142, Visual & Aural Literacy
Visual literacy can be defined as “a group of vision-competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences.” [International Visual Literacy Association, 2004]
The relationship between Media and society is one of the most complex relationships we face today. As you develop skills and learn the know-how to create Media, you must also train in understanding ‘why’ and ‘how’ Media affect us and what are the potential positive and negative outcomes of such relationship. As you move from theory to practice in subsequent courses in mass communication, it is important to recognize the types of messages, and their components, that we are exposed to as those messages persuade, communicate or even manipulate you. The effectiveness of messages will depend on a variety of elements. As you learn to discern what makes an effective message, you will also have the opportunity to understand the ethics behind visual and aural Media.
Messages come in a wide variety of forms involving a multi-sensorial experience. The objective of this course is to analyze the elements that make up Media from the perception of images, sounds, symbols and written language. This course will help you understand appropriate consumption and production of the Media including film, television, radio, journalism, advertising, public relations and multimedia.
The class is a 7-week mini course that is lecture-based with an additional 2-hour per week computer lab module requirement. Lectures are integrated with hands-on experience of using the computer as a tool for analyzing and finding examples of topics covered. Examples will be drawn from the major forms of visual communications and mass media, including advertising, typography, graphic design, photography, television, video, motion pictures, and the Internet.
