (10%)

Crowd-sourcing using social media services and tools for... (10%)
Politics, elections, government.
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

Business, marketing.
Journalism, reporting.
Education, research.
Verification in social media crowd-sourcing (5%)
Careers in or involving social media (5%)
Opportunities in and breadth of career options at social media companies.
Social-media careers in other types of organizations and corporations:
i.
Marketing
ii.
Public relations
iii.
Journalism
iv.
Education
v.
Politics, government
vi.
Non-profits, advocacy
vii.
Academic research
Essential learning materials (e.g. books, Websites, other readings, tech tools) that would be required:

Individual portal website to aggregate each student's social media activity and reputation growth over the
semester. Plus: RebelMouse, Klout, Kred, Peerindex.

Individual accounts for each student on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest,
Rebelmouse, Youtube, Soundcloud, Storify, etc.

Access to social media data analysis and crowd-sourcing tools:
a. Geofeedia
b. Topsy
c. Gnip (social media data source based in Boulder)
d. Google Fusion Tables
e. Google Refine

Books:
Hoffman, Reid, and Ben Casnocha. The Startup of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and
Transform Your Career. Crown Business (2012).
Merchant, Nilofer. 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era. Harvard Business Review Press, 2012.
List the kinds of assignments that would constitute most of the students’ work.

Building a personal social reputation: Ongoing through semester; students use multiple social media
services and participate actively, using "social reputation" measurement tools to track improvement over the
semester.

Quizzes, exams

Team projects: Develop a social media strategy for a company or organization within a sector that all team
members have interest (e.g., news company, political candidate, commercial brand, advocacy organization,
etc.).
3) Fundamentals of Social Media (3 credit hours) – currently offered in ATLAS, Spring
2013, as ATLS 3519-801.
B) Electives (9 credit hours). Choose 3 courses from this list:
JOUR-4562 (3): Digital Journalism
COMM-3610 (3) Communication, Technology and Society
COMM-4610 (3) Communication Studies of Science and Technology
ATLS-3010 (3): Digital Media I
ATLS-3112 (3): Digital and Social Systems Professional Development
ATLS-3120 (3): Net Presence
GEOG-4702 (3): Digital Literacy and Citizenship
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APPM-1710 (3): Tools and Methods for Engineering Computing
ENGL-2036 (3): Introduction to Digital Media in the Humanities
CSCI-4412 (3): Design, Creativity and New Media
CSCI-4502 (3): Data Mining
SOCY-3151 (3): Self in Modern Society
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The Center for Social Media Research
Center for Social Media Data Mission Statement
The mission of the Center for Social Media Data Research is to serve as a national and
international pump house of knowledge concerning social media and social media data analysis.
Basic goals of the Center are collecting, sharing, and cultivating research and experience
related to the understanding of social media, social media data, and the methods of analysis.
The Center would accomplish this goal by establishing, maintaining, and strengthening the
plumbing between researchers and this incredible reservoir of social media data. After all, we
are at a profound point in communication history. The phenomenon of hundreds of millions of
humans each day recording their own billions of actions and interactions through social media
continues to grow exponentially, in a format that can be researched with a national and
international center guiding the researcher.
The Center would carry out its mission through the following activities:
● Establishing a new peer-reviewed Journal of Social Media Data.
● Publishing books, reports, blogs, and papers on social media and social media data.
● Hosting an annual conference on Big Social Media Data.
● Pursuing grant proposals and research initiatives that are consistent with the Center’s
mission.
● Advising interdisciplinary researchers on methods of researching social media data.
● Administering the "Valve Program," which will provide resources to academic and nonacademic researchers such as disaster response agencies, journalists, appropriate nonprofit organizations, and graduate students.
Appendix A – National Survey of Social Media
Programs
The University of Maine at Augusta
School/College/Department: College of Arts and Sciences, Social Science program
Degree/Certificate: Social Media Certificate
Description: The Social Media Certificate at the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) is
designed for individuals who aspire to work with social media as content creators, marketers,
analysts or administrators in the business, non-profit, governmental or educational sector.
Certificate courses impart knowledge and develop skills needed for the successful deployment
of strategic social media programs. These courses are also applicable toward an associate's or
bachelor's degree in a number of academic programs.
Students completing the course will have developed:
 A working knowledge of current social media platforms as they are used in workplace,
consumer and informal settings
 Familiarity with strategies of social media deployment
 A command of quantitative and qualitative measures of social networks
 The ability to analyze patterns in social media
 Experience delivering verbal and written reports on analysis and management of social
media
 A portfolio of work demonstrating these capabilities as applied to real world social media
 An awareness of professional opportunities in the social media field
Courses: 10 courses totaling 30 credit hours, divided between general education courses and
more focused upper-level courses:
 MAT 100 Mathematics and its Applications
 PSY 100 Introduction to Psychology
 ENG 101 College Writing
 SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
 CIS 131 Web Applications: A practical, hands-on introduction to the design and
development of a website, this course introduces students with little to no experience in web
scripting to the concepts, syntax, and structure of XHTML. The course will also include an
introduction to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), an important presentation initiative, and
Universal Design, the process of incorporating accessible design features into web pages.
The final project-based assignment will assess the comprehensive process of designing,
developing, and publishing a personal or professional site on a web server.
 BUA 263 Marketing: "This course is an introduction to the principles of marketing. Strategy
and planning considerations are covered. Emphasis is on buyer behavior, the employment
of the marketing mix to successfully reach that buyer, and the environment of marketing.
Attention is paid to the goods, service, and not-for-profit sectors. Care is taken to address
both similarities and differences among the sectors. This course makes use of numerous
illustrations and examples.
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SSC 320 Research Methods in the Social Sciences: "Introduces upper-level undergraduate
students in the social sciences and related professional areas to social research methods.
Examines research questions, hypotheses, research designs, qualitative and quantitative
data collection and analysis techniques, and data interpretation strategies. Students will be
expected to gain competence in procedures used in assessing published research reports.
Provides an opportunity to become familiar with ethical issues used in assessing published
research reports.
COM/SOC 375 Social Networks: "An introduction to the essentials of social network theory
and the methods of social network analysis, the study of patterns in communication and
affiliation. Online, in groups, and friends, you are who you know."
CIS 460/INT 460 Computers and Culture: "This course explores the philosophical, social,
and economic impact of computing on culture, and examines ethical and professional policy
issues. Topics include history of computing in the context of human problem solving; uses,
misuses, and limits of computer technology; risks and liabilities; intellectual property;
national and international public policy issues; human factors; and human-machine
interaction."
COM/SOC 475 Analyzing Social Media
University of Pittsburgh
School/College/Department: School of Information Sciences, graduate program, Library and
Information Science
Degree/Certificate: PhD in Library and Information Science
Description: The School of Information Sciences invites applications from students interested in
the following areas:
 Information Behavior: Recruiting doctoral students who seek to understand how people plot
a course through complex information ecologies including digital environments, and how
such ecologies can respond to their ways of thinking, feeling, and valuing. A special
emphasis is placed on behaviors of children and youth.
 Social information systems: Recruiting students who will investigate issues related to the
design and use of social information systems, focusing on the impact of social media on
people's information behavior.
 Web-based Information Systems: Recruiting doctoral students interested in studying,
designing and implementing web-based systems for representing, retrieving, extracting and
disseminating relevant information.
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Courses:
 LIST 2194/TELCOM 2515 Information Ethics: Digital-age intersection of information and
ethics and emphasis on key areas of intellectual property, privacy, confidentiality,
authenticity, plagiarism, diversity/inclusion and special populations, accessibility, intellectual
freedom, censorship, social networking, cyberbullying, security, preservation, transparency,
accountability, policy making, and professionalism. Ethical theories and application of
ethical decision-making models to real-world library and information center scenarios.
Analysis of codes of ethics. Issues and resources related to creation, implementation,
enforcement, and assessment of institutional ethical codes.
 LIS 2633 TECHNOLOGY IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH
Effects of media on young people, ages birth to 18 years; technology in everyday life--from
toys to television; gaming and libraries; filtering; privacy and child safety; social
networking/cyber bullying; information/media literacy instruction in children’s libraries
(public); digital libraries for children; evaluation of digital resources for children; children’s
information behavior; interaction/interface design for young people; digital divide and social
equity issues; global perspectives--technology in young people’s lives around the world;
future trends.
 CITIZEN SCIENCE: Examines the history and culture of “citizen science” with a focus on
local, community, activist, and volunteer-based scientific research. Introduces students to a
wide range of current citizen science projects that involve information technology and social
media. Looks at topics such as scientific literacy, scientific computing, local and community
knowledge practices, crowdsourcing, gaming, big data, public culture, and social
entrepreneurship. Relevant to anyone interested in the history, politics, and culture of
science, technology, and information.
Carnegie Melon
Degree/Certificate: Three Rivers Network Certification and Award Program
Description: Joint center shared between CMU and University of Pittsburgh. The Three Rivers
Network sponsors the certification and award program in social and organizational networks. All
Ph.D. students at the Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh are eligible for
this program.
Associated programs:
 CMU
o Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems (CASOS)
o H.J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management
o Social and Decision Sciences Department
o Graduate School of Industrial Administration (Tepper School of Business)
 University of Pittsburgh
o Department of Sociology
o KATZ Business School
Requirements:
 Social Media research
 2 papers to be presented on social/ dynamic network analysis (presentations waived for
papers published in Social Networks or refereed book)
 1 paper on social/ dynamic research published in Journal or refereed book.
 Seminar participation
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One or both of the two regular courses.
Courses:
 Dynamic Network Analysis
 Fundamentals of Social Network Methods
Analysis: Certification centers on individual research, only 3 credits seem to be required (though
others are offered). The center seems to be managed from CASOS at CMU, and appears to
have a heavy emphasis on computer science and computer information systems (programming
requirements), though also associated with Sociology/ Political Science/ Business programs.
Penn State Erie
School/College/Department: The Behrend College, Sam and Irene Black School of Business
Degree/Certificate: Interdisciplinary Social Media Certificate
Description: Develop the skills and attitude toward using technology systems, online content
development, design, and marketing as well as online strategic planning relative to social
media; understand how to use social media to promote, sell, and interact with customers to
provide efficiency and profitability.
Requirements: 15 credit hours completed concurrently with degree.
Courses:
 MIS 204 (Intro to Business Information Systems) OR CMPSC 203 (Intro to Spreadsheets
and Databases)
 MKTG 301 (Principles of Marketing) (preq: basic Math, English, Econ)
 MIS 387 (Website Design and Administration)
 GD 100 (Intro to Graphic Design) OR COMM 270 (Intro to Multimedia Production)
 MKTG 422 (Ad & Sales promotion management) OR COMM 320 (Intro to Advertising)
University of Southern California
Degree/Certificate: Graduate Certificate in New Communication Technologies
School/College/Department: Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Description: This certificate program is for students holding master’s degrees who wish to
pursue or expand careers in communication technologies. Students will study the latest
developments in new communication and media technologies and their application in a variety
of organizational and social contexts.
Students take 16 units of graduate course work beyond the master’s degree, of which 4 units
may be cognate courses.
Courses (partial list):
 COMM 534 The Culture of New Technologies (4)
 COMM 544 The Arts and New Media (4)
 CMGT 528 Web Design for Organizations (4)
 CMGT 530 Social Dynamics of Communication Technologies (4)
 CMGT 533 Emerging Communication Technologies (4)
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CMGT 535
Online Communities for Organizations (4)
CMGT 547 Distribution of Recordings: Media, Retail and Online Channels (4)
CMGT 566 Communication Law and New Technologies (4)
CMGT 571 Communications Technologies (4)
CMGT 574 Tele-Media: A Strategic and Critical Analysis (4)
CMGT 599 Special Topics
(2-4)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT Social Media Club—Not structured as a certificate, but this series of lectures explores
cross-disciplinary topics in social media.
Description: The MIT Social Media Club’s purpose is to explore and understand social media; to
study its development and dynamics; and to shape the future of social networks by creating a
collaborative platform and environment within the MIT community. Topics of social media are
cross-disciplinary in their nature. Such topics may cover entrepreneurship, technology and
innovation, public policy, as well as wide array of social sciences. A common ground is needed
where MIT students from different backgrounds may exchanges their ideas and create crossdisciplinary projects.
Course:
 ESD.942 Social Media: Trust, Information Seeking & Systems Innovation in the Digital Age
This graduate subject focuses on understanding the impact of social media and underlying
social networks on public trust, individual decision-making and systems innovation. Cases
will include examination of social media as a research tool and its influence on individual
information seeking behaviors and the changing nature of advice in healthcare, financial
services, selected other domains and collaborative innovation across business and
government.
The course will consist of five lectures presented by Joseph Coughlin, Director of the MIT
AgeLab and Azamar Abdymomunov and Rafael Marañón-Abreu, SDM´10 and founders of
the MIT Social Media Club. There will be at least one visiting lecturer who will participate in
the course and help preset a particular case.
Five domains will be considered: Health & Wellbeing, Finance, Safety and Organization
Development. Each domain will present an example of social media applications in different
sectors of our society. In each case, the group will take several stage approaches:
o Influence
o Information seeking and Validation
o Check and Balance
o Power of Share Knowledge
o Change and Transformation
o Learning
o Dialog
City University of Seattle
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Degree/Certificate: Undergraduate Certificate in Communications – Social Media Online
Certificate Program
Description: This completely online course offers courses that explore computer programming,
social media and society and marketing with new media.
Total Required Credits: 30
Courses:
 SOC 305: Social Media and Society (5): Social media has become one of the most
important tools of human interaction. Social media is also a source of information. In this
course, students will examine how various types of social media shape people's lives and
social reality. This course will also look at social inequalities, such as age, gender, and
socio-economic status, and their impacts on perception, access, and use of social media.
 IS 331: Understanding Technology for Communication: This course covers the technology
behind social media and digital communications, including such topics as html, css,
javascript, XML, widgets, metadata, and platforms. Students in this course will understand
the behind-the-scenes functioning of social networking, mobile devices, and social media.
This will give them a greater appreciation of the capabilities and limitations of the
technologies as they apply them to communication strategies.
 COM 361: Consumer Behavior and New Media (5): The Internet is becoming more and
more important as an advertising venue for profit and nonprofit organizations worldwide. In
this course, the student will learn about methods and modes of advertising online, the
medium and its advantages and disadvantages, as well as online consumer decisionmaking behavior. This will be examined though the lens of consumer behavior online from
Internet consumer communities, to consumers utilizing customization according to personal
preferences in online shopping, as well as consumer's brand relationships and how that
influences decision-making.
 COM 465 Contemporary Social Media Tools and Applications (5): This course provides a
practical introduction to the use of current social media tools and their applications.
Exploring the varying uses of tools used in consumer-generated media, viral videos, blogs,
social networks, mobile phone applications, and other contemporary platforms, students will
apply them to the fields of mobile, Internet, and word-of-mouth marketing, business, social
network, and media communications. Students will develop skills in hands-on utilization of
these tools that have impacted the consumption of products, media, ideas, and social
relationships.
 COM 478: Integrating Social Media Marketing (5): This course will prepare the student to
strategically utilize social media platforms in an integrated marketing and/or business plan.
Students will learn when and why specific and contemporary social media tools and
platforms should be used and how to leverage them as part of an integrated strategic
communications and/or marketing/business plan for branding, sales, communication, and
other goals. Exploring how these tools – which, depending on the current social media
landscape, may include blogs, microblogs, podcasts, and online social networks, among
others – are being integrated professionally, students will also prepare their own social
media marketing promotion plans.
University of Washington
School/College/Department: Professional and Continuing Education
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Degree/Certificate: Certificate in Social Media Technologies and Implementation.
Description: Learn how organizations are leveraging social media to create measurable
business value, by getting closer to customers, increasing revenues, reducing cost and
partnering for innovation. Develop an understanding of how social media impacts existing
organizational structures, processes and culture. Explore a range of social media tools and
platforms to gain hands-on skills and the exposure necessary to inform social media and online
communications strategies. Partner with a local organization to create a social media roadmap
that meets their goals and objectives, calculate ROI and gain internal support.
Program Features:
 Completion of a social media project for a real-world client
 Development of a long-term social media plan
 The intricacies of social media, including technical, business, legal and marketing issues
 Benefits and challenges of user-driven content and technologies
 Operational and infrastructure needs and collaboration models
Courses:
 Social Media in Business
Will learn the history and present state of social media, as well as the components of social
media use for organizations. Student will develop basic understandings of social strategy,
community management, influencer relations, digital experiences, online advocacy, and web
analytics.
Topics include:
o Definitions and history of social media
o Overview of current technologies and platforms
o Overview of applications for internal and external use of social media
o Business strategies driving use and adoption: customer care, marketing / PR,
thought leadership, research and development, impact of various business models
o Benefits and challenges of user-driven content and technologies
o Legal and ethical issues: managing productivity, social media policies and training,
and privacy
o Implications for marketing and IT: cost savings, return on investment and various
advantages / concerns of different platforms.
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Social Media Platform and Tools
This course offers practical, hands-on exposure to a number of social media technologies
and platforms. It will provide an in-depth understanding of key issues involved in managing
the technical aspects of social media projects and campaigns from planning through
deployment and post-launch maintenance.
Topics include:
o History and classification of the range of social media tools and technologies
o Popular social media and blogging platforms
o Popular listening and analytics tools
o Use cases for the most popular third-party social media platforms
o Privacy, licensing, and other key considerations
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Why custom social media platforms may be needed to build online communities,
options for development, and techniques for integration with third-party social media
platforms
Understanding audience, selecting features, and organizing content and interaction
Technical overview of the features, differences, prerequisites for use, design and
architecture, legal issues, and considerations for selection of open-source, closedsource, commercial, hosted/SaaS, and self-hosted custom solutions
Behind-the-scenes technical tour of the code, database, and presentation layers of
Drupal, a popular platform for custom social media sites
Requirements and considerations for self-hosted sites
Data exchange, interoperability, and the roles of RSS, XML, and API’s
Social Media Thought Leadership: Defining a Road Map
This course is an exploration of what comes after the initial wave of social media
implementation and how to be a proactive thought leader in defining and establishing a
social media support roadmap.
Students will receive hands-on experience by partnering with local companies interested
in creating a social media strategy or devising a specific campaign.
Topics include:
o Elements of a successful roadmap
o Social Media Goal-setting, tracking KPIs and calculating ROI
o Organizational impacts, key stakeholders and new skills required
o Operational impacts including workflow, training and policies
o Collaboration and staff interaction models
o Technical impacts, Social CRM
o Measurement and reporting
o Future implications
UCLA Extension
Degree/Certificate: Marketing Certificate with Concentration in Social Media and Web Analytics
Description: Core courses focus on marketing, but the elective courses delve into computer
programming, social media design/marketing and web analytics.
Required Courses:
 MGMNT X 160 Marketing Principles and Practices (4)
 MGMNT X 460 Ethics in Marketing and Advertising (2)
 MGMNT X 460.41 The Power of Brand: Brand Management (4)
 MGMNT X 460.52 Integrated Marketing Communications (4)
 MGMNT X 461A Writing for Marketing and Advertising (2)
 MGMNT X 466 Consumer Market Research (4)
 MGMNT X 460.35 Strategic Marketing (4)
Electives (12 units from the following):
 MGMNT X 460.394 New Media Marketing (4): The Internet, the digital revolution, and the
move toward an information-based economy are dramatically changing business and the
way products are marketed and sold. To be more successful in this "new marketing world,"
businesspeople need to understand what is changing and how to use the new tools to their
optimal advantage. This course is for both veteran marketers who want to understand the
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new tools available through the Internet, and those who are comfortable with Internet
applications and the digital world but want to learn the marketing fundamentals as they
apply to the Internet. Using real-world examples, participants learn key-marketing concepts
along with the new tools required to compete in a highly competitive economy and leave the
course with an innovative approach for marketing more effectively.
MGMNT X 460.398A Social Media Marketing (4): Over 100 million videos are downloaded
from YouTube daily. Technorati tracks over 50 million blogs. Social networking sites, such
as MySpace and Facebook, contain millions of user profiles. This course looks at the new
channels of marketing, advertising, and communication that make up social media and the
Web, exploring how these tools fit into a company's traditional integrated marketing strategy.
Using case studies and real-world examples from large corporations and small business,
students explore current examples and future opportunities of how marketing professionals
embrace online social networks, user-generated content and content sharing, blogs,
podcasts, wikis, and even Twitter, to create brand awareness and buzz. Learn practical tips
and techniques as well as see the bigger picture to help successfully leverage social media
marketing for your own environment and purpose.Internet access required to retrieve course
materials. MGMNT X 463.01 Advertising in the Digital Age (4): Create effective consumer-targeted
digital advertising campaigns across the ever-changing digital media landscape. Explore
how to plan, create, track, and optimize all types of digital advertising campaigns, with focus
on developing highly strategic campaigns that leverage the unique strengths of each digital
media type, including emerging platforms. Topics include online/display, social media,
mobile, search engine marketing, email, video, user-generated content (UGC), viral, and
landing page optimization. Learn trends and practices associated with media planning and
buying across the various media platforms, as well as ad creative best practices. This highly
interactive course uses real-world case studies to illustrate each topic. Exclusive
presentations by guest speakers from online media companies are featured (previous
guests have included Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Disney)
MGMNT X 470.10 Web Analytics (4): Web Analytics provides sophisticated traffic
information about a website, and is a must for every business entity with an internet
presence. It delivers a comprehensive array of business intelligence and visitor behavior
insights. Google provides a free analytics service which has already captured a major share
of the analytics market. There is a growing demand for people who have analytics
knowledge and expertise. Google offers a certification examination, "Google Analytics
Individual Qualification" (GAIQ), which tests the student's knowledge and skills. This test is
very demanding and requires deep and fundamental knowledge of Google Analytics.
Google offers a set of videotapes that defines the curriculum for the GAIQ test. The GAIQ is
an online test that changes every time a test is given. Passing this test may empower a
student to find a better job because Google Analytics IQ test is considered a litmus test by
prospective employers. For those not planning to take the test, an in-depth understanding of
Google Analytics will allow them to be more productive and more valuable. This course
starts with introduction to HTML and JavaScript. The concept of cookies are explained.
Modification of Google Analytics Tracking Code (GATC) are discussed. GA report is
explained and cover the integration of Google Analytics and Google AdWords service. GA
Goals, Filters and Funnels, Segmentation, Site Search, and Event Tracking are covered.
MGMNT X 471.10 Marketing with Google AdWords (4): This course focuses on how to
create and manage a Google AdWords account and the ad creation and optimization
process for maximum traffic generation. AdWords campaign management issues are
explained, including strategies for selecting optimal keywords critical to the success of
AdWords ads. Other topics include bidding strategies for keywords, quality score and click-
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thru rate (CTR) metrics, computing return on investments (ROI) as it pertains to AdWords
advertising, analytics service in conjunction with AdWords, and Google Analytics and
Google Website Optimizer for maximizing ad effectiveness.
ART X 481.23A Social Media for Designers (4):This course introduces designers to
advertising within the pervasive and persuasive world of social media. Students evaluate
several social media platforms and determine the best tools and most fluid application of
those tools through lectures, guest speakers, and case studies. Coursework includes
developing and implementing an overall social media strategy for an ongoing project or
portfolio piece. An introduction to advertising concepts and wireframing also is covered (12
Meetings Total).
ART X 481.99AF User Experience Design (4): Today's designers need the ability to
generate deep user insights as the basis for creating interactive experiences that engage
audiences. This course demonstrates the latest tools, techniques, and technologies to
develop world-class user experiences. Topics include conducting user research, developing
user personas and scenarios, information architecture, user interface design, prototype
creation, and usability testing and analysis. Students develop and present a single
comprehensive project for their portfolio that outlines their design process and final design
mockups.
Prerequisite: Familiarity with InDesign and Illustrator (12 meetings total)
MGMNT X 405.23 Digital Entertainment Media: Issues and Opportunities (4): This course
covers how the Internet and digital technologies are transforming the media and
entertainment industries worldwide. Course objectives include achieving a basic
understanding of underlying technologies and emerging business models, identifying major
trends, mastering the digital and social media vocabulary, identifying changes in consumer
behavior, and formulating a position on how the future will effect students' careers. Across
topics, the course addresses the increasing importance of social media and mobility as
fundamental to the changing media landscape. Lectures, discussion, and guest lecturers
from industry insiders, cover such topics as how the Internet works for media professionals;
consumer electronics trends and devices, including computers, smartphones, tablets,
eReaders, TVs, music players, and game consoles; how the online/ on-demand world is
impacting feature film and television marketing and distribution; the impact of digital
technology on film and TV production and exhibition from script to screen; 2D and 3D
issues; and the
COMCTN X 425 Best Practices in Social Media for the Communications Professional (2):
While many communications professionals claim to be social media "experts," those who
can demonstrate true expertise are rare and much sought after. The key is learning how to
think strategically and implement tactics that mesh "traditional" PR and marketing with the
brave new world of social media. This course narrows the broad field of social media
marketing to focus on the specific tools and best practices needed to conquer PR 2.0 and
beyond. Through a series of interactive discussions with experts, we cover topics such as
content creation/syndication, working with bloggers, search engine optimization, online
reputation management and the latest tools for social media monitoring, measurement and
engagement. We also explore PR's role in developing and implementing overall social
media strategy. Guest speakers include agency and in-house PR executives, online
community managers, bloggers and multimedia content producers.
COMCTN X 478.5 Crisis Management and Communications: Safeguarding Image and
Viability (2): You must deal rapidly, correctly, comprehensively, and objectively with a
disaster or crisis. Yet, many organizations are so preoccupied with day-to-day operations
that they fail to allocate the appropriate time and resources to crisis planning. Designed for
corporate, healthcare, and nonprofit executives; crisis management professionals;
advertising and public relations agency executives; and anyone charged with dealing with a
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crisis that threatens the image and viability of an organization, this overview provides you
with the tools to identify potential vulnerabilities and to develop comprehensive protection,
management, and communication plans. Examinations of actual crisis case studies
demonstrate how to minimize risk; create a crisis plan; and manage, survive, and recover
from a crisis. Case studies include the streaker at the Academy Awards, the massive Toyota
recall, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the death of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratton,
and other situations. Guest speakers included.
Full Sail University (Winter Park, Florida)
Degree/Certificate: New Media Journalism Master of Arts Degree
Description: 12-month graduate program looks at how social networking, mobile
communications, interactive media, and multimedia reporting can be most effectively utilized in
different news organizations. Additionally, the program explores the logistics of reporting for
different electronic media, such as broadcast television, online news sites, streaming video, and
podcasts. Students also get extensive, project-based experience with the software tools that
produce this content, learning the technical side of video production, photography, and digital
publishing.
Areas of Focus:
 Multimedia Content Development
 Interactive Media Distribution
 Personal Branding
Select Courses:
 New Media and Communications: In preparing graduate-level students to work in the
changing media universe, the New Media and Communications Course aims to foster
effective communication in digital and online environments. Students gain an understanding
of the unique possibilities and limitations of new media by learning the technology,
techniques, and methods of storytelling on multimedia platforms. The course introduces
students to the concepts of how individual journalists can use new media presentation tools
to make sure important work reaches its intended audiences.
 Writing for Interactive Media: A primary objective of the Writing for Interactive Media Course
is for students to master narrative principles by examining new ways of telling interactive,
narrative stories for visual and digital media while learning through experience about the
critical role that multimedia methods play in engaging audiences with complex information.
The course explores both the mechanics of storytelling as well as how journalists convey
themes through their writing. Students establish habits for thinking comprehensively about
the storytelling process by learning how to identify stories and engaging in the development
of specific storytelling processes including voice, context, dialogue, character, time, and
space. The course emphasizes how story structures change across different delivery
systems and platform.
 Legal Aspects of New Media Journalism: The Legal Aspects of New Media Journalism
Course identifies complex media legal issues presented by the expansion of digital and
mobile technology and helps students think critically about how to resolve these issues. The
course explores whether or not traditional media laws and regulations apply to the Internet,
and if so, which laws and in what application. Students will discuss First Amendment and
media law, including libel and slander, privacy, free press/fair trial conflicts, as well as ethical
dilemmas
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Faced by reporters and editors.
Multimedia Development and Editing: The Multimedia Development and Editing Course is
an introduction to the multimedia news production process focusing on news communication
technologies that have created new media, new language, and new video interfaces, and
how the principles and concepts of visual communication are employed in digital media.
Students will learn best practices of photography, photo management, video production,
audio production, web skills, and advanced postproduction techniques, and then apply these
visual information skills to upload content to a website, mobile device, or application.
Students also learn how to deploy these technologies to produce and edit sophisticated
multimedia content for multiple platforms, including converged environments.
Digital News Production: The Digital News Production Course prepares students to work in
the evolving media environment by introducing them to the theories, techniques, and skills
used in online newsrooms and for news-related websites. The goal of the course is for
students to develop the fundamental skills necessary to take assembled journalistic content
and distribute the content across integrated platforms in the format of a newscast or news
report. The course provides students the conceptual skills necessary to integrate interactive
content and to present online journalism holistically.
Multimedia Reporting: In the Multimedia Reporting Course, students learn how to access,
transfer, and process electronic information, and how to gain ownership of a story by
presenting that information in a visual, useful, and factual way. Students become proficient
in conceiving stories and packages that will work well on the web, practice on-camera
presentation for web and multimedia stories, and learn how to organize raw material into a
news-oriented narrative. The course provides students instruction toward visual storytelling
and story advancement and evolution, with guidance regarding hardware and software that
Journalists must know for multimedia reporting.
Mobile Technology and Communications: The Mobile Technology and Communications
Course studies the many ways in which mobile devices are transforming the process of
news gathering and the telling of news narratives. Students explore how journalists can
produce visual and text-based content specifically for consumption on these devices, and
how journalists must alter their stories or presentation not only for the technology of each
device but also to best engage the different audiences that use each device. The course
also examines how non-Western and Third World cultures use mobile technology to
communicate their experiences to the rest of global society.
Social Media and Online Community Engagement: The Social Media and Online Community
Engagement Course is an examination of how information is shared outside professional
journalism; how journalists can interact with communities; and the ways in which social
technology shapes cultures, governments, and communications. Students learn theoretical
and practical approaches to understanding, designing, building, and using virtual
communities, and how user-generated content within those communities expands the
definition of news. The course also helps journalists understand how to leverage social
media to find story ideas, engage audiences, and promote their work.
Public Relations and Reputation Management: The Public Relations and Reputation
Management Course addresses the ethical responsibilities of multimedia journalists as they
apply to story development, audience reaction, story evolution, and personal and
organizational message control. Students learn how consumers absorb, act, and react upon
news based on media format and content emphasized in that format. The course also
provides an overview of the media industry landscape, examining how the different players
interact and how they balance being news gatherers and content creators for the purpose of
generating revenue from the content.
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New Media Publishing and Distribution: The New Media Publishing and Distribution Course
examines the broad economic issues facing the field of journalism in the digital age: global
competition, multiple distribution platforms, evolving technology and consumer behaviors,
and fractionalized revenue streams. Students explore the concepts of interactive publishing
and management by learning how to marry journalism fundamentals with the technologies of
interactive publishing. Course instruction addresses issues of newsroom organization,
content development, budgeting, responsibilities, and standards in a 24-hour multimedia
news environment.
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Appendix B – Relevant Courses at CU
Journalism and Mass Communications Program
Media, Culture and Globalization
JOUR-5201
Surveys the political and economic structures of media system in developed and
developing countries and discusses the impact of privatization, ownership consolidation,
and globalization on the flow of information across national borders. Also looks at how
global media flows and counter-flows affect conceptions of nationhood and cultural
identity.
Telecommunication Policy
JOUR-6551
Surveys historical and contemporary developments in telecommunications policy,
emphasizing social and cultural dimensions, and focusing primarily on the context of the
United States.
Qualitative Research Methods in Mass Communication
JOUR-7051
Examines various methods of qualitative data gathering and analysis in the mass media
context. Prerequisites: Restricted to Graduate Students only.
Quantitative Research Methods in Mass Communication
JOUR-7061
Examines various methods of quantitative data gathering methods and analysis in the
mass media context.
Honorable Mentions: JMC
International Media and Global Crises
JOUR-4341
Examines strengths and limits on medias role in globalized crises (e.g. financial, climate
change, health) in light of changing distribution of global power. Introduction to current
crises; context-analytical approach to media technologies, financing and uses;
application to national cases. Restricted to JOUR and IAFS juniors/seniors.
Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Junior or Senior) Journalism &
Mass Communication (JOUR) or International Affairs (IAFS) majors only.
Communication and International Development
JOUR-6211
Studies and analyzes communications technologies and techniques used in addressing
social problems in developing countries.
29
Digital Journalism
JOUR-5562
Builds upon digital production skills through the creation of multimedia project. Applies
media theory to evaluate digital media content and explore how digital forms influence
the news industry, politics, culture, and society. Prereq., JOUR 3002. Same as JOUR
5562. Prerequisites: Restricted to School of Journalism and Mass Communication
majors with a minimum of 75 hours taken.
LEEDS School of Business
Marketing Communication
MBAX-6300 (3)
Focuses on the strategic and decision making aspects of marketing communication from
a managerial perspective. Increases students' understanding of specific decision
elements within an integrated marketing communications framework. Topics include
promotional objectives, agency relations, media selection, budgeting, and advertising
research. Also explores relevant advertising models and the economic and social effects
of promotional activity. Prereq., MBAC 6090. Prerequisites: Restricted to Master of
Business Admin (MBAD), MBA with Dual Degree (DMBA), Joint Juris Doctor/MBA
(JMBA) or Professional MBA Program (PMBA) majors only.
Marketing Strategy
MBAX-6310 (3)
Marketing strategy has developed into an increasingly critical managerial activity as
businesses recognize the importance of creating customer value and being customer
oriented. Discusses key elements of successful marketing strategy including
market/customer analysis and competitor analysis, and identifies strategic approaches
managers may adopt to succeed in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing
business environment. Prereq., MBAC 6090. Prerequisites: Restricted to Master of
Business Admin (MBAD), MBA with Dual Degree (DMBA), Joint Juris Doctor/MBA
(JMBA) or Professional MBA Program (PMBA) majors only.
Digital Marketing
MBAX-6350 (3)
Covers a variety of ways an organization uses online presence to support its goals. The
main approaches covered are search engine optimization (SEO); online advertising,
especially search ads (also called search engine marketing, SEM); and social media.
SEO is setting up your website so that the right people can find you. Emphasis placed
on selecting keywords and tracking responses to changes to a website. SEM refers to
paid ("sponsored") ads on search engines. We will focus on AdWords. Prerequisites:
Restricted to Master of Business Admin (MBAD), MBA with Dual Degree (DMBA), Joint
Juris Doctor/MBA (JMBA) or Professional MBA Program (PMBA) majors only.
Market Intelligence
MBAX-6331 (2)
Market Intelligence is a marketing decision-oriented course geared toward gathering,
analyzing, and interpreting data about markets and customers for both products and
services. It is for managers as users of market information across marketing
management, consulting, general management, and entrepreneurship to address
problems of market selection, segmentation, positioning, new products, customer value
and retention, pricing, communication, channel, etc. Prereq., MBAC core courses.
30
Department of Communications
Communication, Technology, and Society
COMM-3610 (3)
Presents theory, research, and exploration into computer-based technologies; studies
implications for communication, interaction, and social relationships. Recommended
prereqs., COMM 1210 and 1600. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180
credits (Junior or Senior).
Senior Seminar: Interpersonal Communication
COMM-4510 (3)
Reviews current theory and research on topics such as strategic interaction, relationship
formation and maintenance, and identity and self-presentation. May be taken twice for
credit on different topics. Prereq., COMM 3210. Prerequisites: Requires pre-requisite
courses of COMM 1210 and 1600. Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Junior or
Senior) Communication (COMM) majors only.
Readings in Communication and Technology
COMM-5720 (3)
Survey of multidisciplinary research that examines various relationships between
communication and technology. Students are encouraged to develop critical skills in
perceiving assumptions and perspectives that motivate major theories in this area, and
to examine how these have changed overtime. Prereq., graduate standing or instructor
consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to Graduate Students only.
Quantitative Research Methods
COMM-6020 (3)
Introduces students to the practice of quantitative research in communication:
conceptualization and critique of research projects, coding, experimental and survey
approaches, reliability and validity, and statistical reasoning and methods of analysis.
Restricted to graduate students or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted
to Graduate Students only.
Qualitative Research Methods
COMM-6030 (3)
Introduction to the epistemology, methodology, and representational practices
associated with qualitative studies in communication. Fieldwork methods emphasized
include participant observation, interviewing, and document/artifact analysis. Restricted
to graduate students or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted to
Graduate Students only.
31
Honorable Mentions: Communications
Communication Studies of Science and Technology
COMM-4610
Reviews current theory and research associated with science, technology, and medicine.
Topics include new communication technologies in organizations and society,
discourses of scientific theory and science policy, and interaction in clinical setting. May
be taken twice for credit on different topics. Prereqs., COMM 3210 and 3300 or
instructor consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Junior or
Senior).
Applied Communication
COMM-5230
Examines application of communication concepts, theories, methods, facilitations, and
other practices to address real-world issues and problems. Discusses conceptual issues
framing applied communication, examines purposes and methods informing such
scholarship, and provides opportunity to evaluate and propose research. Prereq.,
graduate standing or instructor consent.
Interpersonal Processes in Communication
COMM-6435
Focuses on key processes in interpersonal communication relevant to understanding
interaction at the dyadic, group, and organizational levels. Examines theory and
research on selected interpersonal processes such as facework/identity,
support/emotional communication, relational communication, and conflict in interaction.
Prereq., graduate standing or instructor consent.
Roles, Relationships, and Identities in Interaction
COMM-6780
Examines how social roles influence communication practices, the development of
relationships, and the impact of relationships on identity. Considers these processes in
contexts such as personal relationships and institutional settings. Topic varies. May be
repeated up to 6 total credit hours on different topics. Prereq., graduate standing or
instructor consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to Graduate Students only.
Department of Mathematics
Combinatorics 1
MATH-3170
Covers basic methods and results in combinatorial theory. Includes numeration methods,
elementary properties of functions and relations, and graph theory. Emphasizes
applications. Prereq., MATH 2001.
Introduction to Mathematical Statistics
MATH-5520
Prereq., MATH 4510 or APPM 3570. Undergraduates must have approval of the
instructor. Same as MATH 4520 and APPM 5520. Prerequisites: Restricted to Graduate
Students only.
32
Numerical Analysis 1
MATH-5600
Solution of nonlinear algebraic equations, interpolation, approximation theory, and
numerical integration. Prereqs., APPM 3130 or MATH 3130, and experience with a
scientific programming language. Undergraduates must have approval of the instructor.
Prerequisites: Restricted to Graduate Students only.
Introduction to Stochastic Processes
MATH-6550
Systematic study of Markov chains and some of the simpler Markov processes, including
renewal theory, limit theorems for Markov chains, branching processes, queuing theory,
birth and death processes, and Brownian motion. Applications to physical and biological
sciences. Prereqs., MATH 4001, 4510 or APPM 3570 or 4560. Undergraduates must
have approval of the instructor. Same as APPM 6550. Prerequisites: Restricted to
Graduate Students only.
Honorable Mentions: Math
Topics in Mathematical Probability
MATH-6534
Offers selected topics in probability such as sums of independent random variables,
notions of convergence, characteristic functions, Central Limit Theorem, random walk,
conditioning and martingales, Markov chains, and Brownian motion. Prereq., MATH
6310 or equivalent. Undergraduates must have approval of the instructor. Prerequisites:
Restricted to Graduate Students only.
Intermediate Numerical Analysis 2
MATH-4660
Topics include solution of algebraic and transcendental equations, and linear and
nonlinear systems of equations. Highlights interpolation, integration, solution of ordinary
differential equations, least squares, sources of error and error analysis, computer
implementation of numerical methods, matrix eigenvalue problems, and summation of
infinite series. See also MATH 4650. Prereq., MATH 4650. Same as APPM 4660.
Numerical Analysis 2
MATH-5610
Solution of linear systems, eigenvalue problems, optimization problems, and ordinary
and partial differential equations. Prereq., MATH 5600 or APPM 5600. Undergraduates
must have approval of the instructor.
Applied Mathematics
Java: Training & Mathematical Algorithms
APPM 2750
Preparatory course for Java programming. Provides necessary background for Java
language: basic object-oriented concepts, analysis, and design. Learn to create Java
applets and applications, create graphic context, and identify the key features of Java
foundation classes as well as other Java-related technology. Material is taught in the
context of mathematical algorithms from calculus. Prereqs., APPM 1350 and
programming experience. Recommended prereq., APPM 1360.
33
Tools & Methods for Engineering Computing
APPM 1710
Designed for students with little or no programming background. Students learn to
program with ActionScript 3.0 using object-oriented techniques and classes offered by
the ActionScript class hierarchy. Programs developed in this course address
mathematical problems relating to such topics as carrying capacity, competition, and
population cycles, among others. Coreq., APPM 1350.
EDUCATION
Learning With Technology In and Out of School
EDUC-3570
Examines ways digital media are changing the way young people learn, play, make
friends, and participate in civic life. Studies widely implemented digital tools intended to
support literary, math, and science learning of children ages 4-18. May involve design
projects that integrate these tools to transform in either a classroom or after-school
program.
Story and Memoir
EDUC-4135
Examines the questions of "who I am", "where I come from", "what I might become" and
"what I am called to do" in order to remember as well as make sense of our lives.
Introduces and discusses narrative theory and selected memoirs. Students engage in
reflection on their own narrative, and evaluate their practical and analytic understanding
of narrative practice. EDUC 4135 and 5135 are the same course.
University of Colorado Law School
Media, Popular Culture, and the Law
LAWS-6065
Examines how the institutions, practices, and the very identity of the law are in part
affected by the media through which law is apprehended and communicated. Hence the
general question posed in this course: To what extent and how are the forms and
methods of the new media having an effect on the perception, role, and identity of law?
Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.
Cultural Property Law
LAWS-6602
Concerns domestic and International regulation of property that expresses group identity
and experience. Organized around traditional categories of property (real, personal, and
intellectual), the course covers historic preservation, archeological resources, art and
museum law, with attention to indigenous people's advocacy on burial sites, traditional
lands, ceremonies, music, symbols, ethnobotany, genetic information, and language.
May satisfy upper-level writing requirement. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students
only.
Media Law
LAWS-7005
Surveys common, statutory, and regulatory law as applied to the mass media. Focuses
on the law as it affects the gathering and publishing of news. Also examines the
regulation of the electronic media.
34
Seminar: Innovation, Network Theory, Social Entrepreneurship
LAWS-8301
Covers topics related to the legal and public policy implications of innovation,
entrepreneurship, and social networks including normative ideals of entrepreneurship,
the concept of regional advantage, whether startups should be subsidized and the
design of such subsidies, the role of universities in commercializing ideas, impact of the
tax code on entrepreneurship, the role of corporate responsibility in startups, and more.
Honorable Mentions: Law
Privacy, Security, and Digital Rights Management
LAWS-7361
Introduces students to the laws that regulate the basic technologies of the Internet and
the management of information in the digital age. It examines the most significant
statutes, regulations, and common law principles that comprise this emerging legal
framework, including the Federal Wiretap Act, the HIPAA Privacy Rule, and the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act.
Seminar: Computers and Law
LAWS-8321
Explores a range of topics surrounding the juxtaposition of computers and law. Most are
aware of the impact that law has on computers through the myriad of regulations that
govern computers and related technologies. Less well known is the impact that
computer technology is having on governance and on the practice of law. Explores both
sides of this dynamic interplay between law impacting computing, and computing
impacting law.
Telecommunications Law and Policy
LAWS-7241
Examines laws governing telecommunications industries, including federal and state
regulation and international aspects. Includes telephone, cable, satellite, cellular, and
other wireless systems, and the Internet. Same as TLEN 5240. Prerequisites: Restricted
to Law students only.
Seminar: Computer Crimes
LAWS-8311
Explores legal issues that judges, legislators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys
confront with the recent explosion in computer related crime. Includes Fourth
Amendment in cyberspace, law of electronic surveillance, computer hacking and other
computer crimes, encryption, online economic espionage, cyberterrorism, First
Amendment in cyberspace, federal and state relations in enforcement of computer crime
laws, and civil liberties online.
35
Law and Economics of the Information Age
LAWS-9341
Examines basic regulatory and legal challenges of our information economy and digital
age. Emphasizes the "Networked" information industries, the proper role of "Unbundling"
policies to advance competition, and how intellectual property and antitrust rules should
be developed. Restricted to Law students only. Prereq., LAWS 7201, 7241 or 7301.
Same as TLEN 5620. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.
Psychology
Language and Mind
PSYC-4220
Studies processes of perceiving speech, interpreting it as meaningful, and expressing
intentions to communicate as utterances. Emphasizes roles of the brain and of
perceptual and motor systems. Writing, gestural, and animal communicative systems
also are treated. Prereqs., PSYC 1001 and LING 2000. Same as LING 4220.
Psychology of Personality
PSYC-4456
Offers a psychological study of structure, organization, and development of the person
as a whole. Analysis of major theories, methods, and research, including topics such as
emotion, motivation, temperament, inner experience, identity and the self, personality
change, and the influence of sociocultural context. Restricted to Junior or Seniors only.
Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Junior or Senior).
Proseminar: Social-Personality Psychology
PSYC-5606
Provides a thorough introduction to methods and theories in social psychology
concerned with topics such as the self, social cognition, judgment and decision-making,
attitude formation and change, small group processes, inter-group relations, health and
social psychology, and others. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours. Prereq.,
instructor consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to Graduate Students only.
Personality and Social Psychology
PSYC-7536
Selected topics in the area of social-personality psychology. Students may register for
more than one section of this course within the term and/or within their graduate career.
These seminars may be on one of the following topics: stereotyping and person
perception, social psychology and self, social psychology of problem behavior, health
and social psychology, race and ethnic identity, or groups and small group organization.
May be repeated up to 8 total credit hours. Prereq., instructor consent. Prerequisites:
Restricted to Graduate Students only.
ATLAS
Digital Media 1
ATLS-3010
Introduces techniques, software, and related concepts of digital design and image
making through individual and group projects. Emphasizes digital animation, digital
audio, digital video and website design and development as a means to formal and
36
expressive ends. Introduces students to critical readings and theories related to digital
media practice. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Prereq., ATLS 2000.
Restricted to TAM students.
Digital and Social Systems Professional Development
ATLS-3112
Supports students in developing professional skills and practices in human computer
interaction, design of interactive systems, computer supported cooperative work,
computer supported collaborative learning, educational technology, tools that support
creativity, user-developed knowledge collections, and gaming. May be repeated up to 10
total credit hours. Same as CSCI 3112.
Net Presence
ATLS-3120
Net-based projects course that provides TAM students with the opportunity to be
absorbed into our Internet culture. Explore and discuss the past, present, and the future
of the Web. Looks at how different cultures are using the Internet and how to sift filter
and authenticate in order to become information consumers with only a slight case of
information anxiety. Through project work and active participation, students will create
conceptual net art sites that will serve as their on-line "presence" on the World Wide
Web. Explore the information landscape, understand the digital landfill, and contribute to
both. Prereqs., ATLS 2000 and 3010. Recommended prereq., ATLS 3020.
Managing Effectively in a Changing Telecommunications Environment
ATLS-5150
Provides students with an opportunity to join international managers and policy makers
from around the world in an intensive seminar focused on the challenges of managing in
a telecommunications environment in an era of technological change. Guest lecturers
provide an effective overview of the cutting-edge issues managers face in telecom and
technology companies around the world. TLEN 5150 and ATLS 5150 are the same
course.
Honorable Mentions: ATLAS
Virtual Worlds: An Introduction to Computer Science
ATLS 1220
Introduces the fundamental principles of computer science using an on-line virtual world
called Second Life as the "laboratory" for the course. Students will learn how to program
by creating objects of interest in Second Life. In-class and in-world discussions and
readings will introduce the student to important ideas and concepts that shape the field
of computer science. Same as CSCI 1220
Geography Department
Digital Literacy & Citizenship
GEOG 4702
Investigates media and educational policies that shape civic competence and the uses
to which citizens and community organizations use new techniques in activism and in
serving citizens. Prereq., JR/SR standing.
Digital Design: Interfaces
37
SEWL 2100
Learn the key components of digital design and how to create unique and informative
digital designs. Immediate application through work in small groups with nonprofit
agencies with whom they will work to design a web site based on the agency's
information and needs. Same as Farr 2100.
Libby Residential Academic Program
The History of Communication from Caves to Cyberspace
LIBB 1700
Surveys the history, evolution, and nature of communication and communication
technologies. Students learn about the ongoing media revolution and its broader context,
considering the interdependence of communication, culture, and society. They critically
examine utopian, deterministic, and pessimistic arguments about the influence of new
technologies and arts. Course combines lecture, discussion, and group work in a
seminar format. Restricted to Libby RAP students. Approved for arts and sciences core
curriculum: historical context.
Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering
Telecommunicaitons 1
ECEN 1200
Covers the Internet and World Wide Web. Also introduces the main concepts of
telecommunicaitons, electronic publishing, audio, video, coding information theory,
cryptography, data storage, and data compression.
English Department
Introduction to Digital Media in the Humanities
ENGL 2036-3
Serves as a humanities-based introduction to digital media structures such as digital
archive and reading/writing software; studies theories and methodologies for undertaking
digital media scholarship in the humanities; and explores digital textualities ranging from
text messaging, blogging and game to digital fiction and poetry.
Department of Computer Science
Principles of Telecommunications Policy
CSCI-4143 (2)
Learn the key issues and principles that guide the decisions of policymakers with respect
to the regulatory treatment of voice, video, and data communications. Engage in critical
debate, and develop instincts for anticipating the likely regulatory models that may be
applied to new technologies. This introductory course covers technical, economic, legal,
political, and institutional considerations. Coreq., CSCI 4123 or 4133. Same as TLEN
5210
Design, Creativity, and New Media
CSCI-4412
Explores the design of new media and technologies to support design and creativity.
Analyzes design and creativity as human activities of fundamental importance in the
networked information culture and economy. Provides theoretical and practical analysis
38
of new media. Instructor consent required. Recommended prereq., CSCI 3002.
Instructor consent required. Same as CSCI 5412.
Data Mining
CSCI-4502
Introduces basic data mining concepts and techniques for discovering interesting
patterns hidden in large-scale data sets, focusing on issues relating to scalability and
efficiency. Topics covered include data preprocessing, data warehouse, association,
classification, clustering, and mining specific data types such as time-series, social
networks, multimedia, and Web data. Prereq., CSCI 2270 or instructor consent. CSCI
4502 and 5502 are the same course.
Information Retrieval Systems
CSCI-5417
Addresses practical issues in the design, implementation and analysis of modern
information retrieval systems. The major focus is on Web-based applications including
ad hoc retrieval, classification, and clustering. Introduces the use of open source
retrieval systems, standard evaluation metrics and gold-standard evaluation collections.
Formerly CSCI 7000. Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students or Computer
Science Concurrent Degree majors only.
Honorable Mention: Computer Science
Natural Language Processing
CSCI-5832
Explores the field of natural language processing as it is concerned with the theoretical
and practical issues that arise in getting computers to perform useful and interesting
tasks with natural language. Covers the problems of understanding complex language
phenomena and building practical programs. Prereq., graduate standing or instructor
consent. Same as LING 5832. Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students or
Computer Science Concurrent Degree majors only.
Human-Computer Interaction: Survey and Synthesis
CSCI-5919
Examines interdisciplinary field of human-computer interaction through a comprehensive
content and historical survey. Considers new trajectories of inquiry and how the field
merges with others. "Social computing" is emphasized as a central topic. Students
across disciplines will find the course foundational for understanding human-centered
technology matters, including computer scientists; social scientists; and business and
media arts students. Recommended prereq., CSCI 4839 or 5839. Prerequisites:
Restricted to graduate students or Computer Science Concurrent Degree majors only.
Emergency Response 2.0
A team of computer science researchers at CU-Boulder has been studying social media
sites such as Facebook and Twitter not for the networking opportunities they offer, but
for a much more serious reason: They want to know how people affected by an
emergency employ the tools to collect and share information, and use that knowledge to
build better tools for use by citizens and emergency responders.
Led by Associate Professor Leysia Palen, a team of computer science researchers at
CU-Boulder has studied the use of blogs, wikis, and Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook,
Flickr and Twitter in the aftermath of wildfires, hurricanes, school shootings and other
39
tragic events. These peer-to-peer communication tools, although they have
shortcomings, have helped people to collect and share information with others affected
by a crisis without having to depend solely on the reporting of news media.
Widescale Computer-Mediated Communication in Crisis Response: Roles, Trust &
Accuracy in the Social Distribution of Information
Information and communication technology (ICT) promises to help reduce impacts of
large-scale disruptions from natural hazards, pandemics, and terrorist threat. This
research focuses on a critical aspect of large-scale emergency response -- the needs
and roles of members of the public. By viewing the citizenry as a powerful, selforganizing, and collectively intelligent force, ICT can play a transformational role in crisis
situations. This view of a civil society augmented by ICT is based on socio-behavioral
knowledge about how people behave in crisis, rather than on simplified and mythical
portrayals. With a critical reframing of emergency response as a socially distributed
information system, the project aims to leverage the knowledge of members of the public
through reuse of publicly available computer mediated communications (CMCs) (e.g.,
community, mapping, and social networking sites; blogs; Twitter). The project will study
and integrate that heterogeneous information and -- with techniques of information
extraction through natural language processing as well as trust and reputation modeling
-- add meta-information to help users assess context, validity, source, credibility, and
timeliness to make the best decisions for their highly localized, changing conditions.
Engineering Department
VOIP Network Design
TLEN 5340:
This course focuses on the fundamentals of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), the
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Cellular Phone Network with
emphasis on understanding the requirements for convergence of these networks.
Topics: voice and data communication and processing, signaling and subscriber access.
Transport and access technologies discussed include ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM,
SONET, DSL and cable modems. Packet speech services, protocols, Signaling System
no. 7 (SS7), H.323, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP), and Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(MPLS) are also considered.
Law for the Information Age
TLEN 5833
This seminar, which builds on Telecom Law and Regulation (strongly suggested for all
ITP students taking this course), addresses the numerous legal issues that arise in
relation to the Internet. In particular, the course will discuss (mostly in response to
student papers) issues raised by telecommunications regulation, intellectual property,
antitrust and constitutional law, highlighting the continuing challenges posed by
technological change for economic regulation.
Multimedia Networking
TLEN 5440
Traditional multimedia services and traditional data services increasingly share a
common infrastructure. This will be an important theme in the evolution of computer
networks and Telecommunications over the next decade. This course will focus on
Technical discussion and analysis of Multimedia Over IP (MoIP) related topics, protocols
used to transport media (Voice, Video, Image) over a common IP network infrastructure,
40
technical discussion and analysis of multimedia network architectures. Some of the key
technologies covered are: Digital Coding, Compression, Codec, RTP, SIP, Security, and
Quality of Service (QOS). This course focuses on how multimedia services and
networking technology are co-evolving to support convergence.
Sociology
Self in Modern Society
SOCY 3151
Using a variety of Eastern and Western perspectives, this course explores how modern
social institutions and culture shape our personal experiences, how personal
experiences can affect the nature of those institutions and culture, and how strategies
can be developed for achieving balance between the individual and society.This course
will examine social origins, implications, and impact of the idea of the self in modern and
contemporary society. We will examine the role of experience, interpretation, and choice
within the matrix of social structure as it impacts and is affected by one’s self. We will
also explore the personal, ethical, and social implications of defining selfhood in
particular ways.
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Appendix C – CU Certificate Courses
Human Language
Technology
Certificate
Course #
CORE COURSES
CSCI 1300
CSCI 5832
CSCI 6302
CSCI 4402/5402
CSCI 4838/6838
SLHS 2010
LING 5030
LING 5420
LING 7800
ELECTIVES
Menu of 27
possible electives
TOTAL CREDITS
Graduate
certificate
Title
Computer
Science 1:
Programming
Natural
Language
Processing
Speech
Recognition
and Synthesis
Human
Language
Technology
Laboratory
User Interface
Design and
Evaluation
The Science of
Human
Communication
Phonetics
Morphology and
Syntax
Advanced
Computational
Linguistics
Comments
Accompanies an MA or MS in:
Comp Sci, Linguistics or
Speech, Language and
Credit hours Hearing Sciences
Waived for those with
4 programming background
3 of the following 8 core
courses; at least 2 must be
outside home dept. and
3 college
3
3
3
3
1-3 (This is
an open
topics
course)
At least 1 course of 27
available, 2 courses if
~3/course programming req. waived.
Total credits taken will depend
on the student's course
~15 or 16 choices.
42
Telecommunications
Policy
Graduate
Course #
CORE COURSES
TLEN 5010
TLEN 5210
Title
Network Economics
and Finance 1
Principles of
Telecommunications
Policy
Comments
Credit
hours
3
2
Must select two
electives; special topics
courses are offered, but
students must contact
the policy advisor to
identify options.
ELECTIVES
TLEN 5020
Economics of
Competition Policy
TLEN 5255
Information
Technologies and
Communications
International
Telecommunications
Policy
Spectrum
Management and
Policy
Telecom Law &
Policy
Technology Law &
Policy Clinic
Computer Crime
Seminar
TLEN 5380
TLEN 5832
The Future of Video:
Technology, Policy
and Economics
Special Topics
TLEN 5833
TLEN 5835
Special Topics
Antitrust Law
TLEN 5160
TLEN 5206
TLEN 5230
TLEN 5240
TLEN 5250
TOTAL CREDITS
3
3
3
3
3
2 to 4
3
3
~3
Ex: "Introduction to
3 Copyright."
~3
Total credits taken will
depend on the student's
~10 to 12 course choices
43
Graduate
Certificate in
Cognitive
Science
Course #
Graduate
Title
Comments
Certificate available for students of
psychology and neuroscience,
philosophy; computer science;
linguistics; speech, language, hearing
Credit sciences; education; and architecture
hours and planning
CORE
COURSES
CSCI-6402
PSYC 7775
ELECTIVES
http://www.colorado.edu/ics/graduateprograms/course-catalog#ICS
Issues and
Methods in
Cognitive
Science
Topics in
Cognitive
Science
3
1 (taken
twice over
2
semesters
Not listed
Three additional clases required,
each at least two credit hours.
TOTAL
CREDITS
~ 11
44
Science and
Technology
Policy
Course #
CORE COURSES
ENVS 5100
ENVS 5110
ENVS 5120
ELECTIVES
Menu of 36
possible electives
TOTAL CREDITS
Grad
Title
Science and
Technology
Policy
Critical
Introduction to
Science,
Technology and
Society Studies
Science and
Technology
Policy
Comments
A rigorous educational
program to prepare students
pursuing graduate degrees for
careers at the interface of
science, technology, and
decision making. Offer in
parrallel form with the
Credit hours Colorado School of Mines
~3
~3
~3
9 credit hours required
~ 3 per
course
~18
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Environment,
Policy and
Society
Grad
Comments
Students choose 4 required
# of Courses courses from one specialty
Available area.
Specialty Areas
Society and the
Environment
Environmental
Policy
Energy and
Society
Water and Society
19
~21
17
13
14
Complete a cornerstone
course and a capstone
course.
Cornerstone &
Capstone
Potential
Cornerstone
Courses
One (out of seven) required
7 for each student.
One (out of six) required for
6 each student.
Capstone Course
TOTAL CREDITS
18
46
Engineering,
Science and
Society
Certificate
Course #
CORE COURSES
HUEN 2843
ELECTIVES
Menu of 55
possible electives
TOTAL CREDITS
Undergraduate
certificate
Title
TOPIC:
Leonardo Da
Vinci and His
World
Comments
Accompanies BA or BS
majors in the College of
Engineering and Applied
Science. As provided by the
Herbst Program of Humanities
Credit hours for Engineers
3 Only required core course
12 credit hours must be
completed from the approved
list of electives; 9 of those 12
credits must be done above a
~3/course 3000 level
15 total
47
Global and
International
Media Certificate
Undergraduate
Certificate
Course #
Title
Credit hours
CORE COURSES
IAFS 1000
Global Issues
and
International
Affairs
4
PSCI 2012
Introduction to
Comparative
Politics
3
PSCI 2223
Introduction to
International
Relations
3
GEOG 2002
JOUR 4201
JOUR 4341
ELECTIVES
Menu of 30
possible electives
TOTAL CREDITS
Geographies of
Global Change
Media, Culture
and
Globalization
International
Media and
Global Crises
3
3
3
Comments
Accompanies a BA in
International Affairs and
Journalism majors through the
department of Journalism and
Mass Communication
9-10 hours required for JOUR
majors; 10 hours required for
International Affairs majors
Core class for JOUR majors can be chosen instead of
PSCI 2012, PSCI 2223, or
GEOG 2002; Required for
International Affairs
Core class for JOUR majors can be chosen instead of
IAFS 1000, PSCI 2223 or
GEOG 2002
Core class for JOUR majors can be chosen instead of
IAFS 1000, PSCI 2012 or
GEOG 2002
Core class for JOUR majors can be chosen instead of
IAFS 1000, PSCI 2012 or
PSCI 2223
Core class for JOUR majors;
Required for International
Affairs
Core class for JOUR majors;
Required for International
Affairs
JOUR and IAFS majors must
do a minimum of 15 credit
hours in electives total; JOUR
students must do a minimum
of 9 hours dealing with
international issues; IAFS
majors must do a minimum of
6 hours dealing with
~3/course communicative media
Total credits taken will depend
on the student's course
~25 or 26 choices.
48
Chancellor's
Leadership
Studies
Certificate
Course #
CORE COURSES
Undergraduate
Certificate
Title
LDSP 1000
Foundations of
21st Century
Leadership
LDSP 2910
Field Practicum
LDSP 1571
LDSP 2400
LDSP 3100
LDSP 4010
ELECTIVES
Menu of 100
possible electives
TOTAL CREDITS
Topics in
Leadership
Understanding
Privilege and
Oppression in
Contemporary
Society
Multicultural
Leadership
Critical Thinking
in Leadership
Comments
Credit hours 4-year program
To be taken Fall Semester of
3 freshman year
To be taken Fall or Spring
Semester of freshman year;
can be taken instead of LDSP
1 1571
To be taken Fall or Spring
Semester of freshman year;
can be taken instead of LDSP
1 2910
To be taken Spring Semester
3 of freshman year
3 To be taken junior year
To be taken senior year; can
be replaced by a capstone
4 project
Required to take as a
sophomore one lower division
course; Required to take as a
junior one upper division
~3/course course
18 minimum
49
Entrepreneurial
Studies
Course #
CORE COURSES
ESBM 3700
ESBM 4570
ESBM 4830
Undergraduate
Title
Entrepreneurial
Studies
Entrepreneurial
Finance
Business Plan
Preparation
Comments
This certificate is awarded to
Credit hours business majors only.
Minimum 3.0 in the three
3 ESBM core courses.
3
3
There are no electives for this
certificate.
ELECTIVES
ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS
Complete an
approved
minimum 60 hour
internship
Be active in the
Collegiate
Entrepreneur's
Organization
(CEO) at Leeds for
at least 1 year OR
attend at least 5
CEO Club events.
Student must complete ESBM
3700 prior to the internship
Attending community
networking events, local
business meet-ups, the CU
New Venture Challenge,
Entrepreneurs Unplugged and
CEO Club events
Be involved in the
entrepreneurial
eco-system
FINAL
SEMESTER
Complete a 4-6
page report about
the internship,
CEO Club
activities, and
entrepreneurial
community
involvement
Written/oral exams
TOTAL CREDITS
9 course
hours +
other reqs.
50
Digital
Media
Course #
CORE
COURSE
S
ATLS
2000
ATLS
3010
ELECTIV
ES
1
Invention
and
Practice
course
1 Critical
Thinking
in
Technolog
y course
TOTAL
CREDITS
Undergradu
ate
Title
Comments
Cred
it
hour http://www.colorado.edu/atlas/newatlas/tam/certific
s ate.html
Only 2 core courses for this certificate
The Meaning
of Information
Technology
Digital Media
1
3
3
Electives come from a number of departments:
Atlas, Applied Mathematics, English,
Environmental Design, Film, Georgraphy,
Journalism, Music, Physics, Management,
Engineering.
~3 26 possible courses
~3 31 possible courses
At
least
12
51