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School of Communications and Theater
BROADCASTING, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, AND MASS MEDIA
Elizabeth Leebron, Chair
(215) 204-5401
The Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media provides programs of study in the production, management, institutions, and social processes of broadcast, telecommunications, and other popular systems of communication. Students examine both the history and the emerging future of communication technologies. The department emphasizes four interrelated areas of coursework:
Both theory and practice are balanced and integrated into all areas of study in Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media so as to allow students to become well-rounded communications professionals as well as knowledgeable media consumers.
Internships and Senior Seminar
Before graduating, Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass
Media majors are required to take: (1) an Internship or Practicum
and (2) the Senior Seminar, which together are designed to
explore each student's professional future upon leaving the
Department. Hundreds of businesses, organizations, and
institutions in the metropolitan area, as well as those across
the nation, cooperate in providing opportunities for
Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media students to work
in relevant professional ways for course credit. Also, students
interested in pursuing further academic degrees can be placed in
appropriate research and scholarly work programs.
London Program
The Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media (BTMM)
Department offers special opportunities for study and research in
London, England.
Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
The Degree of Bachelor of Arts may be conferred upon a student
majoring in Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media upon
satisfactory completion of a minimum of 126 semester hours of
coursework completed with a cumulative average of 2.0 (overall
and in the major). Within this coursework, students must
satisfactorily complete:
No more than 20 semester hours of transfer credits may be applied to the BTMM major.
The following courses must be taken during the student's first two years of majoring in BTMM:
In addition to the specific courses listed above, the Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media major must complete at least two courses numbered 0300-0389, with at least one course numbered 0300-0354, and two other courses numbered 0200-0389. Eligible BTMM majors must take 0391 (Internship) or a practicum, and 0395 (Senior Seminar) after completing at least 60 semester hours toward Temple graduation.
Any course serving as a prerequisite must have been completed with a grade of C- or better. Prerequisites are noted in BTMM's course descriptions.
A minimum 2.5 average in BTMM courses and completion of 60 credits, including the BTMM core, must be attained before registering for Internship.
Only eight semester hours will be accepted from activity courses of the College of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, except in special programs run in cooperation with the Department. No more than 15 hours from HPERD may be applied to the degree.
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of programs.
Aquiles Iglesias, Chair
(215) 204-7543
The Department of Communication Sciences offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the study of human communication processes across a wide variety of communication contexts. Coursework provides majors with a theoretical understanding of how and why we communicate the way we do. Undergraduate majors are introduced to the study of human communication competence, to an understanding of communication disorders and their treatment, and to the importance of effective communication in social interaction, personal relationships, and professional success.
The department prepares students for careers or graduate study in a wide variety of fields including organizational management, communication studies, law, conflict management and human relations, linguistics, and communication disorders.
Degree Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in
Communication Sciences
The student must successfully complete the following.
Specialization Requirements
Language and Social Interaction
Anita Pomerantz, Adviser
(215) 204-1883
Concentrates on the study of language in social interaction; the nature of language and nonverbal communication, language acquisition, language and cultural diversity, language and gender, how language and interaction influence social and personal relationships, and the analysis of language and its functions. This area of specialization helps prepare students for graduate study in communication and linguistics.
Applied Communication for Professions
Tricia Jones, Adviser
(215) 204-7261
Joseph Folger, Adviser
(215) 204-1890
Prepares students to apply interpersonal, group, and organizational communication theory to professional contexts, with an emphasis on application in conflict management and health-related organizations and careers. Coursework includes interpersonal influence and advocacy, conflict management, negotiation and mediation, small group communication, team process and development, organizational communication, and health communication.
Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
Aquiles Iglesias, Adviser
(215) 204-8537
Rena Krakow, Adviser
(215) 204-8407
Provides a comprehensive understanding of the physical, psychological, and linguistic bases of language and language use together with the roles they play in our personal and social lives. Students interact with instructors who are theorists, researchers, and clinicians. Graduates will be able to apply their knowledge to careers concerned with social service and special education; or, the student may wish to go on for graduate study in a variety of fields including one that leads to professional credentials as a Speech-Language Pathologist and/or Audiologist.
Two specific courses outside of Communication Sciences:
Linguistics
Gary Milsark, Adviser
(215) 204-1875
The undergraduate track in linguistics provides students with an education in the formal analysis of the structure of language within the broader context of human communication supplied by the departmental core. In addition to the central skills of syntactic, phonological, and pragmatic analysis, students gain an understanding of the major issues and results in experimental phonetics and language acquisition. Through selection of appropriate departmental and extradepartmental electives, students may also include study in computation, language disorder, logic, semantics, language history, linguistic anthropology, and the psychology of language. The curriculum is completed with a one-semester course in fieldwork in which students must apply their knowledge of linguistics in a project concerning structure or use of language. Completion of the linguistics track is an appropriate preparation for graduate study in linguistics, psycholinguistics, and the teaching of English as a second language.
Required Courses
Elective Courses (at least 3 required)
In addition, students specializing in linguistics must elect the foreign language option of the Language/International Studies area of the University Core Curriculum. It is also recommended that the second level Core requirement in Quantitative Reasoning (formerly Mathematics B level) be filled with Philosophy C066, Introduction to Logic, and that the Core requirement in Studies in Race be filled with English R110, Language and Race.
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of programs.
Communications and Theater
Interdepartmental Major
Alan Wells, Program Director
(215) 283-1597
The Communications and Theater Interdepartmental Major is an interdepartmental degree designed in the liberal arts tradition to give students in the School of Communications and Theater broad exposure to the communications disciplines as well as to allow in-depth focus in more than one specific area of study. Additionally, students who have particular interdisciplinary interest in communications may use this degree to structure a major that draws extensive coursework from more than one department in the School.
The program of study takes advantage of the expertise and richness of the interrelated departments of the School of Communications and Theater. The degree does require coursework from several departments within the School, but allows students to select a significant portion of the courses that make up the interdepartmental major from a large number of courses offered within the School to Communications and Theater.
In most majors, a SCAT student must concentrate a considerable number of credit hours in a single department. The interdisciplinary nature of the Communications and Theater Interdepartmental Major allows students a broader, but nevertheless focused, field of study. Students are encouraged to propose programs that take advantage of the school's extensive curriculum.
The ability of a student to study both broadly and with particular depth in a combination of areas (organizational communication and advertising, video and theater, as examples),is possible under this degree program.
Program Requirements
Completion of all University and school requirements for the
bachelor's degree, including University Core Curriculum
requirements (see Core Curriculum);
Hours in major (from all SCAT departments):
42 Minimum, 63 Maximum
All Communications and Theater Interdepartmental Majors must take the following six courses from SCAT departments:
Other Requirements
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of programs.
Jeff Rush, Chair
(215) 204-4372
The Department of Film and Media Arts offers a Bachelor of Arts program in media production and theory. The program focuses on the development of creative and technical skills in film, video, audio, multi-media, computers and new technologies, and the theoretical understanding of media and culture. The program recognizes and explores the creative tension between individual expression and the social, political, and economic forces that shape culture at large.
Students will be trained in developing content as well as craft, theory as well as practice. In learning independent and commercial approaches to production and theory, graduates will be prepared to develop their own independent productions and/or to assume a creative role in the motion picture and television industries.
The department brings in guest media makers and visiting professors from diverse backgrounds for special lectures and workshops. Students may also select elective courses from other departments in the School of Communications and Theater in such areas as telecommunications, journalism, and theater. A highly recognized graduate program offers undergraduate students numerous opportunities to work on advanced productions and participate in advanced research in the field.
After taking the FMA basic courses in their freshman and sophomore years, students choose to enter one of three sequences: Production Thesis, Media Culture Thesis, or Non-Thesis.
Faculty Mentoring
The Film and Media Arts faculty strongly believe in the
importance of close mentoring. This is particularly important in
a department that focuses on individual and collaborative
expression. Upon entering the department, each student will be
assigned a faculty mentor who will guide the student through
his/her four years at Temple. The entire Film and Media Arts
faculty will participate in the review of each student's work in
the Basic Core production/studies courses.
Special Programs and Internships
The Film and Media Arts Department offers special programs for
study and research in London and Tokyo. Additionally, many
organizations in the Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C.
metropolitan areas cooperate in providing opportunities for
student professional internships. The department also offers a
summer internship in Los Angeles.
Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Film and
Media Arts
The Bachelor of Arts degree may be conferred upon a student
majoring in Film and Media Arts by recommendation of the faculty
and upon satisfactory completion of a minimum of 126 semester
hours of credit. Students must complete:
Students may complete up to 12 additional credits in Film and Media Arts. The number of courses taken in the School of Communications and Theater is limited to 63 credits. A student must earn a C or better in all Film and Media Arts courses which count towards the degree.
Due to the highly competitive nature of this field, students with Film and Media Arts averages under 2.0 for more than two semesters will be encouraged to change their major. Students with averages under 2.0 may not begin the program. Students may take up to four of the 42 FMA credits as an internship.
Department Requirements
The Basic Courses
Film and Media Arts students will complete the following FMA
courses by the end of their sophomore year:
At the completion of these courses, students will choose to enter the Production Thesis, the Media Culture Thesis, or the Non-Thesis sequence.
Production Thesis Sequence
Alan Powell, Sequence Director
(215) 204-1926
This sequence educates prospective film/video/media makers, media writers, and new technology practitioners to take creative control of their media. It emphasizes students' initiative in creating individual or collaborative projects that serve as an expression of their personal vision and voice.
The Production Thesis sequence builds to a two-semester senior capstone course in which each student, working with close faculty guidance, will finish a film, video, new technologies production and/or script, a production book, and a critical paper on the theoretical issues that informed his/her work. Media work must be presented publicly at an end of the year screening.
Students may enter this sequence if they earn a B average in the Basic Core sequence and a B average in Media Arts I and II.
At the end of the junior year, all students must have completed a project proposal or script for a senior year thesis which will be submitted for faculty review and feedback.
Junior Year
Senior Year
Media Culture Thesis Sequence
Jeanne Allen, Sequence Director
(215) 204-8429
This sequence explores and explains how media works in American culture. The critical exploration of technology, economic and legal factors, social history and institutions highlights the processes through which media culture affects identity construction and social change. Students who choose this sequence develop critical, analytical and organizational skills in linking media culture to such arenas as community-based organizations and museums, schools, media resource centers, and the multi-cultural community of independent film and video producers.
The Media Culture Thesis sequence builds to a two-semester capstone course in which each student will complete a written research-based thesis on media culture criticism and/or history or a producible script for reality-based and researched media programming. Students may enter this sequence if they earn a B average in the Basic Core sequence and a B average in Introduction to Film and Video Analysis and The Production of Media Culture.
Students (including transfer students) who do not meet the
above requirement may petition to enter this sequence based on a
review of their written work. The petition must be received by
the Media Culture Thesis Sequence Director no later than the
third week of the semester prior to the semester when the student
would be taking the senior thesis course.
Junior Year
Senior Year
Non-Thesis Sequence
Alan Powell, Sequence Director
(215) 204-1926
This sequence is designed for students who wish a more general approach to production and theory. Working closely with their advisers, students will choose from a number of production and studies elective courses to complete a balanced, liberal arts approach to media study in lieu of a senior production thesis or media culture thesis. Students may progress through the Non-Thesis Sequence if they have a 2.0 cumulative average and grades of C or better in all the Basic Core courses.
Students will work closely with their advisers to construct an individual course sequence that contains the following Film and Media Arts course requirements.
Junior Year
Senior Year
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