Program Overview

New Media Communications (NMC) Program

The New Media Communications (NMC) program at Oregon State University offers a comprehensive curriculum that explores the intersection of technology, culture, and communication. The program provides students with a deep understanding of the principles and practices of new media communications, including the social, cultural, and political impact of new media technologies.

Course Offerings

The NMC program offers a wide range of courses that cover various aspects of new media communications, including:

• NMC 100: New Media and Culture: Provides students with the basic critical skills to analyze the cultural, social, and political impact of new media technologies.
• NMC 101: Introduction to New Media Communications: Introduces students to the principles of new media communications, including the history, theory, and practice of new media.
• NMC 183: Introduction to Media Production: Provides core competency in media production, including an introduction to audio and video production, and the elements of the media production and post-production processes.
• NMC 199: Special Topics: A variable-credit course that allows students to explore special topics in new media communications.
• NMC 240: Survey of Social Media: Explores the past, present, and future of social media, including the social, cultural, and political impact of social media on society.
• NMC 241: Applied Media Aesthetics: Provides core competencies in introductory digital communication arts tools, including principles of visual composition, sequential imagery, interactive design, narrative structure, and cinematic language.
• NMC 245: Cultural Analytics and Data Science: Introduces students to computational approaches to cultural research, including basic work in natural language processing, social network analysis, and information visualization.
• NMC 255: Introduction to Sound Design: Explores the principles and practices of sound design for motion pictures, television, and radio.
• NMC 260: New Media Futures: Examines the historical context and current perspectives on the various aspects of new multimedia communications.
• NMC 279: Media Literacy: Analyzes various media to shed light on the underlying structure that shapes our understandings of gender, ethnicity, the self, and our everyday practices as citizens and media consumers.
• NMC 280: Global Media: Explores theoretical and practical concepts of global media, including cultural autonomy, political rights, social justice, communication flow debates, media systems of different world regions, and global representations in U.S. media.
• NMC 299: Special Topics: A variable-credit course that allows students to explore special topics in new media communications.
• NMC 301: Writing for the Media Professional: Focuses on the fundamentals of gathering information, evaluating information, writing information for the media, and editing media content in written form.
• NMC 302: Reporting: Introduces students to the practices, procedures, techniques, and organizational structures of basic news gathering and writing.
• NMC 305: Copyediting: Covers copyreading, headline writing, newspaper layout and design.
• NMC 306: Art and Culture Content Creation: Explores various forms of the arts and culture using criticism, reviewing, feature writing, principles, and ethics.
• NMC 311: Introduction to Nonprofit Management: Introduces students to the principles of effective nonprofit management, including historical perspectives, ethics, governance and leadership, legal structure and standards, financial management, strategic planning principles, fundraising principles, volunteer management, marketing and communications, and the future of the nonprofit sector.
• NMC 320: History of Telecommunications: Provides a historical overview of the telecommunications industry, including the technological developments that have shaped the industry.
• NMC 321: History of Broadcasting: Examines the technological, economic, corporate, legal, and political developments that have shaped American broadcasting.
• NMC 322: Landmarks in Media Content: Introduces students to media content that represents advances in the art and science of creative use of media technology.
• NMC 330: The Meaning of Video Games: Examines approaches to understanding the experience of playing video games, including the role of storytelling, the relationship between the player and the game, and the intersections between games and real life.
• NMC 340: Social Media Strategy: Designs systems of interaction to understand how people come to be a part of social networks, including the dimensions of interaction between publics and social networks.
• NMC 341: Media Spin and Deception Detection: Examines common ways media is used to deceive and how media scholars and creators can avoid falling prey to spinners, platformed prevaricators, and purveyors of "fake news".
• NMC 349: Video Art: A studio course in video art and time-based media projects, including experimental approaches to video art in a contemporary art context.
• NMC 351: New Media Visualization: Explores principles of visual composition, sequential imagery, interactive design, narrative structure, and cinematic language as they relate to new media communications.
• NMC 355: Applied Sound Design: Applies technical and theoretical concepts of placing sound in relation to moving images, including recording environments, monitoring sound, dialogue, voice-over, and sound effects.
• NMC 380: Pre-Production: Focuses on the planning phase of multimedia production, including concept development, scriptwriting, storyboarding, budgeting, and talent/location scouting.
• NMC 382: Studio and Multicamera Production: Develops proficiency in organizing, producing, directing, and evaluating television programs using multicamera studio techniques.
• NMC 383: Field Production: Develops technical abilities and conceptual approaches to audio, film, video, and multimedia production, including single-camera production techniques and concepts.
• NMC 385: 2D Motion Design: Investigates theoretical and practical aspects of 2D animation related to contemporary visualization and digital storytelling practices.
• NMC 388: Social Media and Interpersonal Relationships: Examines how individuals build and maintain close relationships through new media and social networks.
• NMC 392: Web Design and Programming: Creates web apps that run on smartphones, including programming concepts required to create interactive web apps.
• NMC 393: Server-Side Programming: Creates server-side websites that can store or retrieve data from users, including programming concepts required to create interactive server-side websites.
• NMC 399: Special Topics: A variable-credit course that allows students to explore special topics in new media communications.
• NMC 401: Research and Scholarship: A variable-credit course that allows students to engage in research and scholarship in new media communications.
• NMC 402: Independent Study: A variable-credit course that allows students to pursue independent study in new media communications.
• NMC 403: Thesis/Dissertation: A variable-credit course that allows students to complete a thesis or dissertation in new media communications.
• NMC 404: Writing and Conference: A variable-credit course that allows students to engage in writing and conference activities in new media communications.
• NMC 405: Reading and Conference: A variable-credit course that allows students to engage in reading and conference activities in new media communications.
• NMC 406: Projects: A variable-credit course that allows students to complete projects in new media communications.
• NMC 407: Seminar: A variable-credit course that allows students to engage in seminar activities in new media communications.
• NMC 408: Workshop: A variable-credit course that allows students to engage in workshop activities in new media communications.
• NMC 409: Practicum: A variable-credit course that allows students to engage in practicum activities in new media communications.
• NMC 410: Internship: A variable-credit course that allows students to complete an internship in new media communications.
• NMC 418: Viral Content: Examines the culture of viral content, social and psychological influences that shape online behavior, and the business of creating and spreading viral content.
• NMC 419: Reefer Madness in the Media: Critically examines the history of hemp and marijuana prohibition, issues of propaganda, and the media's role during the transition between prohibition and the current state of reform.
• NMC 421: Diffusion of Innovations: Introduces old and emerging theories that explain the spread of innovative ideas and technologies among members of a society.
• NMC 425: Latinos in the Media: Examines the sociohistorical context for the underrepresentation of Latinos in mainstream media and the ways in which media moguls attempt to attract Latino consumers.
• NMC 427: Digital Pornography: Explores the prominent role pornography plays in digital communication innovation globally, including social consequences, diffusion of technology, business models, and economic impact.
• NMC 430: Media Theory: Specifies the concepts, hypotheses, and theoretical paradigms that have characterized the study of media since the early 20th century.
• NMC 433: New Media Storytelling: Develops storytelling methods using new media communications technology, focusing on telling stories using non-linear, interactive, multidimensional, multi-sensory, and multimedia techniques.
• NMC 435: Media Effects: Reviews the potential for media technology and media content to influence the beliefs and behaviors of individuals.
• NMC 437: New Media and Society: Traces the impact of new media on American society, emphasizing the way that existing social institutions and opinion leaders greeted the arrival of new media.
• NMC 440: Media Management: Applies principles of management to new media, including personnel, programming, sales, and promotions.
• NMC 441: Media Entrepreneurship: Studies the entrepreneurial process as it relates uniquely to the arts and sciences of new media.
• NMC 461: Trans-Media Publishing I: Creating IP: Develops an exploitable intellectual-property storyworld suitable for trans-media franchise development.
• NMC 462: Trans-Media Publishing II: Exploiting IP: Exploits intellectual-property story franchises into trans-media suites of storytelling assets.
• NMC 470: Media Law: Covers the relevant laws and regulations that govern the mass media, including libel, privacy, obscenity, indecency, fair trial/free press, and copyright.
• NMC 471: Telecommunications Policy: Examines past and present telecommunications policy, including the agencies that govern the telecommunications industry.
• NMC 481: Post-Production: Emphasizes techniques, equipment, and theories involved in editing film and video, including the use of computer-based nonlinear editing systems.
• NMC 482: Documentary: Covers the theory and production of the documentary genre, including all stages of producing a documentary film.
• NMC 483: New Media 3-D: Introduces students to the world of 3-D computer modeling and animation, including investigations of light, texture, form, spatial design, and motion.
• NMC 484: New Media Animation: Investigates advanced animation tools and techniques used for educational, scientific, entertainment, and expressive communication projects.
• NMC 487: Virtual Media: Explores the topics of interactivity in virtual space from conceptual, historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives.
• NMC 490: Media Ethics: Examines the ethical issues surrounding new media communications, including professionalism, new media visual production, new media management, advertising, film, and public relations.
• NMC 493: Media and Power: Exposes students to the relationship between media and power, including how media technologies have allowed for the exertion, extension, and resistance of power.
• NMC 498: Advanced Collaborative Experience: Integrates the skills and knowledge obtained through NMC coursework into a group research, group project, and/or group production.
• NMC 499: Special Topics: A variable-credit course that allows students to explore special topics in new media communications.