SYLLABUS (GREEN SHEET)  Mass Comm 70: Spring 2001  Visual Communication MW 9:00-10:15 a.m. DBH 133

Dr. Richard Craig  Office: DBH 108; 924-3240  E-mail: craig@jmc.sjsu.edu  Office Hours:   W 1:00-3:00 p.m. & by appointment

Prof. Craig's home page: http://www.profcraig.com

Class home page: http://www.profcraig.com/070f01.html

SYLLABUS SUPPLEMENT:
You are required to read all information on this syllabus and on the syllabus supplement, which lists policies that apply to all my classes.  A copy should be attached to this document; if it is missing or you need another copy, it is available on the Web at http://www.profcraig.com/syllsup.html.

CONTENT:
This course is designed to give students a broad understanding of the impact visual messages have on society. We will discuss the similarities of how visual concepts are applied throughout the various media. The main goals of the class are: to see the interaction of visuals with words; to begin learning a visual language, and why it is important; to begin thinking visually and to look for ways to communicate visually; to utilize an overview of critical deconstruction and semiotics; and to be able to create and apply visual concepts across the different areas of communication.

TEXTS:
Theodore E. Conover, Graphic Communications Today, 3rd edition.
Paul Martin Lester, Visual Communication: Images with Messages, 2nd edition.
Kevin Barnhurst and John Nerone, The Form of News, 1st edition.

Textbooks are available at the Spartan Bookstore.  Please note that other outside readings will be assigned periodically throughout the semester, and that you will be responsible for these readings in addition to the text.

STRUCTURE:
Required are regular class participation, readings from the texts and assorted handouts and/or assigned articles from the Internet, three exams, assorted in-class exercises and take-home assignments, a journal of visual material from various sources, and a final project. While I don't regularly take roll, repeated absences and/or lateness will hurt your grade due to the many in-class exercises we'll do throughout the semester. 

Assignments are weighted as follows:

 
See syllabus supplement for other grading policies.

IN-CLASS EXERCISES:
Exercises will usually take somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes in class, and will generally deal with some aspect of the day's reading/discussion topic. They often involve getting together in small groups of two or three, discussing the given subject and writing up a brief report on it or creating a visual presentation. The assignments frequently ask you to discuss the subject in terms of current media content, i.e. current popular TV shows, advertisements, and the like. In previous semesters, these exercises have been a favorite activity of most students. NOTE: Exercises cannot be made up and will not be announced in advance, so you should make every effort to attend class regularly. See syllabus supplement for my attendance policies.

TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENTS: 
Assignments will generally involve watching/reading/using different media and writing up a synopsis of how material is presented visually.  They usually run about 1½ to 2 pages in length, and are due at the beginning of the next class. 

EXAMS:
Exams will use a multi-format approach to test general understanding of readings and lectures.   Each exam is noncomprehensive (i.e. covers only material from after the previous exam), though you'll need to be familiar with the terminology of visual communication throughout the exams.  To be fair to all students, exams must be taken on the day scheduled, with exceptions granted for only well-documented legitimate emergencies (see syllabus supplement).

JOURNAL:
You must keep a visual communications journal in this class -- a notebook containing items related to each week's topic of study/discussion.  Every week, you are to find an example or two of the types of material we discuss in class, then analyze it visually using the terminology we use in this class (i.e. "gestalt," "iconic," etc.).  You can include photocopies or printouts of items where appropriate, but this does not substitute for writing about them.  I require one page per week of writing -- that is, the writing takes up a full page, not including any clippings you might attach with it.  The journal will be due on the final day of classes (Dec. 10). 

FINAL PROJECT:
The final project for this class will be an 8-10 page paper on the history of design in one of the areas discussed in this class (news, film, TV, etc.).  You will be allowed to choose the area of focus.  This paper will require citations (footnotes/endnotes AND a bibliography).  If you're unsure about formats for this paper, let me know ahead of time and we can go over it.  It's a good idea to start assembling materials for the final project well in advance.  I would prefer you steer clear of using examples from your journal as part of the project, but if you think one individual item would work particularly well within the context of your project, let me know and I'll see whether or not I think it's acceptable.  The final project will be due on final exam day (Dec. 14) or earlier. 

See syllabus supplement for information on attendance, deadlines, academic honesty and other issues not covered here.

SCHEDULE: (Subject to change, with notice):
    Subject matter of each day's class is in plain type, assigned readings are italicized.
    You are expected to complete each day's assigned readings before coming to class.
 

Week	Subjects/Readings/Assignments
Aug. 27-29	Introduction to course Basic principles of design & typography, Six perspectives for image analysis Read Conover Ch. 1-2, 4; Lester Ch. 1, intro to Section 4 (pp. 93-97)
Sept. 3-5	Sept. 3: Labor Day -- NO CLASS Intro to News Design  Barnhurst/Nerone Ch. 1
Sept. 10-12	News Design I Barnhurst/Nerone Ch. 2-3, 6
Sept. 17-19	News Design II Conover Ch. 16-17
Sept. 24-26	News Design III Lester Ch. 12 Sept. 26: EXAM 1
Oct. 1-3	Advertising I Skim Lester Ch. 6 (focus mainly on Advertising section)
Oct. 8-10	Advertising II Conover Ch. 12
Oct. 15-17	Advertising III Conover Ch. 12, continued
Oct. 22-24	Public Relations I  Skim Lester Ch. 6 (focus mainly on Public Relations section)
Oct. 29-31	Public Relations II  Conover Ch. 18 Oct. 31: EXAM 2
Nov. 5-7	Magazines I  Conover Ch. 14
Nov. 12-14	Magazines II  Conover Ch. 15
Nov. 19-21	TV/Film I  Lester Ch. 13
Nov. 26-28	TV/Film II Lester Ch. 14-16
Dec. 3-5	Dec. 3: EXAM 3 Web I Conover Ch. 19; Lester Ch. 15-16
Dec. 10	JOURNAL DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS Web II Lester Ch. 16, continued

 
December 14
    Final exam.  Friday, 7:15-9:30 a.m. in regular classroom.