This course examines the relationship between various media forms and historical, scientific, social, political, and cultural forces. In this class, students will gain media literacy through processes of critical analysis and creative development. The course will focus on mass media, which involves communication to a large audience. In particular, print, audio, visual, interactive, and social media can be mass-scale modes that transmit content and meaning in ways that wittingly or unwittingly affect the receiver (reader, listener, viewer, player, etc.). Analyzing mass communication and its effects, students will be able to recognize rhetorical processes used to appeal to an audience’s interests and emotions. Activating interdisciplinary fields such as anthropology, performance studies, and semiotics, this class will examine how to engage with media outlets critically and responsibly.