Course Goals & Structure: Goals: This course is designed to acquaint you with the field of communication, both

the mass media of newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, film, and cable, and the interactive media of information technology. This course will help you to: understand the importance of the First Amendment in preserving our democratic freedoms and appreciate that strong journalism builds a free society. learn how the media have developed so that you can be critical consumers and producers of news, advertising, public relations, and entertainment. learn how to identify and use quality sources of journalism in order to be well informed. describe how media are converging on the Internet, changing the way we receive news and entertainment and altering how you must prepare for future careers. understand how corporate interests affect the media and the information and entertainment we receive. develop the ethical values, professional attitudes, and personal skills you need to become future journalists and communication professionals.

Structure: COM101 is designed to be a lecture and discussion-based course. Your active participation in discussions - both live and online - are a vital part of this course. A few things might make this course a little different from others you've had: -Note that Chapter 13 requires you to view a movie related to the subject matter of the course. You have to watch the movie outside of class. The movie is on reserve in the Holy Spirit Library at Cabrini College for you to view there. You may also rent the movie on your own from a local video rental store. It is "All the President's Men." -You will be doing some online discussions in writing before some classes. Your discussion postings are public for the entire class to view.

Back to Top Required Textbook: Campbell, R., Martin, C., & Fabos, B. G. Media & Culture. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. Back to Top Course Requirements & Grading Percentages: Papers 1 and 2 = 30 percent of your final grade (15 percent each) In-class discussions & other assignments like Cabrini Day, speakers, or Founder's Day = 10 percent of your final grade

Online Discussion Assignments = 25 percent of your final grade Final Paper & Presentation = 25 percent of your final grade Two-three page paper/blob on use of Social media in Arab Spring revolutions = 10 percent Back to Top Attendance Regular attendance is mandatory. You will be considered absent if you: Fail to report your absence to me before the start of class Show up late for class Act unprofessionally in class, such as sleeping, daydreaming, etc. This course is a preprofessional class that prepares you to enter the communication professions and so you should act as if you were involved in a media business already. Fail to come to class with paper, a writing instrument, books, etc., ready to learn.

Activities and interactive discussions will be conducted at the very start of every class. You must be present to participate in these discussions. Absences due to illness, intercollegiate athletic events, etc., are considered "excused" absences if reported to your instructor in advance via e-mail, and with the appropriate doctors note or athletic directors note. You will not be penalized for missing that class; however, you are responsible for making up any work missed during your absence. It is up to you to find out what you must do both for the missed class as well as for the following class. Note that in-class activities and presentations may not be made up. More than three absences from this class will likely result in a substantially lower grade or even failure. Back to Top Assignments You are expected to submit all assignments on time. For Papers 1, 2 and the Final Paper: Assignments handed in after the due date will be incrementally marked down to a lower grade. Assignments handed in later than one week past the due date will not be accepted . The class has moved on in the lesson plan and you will be expected to maintain the pace. For Discussion Assignments (online): Discussion Assignments should be posted by clicking on the "Discussion" icon on the BBVista course homepage. Discussion Assignments will ONLY be accepted before the start of the following class period. Late postings will receive a grade of zero. One special note for ALL assignments: You may not use technology as an excuse for submitting an assignment late. It is your responsibility to ensure that I receive your assignments on time. Penalties as stated above will affect all assignments, whether they are delivered electronically or in hard copy. Back to Top Class participation Learning should not only be engaging, but also reciprocal. We have a lot to learn from each other. You are urged and expected to actively share your thoughts in class and online for everyones benefit.

Back to Top Class conduct A classroom environment conducive to learning is one where learners feel safe and welcome to share their knowledge and experience. Certainly, debate and the frank discussion of assumptions are expected; however, comments should be made with deep respect for one another's viewpoints. (e.g., "I see your point, but have you considered thinking of the issue this way...") Respectful dialogue is vital to establishing and nurturing a community of learners. Conduct deemed unacceptable would include (but not be limited to) accusatory remarks, foul language, or inflammatory rebukes. Behavior of this sort will be met with reprimand. In extreme cases, it will be reported to the Academic Dean. Please conduct yourself professionally in class. Do not have your cell phones out and do not text message. Please also note that being respectful of your fellow learners online means communicating in a manner that is easily understood. Be sure to use appropriate grammar, punctuation and spelling in your postings. The clarity of your message will not only influence your grade; it will influence your classmates' and professor's perception of you as a person. Take care to present yourself in the best possible way. Back to Top Reminder The last day to drop this class without financial penalty is Jan. 26. The last day to withdraw from this class is Apr. 4 . Back to Top Online Discussion Assignments: Several classes will have a Discussion Assignment (online). You will be required to reflect upon our inclass conversations, as well as to read over notes and readings in order to be prepared to respond to the discussion question. I expect you to respond to the discussion question in a way that showcases your understanding of the material, your academic and professional experiences, and any other outside resources that you deem as relevant to the discussion. Superficial answers lacking in analysis, current examples, and personal reflection will not be welcomed. Instead, you are asked to exhibit a keen understanding of the subject matter by providing a lengthy response to the question that incorporates examples from the readings (and/or current events discussed in class) as well as your own personal perspective. See the "Grading Rubric" section of this syllabus for more information on how your discussion assignments will be assessed. I will monitor your discussion responses and comment upon them in class. I will reference your contributions in order to further the discussion, lend a different perspective, or offer other examples. I will not single out every student's posting, but rather read them all and offer class-wide comments about the student responses overall. It is recommended that you compose your discussion response in a MS Word document first. Then, copy and paste your response into the discussion reply window on BBVista. Sometimes the technology fails to cooperates and boots you out of the system before you are done posting a reply. In order to be sure that

you don't lose your work, type your responses in Word, save them to your hard drive, and then post them on BBVista. It's the safest bet. Back to Top Papers: Paper 1 and 2: Some of the class will consist of your professor explaining and clarifying concepts in mass communication, but more of the course will be devoted to the discussion of current issues in mass communication. I have picked out what I hope are lively discussion topics associated with each textbook chapter. Furthermore, I have supplied you with a starter kit of background information on these topics. The "starter kit" information comes by way of the "Description," "Lecture Notes," and "Readings" for each section. For your papers, I will ask you to take what we've been discussing in our classroom and online entries and provide further in-depth examination into these issues. You will be responsible for researching and writing about the implications of these issues on today's media industry and our society. Your papers should contain several current examples that illustrate your perspective on the data. These papers are generally to be about 5 pages long. They are works of research, not opinion papers. Thus, you will need to showcase your research and cite your sources according to APA Stylehttp://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html. Your papers will be judged on how clearly and thoroughly you present the issue, your articulation of its implications, your current examples that illustrate these implications, and how professionally your written work is presented. All papers are to be typed, double spaced, 12 point type, Times Roman font. They are to be typed in Microsoft Word and saved as a ".doc" file. Save them according to the following guidelines: YourLastNameCOM101Paper1.doc (e.g., "SmithCOM101Paper1.doc"). Yourpapers are to be uploaded as attachments in the "Assignments" section of the COM101 BBVista site. You will find all the writing and citing guidance that you need for your papers at the colleges Writing Center web site http://www.cabrini.edu/Academics/Resources-and-Support/Center-for-Teaching-andLearning/Writing-Center/ Back to Top

In-Class Presentations: The in-class presentations are focused on issues discussed in class and online. The presentations come at the end of some sections. These presentations are designed to develop your skills as a researcher and a persuasive communicator. Effective oral communication skills are essential to your long-term career success; thus, it is important to become comfortable organizing and presenting your thoughts in a thought-provoking and persuasive manner. Back to Top

Final Paper and Presentation:

Final Paper: The final paper will ask you to respond to a multi-part question addressing significant themes debated upon and discussed throughout the semester. The Final Presentation will require you to share your thoughts about this multi-part question with the class and your professor. Back to Top

Cabrini College Academic Honesty Policy: Academic Honesty The principal objective of the Cabrini College Academic Honesty Policy is to encourage a dynamic, open and honest intellectual climate based on the personal and academic integrity of all members. It is the responsibility of students to help maintain the community of academic integrity. Students shall not receive credit for work that is not a product of their own efforts. For a full description of the policy, please see the 2007-2008 Undergraduate Catalog. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: Plagiarism (see below for further explanation) Cheating Information falsification or fabrication Theft or destruction of intellectual property Facilitation of academic dishonesty

For a first violation, the faculty member will meet with the student or otherwise communicate the charge. The faculty member will complete an Academic Honesty Violation Charge Form, stating the violation and assigning a penalty. The student should sign and date the charge form and return it to the faculty member. The student may request a hearing before the Academic Honesty Board by indicating that option on the form. For a second violation in a given course, the faculty member will follow the same procedures as in the first incident but will assign a penalty of failure of the course without privilege of withdrawal. For any second or subsequent violation during a students academic career at Cabrini College the Academic Honesty Board shall conduct a hearing. Plagiarism Plagiarism is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. All in this class are quite capable of generating their own unique thoughts and ideas. Only these "original creations" will be welcome. For all other plagiarized thoughts, expect that I will file the proper paperwork with Academic Affairs and follow the violation process as outlined in the paragraph above. Remember that all sources, including Internet sources, must be cited appropriately when using the authors exact words or paraphrasing. Exact words must appear in quotations and their source must be cited. If you have any questions about citing sources properly, consult a faculty member, librarian, the Writing Center staff (http://www.cabrini.edu/default.aspx?pageid=1540), or the APA Style Manual.

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Disability Resource Center: Cabrini College provides support services and appropriate accommodations for qualified students with documented disabilities. If you are a student who requires classroom or testing accommodations, please contact Disability Support Services at 610-902-8572 or email at dss@cabrini.edu. Please note that classroom or testing accommodations can only be provided to students who have Accommodation Notification Forms from Disability Support Services. Students are responsible for providing the instructor with the Accommodation Notification Forms and informing the instructor when they need academic adjustments. Back to Top Grading Rubric: A = You have an excellent and very insightful grasp of the main concepts as shown both in discussions and in your written work. You present your ideas in an interesting and insightful manner. Your preparation for, and participation in, discussions and your presentation of your ideas in discussions and in your papers are all exceptional. B = You have very good, careful, diligent discussion participation and written work. You show effort, ability, and insight in preparation, participation, and presentation of ideas but not to an outstanding degree in all areas. C = Your assignments are completed adequately, assigned work read on time, discussions submitted in on time. You have an adequate basic understanding of the main points of the chapters as shown in discussion participation and papers, but some aspect of preparation, participation, or presentation of ideas is deficient. D = You did not read some of the assignments on time or you did not submit some work on time or you showed only a rudimentary understanding of the concepts or you participated weakly in discussions. F = Some work was missing, or some assignments not read, or you missed more than 20 percent of the discussions.

A Special Note about Discussion Assignment (online) Grading: Your online discussion postings will be subjected to the grading rubric above in terms of content, preparation, presentation, and participation. With regard to timeliness, however, remember the notation made earlier in the syllabus, which said: "Discussion Assignments will ONLY be accepted before the start of the following class period . Late postings will receive a grade of zero." An ideal online discussion posting is one that showcases the knowledge you gained from reading the Learning Module materials and participating in the in-class discussion on the topic/issue. This means that it would be a good idea for you to reference the in-class discussions, online readings, weblinks, etc., in your response to the question. Always strive to be reflective and substantive in the quality of your comments; your goal is to consider the question critically and lend a nuanced perspective to the topic being explored in the posting. Finally, all postings should be free of grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. They should be well composed and not full of "Instant Message-speak" (e.g., "u" instead of writing

out "you" or "b/c" for "because"). You're welcome to use emoticons where appropriate so that I may better understand the tone and intention of your message (e.g., :-) ). You will be graded according to the following scale: A = 95 - 100 A- = 90 - 94.9 B+ = 87 - 89.9 B = 84 - 86.9 B- = 80 - 83.9 C+ = 77 - 79.9 C = 74 - 76.9 C- = 70 - 73.9 D+ = 65 - 69.9 D = 60 - 64.9 F= 0 - 59.9 Back to Top