Communications and Media - Junior

Course # DMNS 2071

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: None

Course Description

This course is designed to give students a solid basis for furthering their studies related to the biological sciences by striking a balance between mastery of core concepts and exposure to the breadth of the discipline. Students examine the interrelationships between organisms, their biotic and abiotic environments, and the genetic, evolutionary, and ecological processes governing the patterns we observe in nature. By the end of the course, students are expected to apply biological knowledge to new situations and to integrate concepts from multiple sub-disciplines to solve problems and make predictions about biological systems.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon the completion of the course, students will be able to:

• In Genetics:

  1. Introduce the sciences, including the scientific method, bioethics, and the fundamental concepts of chemistry and physics that provide a framework within which learners comprehend biological processes.
  2. Explain the structures, functions, and processes of the cell, the most basic unit of life.
  3. Introduce the earliest experiments that revealed the basis of genetics through the intricacies of DNA to current applications in the emerging studies of biotechnology and genomics.

  In Evolution

  1. Explain the core concepts of evolution with examples illustrating evolutionary processes.
  2. Explain in what way each of the four major mechanisms of evolution (mutation, genetic drift, selection, gene flow) may contribute to adaptation, divergence, speciation and/or extinction.
  3. Describe evolutionary processes in the context of genetics.

  In Ecology

  1. Explore the diversity life by distinguishing specific characteristics of every group of organisms.
  2. Discuss emerging phylogenetic relationships and its implication to sustainable ecosystems.
  3. Explain the core concepts of botany, plant life and processes.
  4. Discuss the form and function of the human (animal) body, including body systems and processes.
  5. Explain ecological concepts highlighting localized, real-world issues of conservation and biodiversity that relates to Central Asia.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # MDIA 3070

Credits 6

Course Description

This course examines the organizational structures, economic models, and financial dynamics of media companies in traditional and digital environments. It explores how media organizations operate, generate revenue, manage resources, and adapt to technological and market changes. The course also will examine the relevance of globalization theories to media and communications through the lenses of politics, economy, culture and history. It focuses on the ways in which these processes of globalization have affected the media and communications landscape of Asia and the areas of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and other regions. Themes of study include media imperialism, the rise of transnational networks, global media events, global representation and media representation and media policy and regulation at global, regional and national levels.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand the organizational frameworks of different types of media companies, and analyze revenue streams, economic models, role of ownership, regulation in media industries.
  Demonstrate an understanding of and engagement with the relations and tensions between distinct theoretical perspectives on mass media
  Analyze the constraints and opportunities posed by cultural globalization in economic, political and social terms;
  Explore the ways in which different global media outlets and organizations operate within the context of cultural globalization
  Explain the role of media and regulation in creating local narratives

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # MDIA 3154

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: Media Production Print, Media Production Radio

Course Description

This course explores the dynamic processes of screen media, equipping students with practical skills in TV directing, producing, scriptwriting, camera operation, and sound production across both digital and traditional formats. Structured to provide maximum hands-on time, the course utilizes a hybrid weekly format: active theoretical learning on Mondays, practical studio labs on Tuesdays, and dedicated self-production days on Fridays for project execution.

Emphasizing the foundational elements of media production for TV, students practice crafting video graphic narratives and discourses that define the evolving screen media landscape, integrating global trends such as immersive storytelling and creator-driven formats. The course analyzes contextualized TV content production with a focus on modern innovations like AI-assisted efficiencies, multi-platform distribution, and cloud-based collaborative workflows to prepare students for a rapidly shifting industry.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon the completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Critically analyze TV and digital media content, evaluating visual and aural styles to understand audience impact and storytelling techniques.
• Create professional-quality television and digital productions by applying advanced audio and visual techniques, including scriptwriting, editing, and sound design.
• Master the operation of TV studio equipment, such as cameras, lighting, and live-streaming tools, to produce industry-standard media content.
• Integrate theoretical, creative, and technical skills to develop engaging TV programs and short-form content optimized for multi-platform distribution.
• Articulate the technical requirements and professional standards of screen production, ensuring alignment with industry best practices.
• Produce media content that adheres to ethical guidelines, promotes inclusivity, and demonstrates media literacy in addressing diverse audiences.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # MDIA 3199

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: None

Course Description

In this course, students will develop an understanding of popular culture and its impact on everyday life. Popular culture offers a way of examining societies, cultural identities and ideologies across time and geography. It also plays a powerful role in shaping societal attitudes, values and ideologies. By “popular culture” we mean not only cultural texts distributed via mass communication networks, but equally the everyday practices and new digital media that give voice to grassroots sentiments. We start by discussing simple but important questions. Why is popular culture so …popular? How do we all “use” popular culture in our daily lives? What can the story of popular culture tell us about ourselves? Finally, what influence does popular culture have on shaping our perceptions of other countries and nations?

Starting with Central Asia as the focal point for the course, the effects of cultural flow within the region, with other parts of Asia and with the rest of the world will be discussed. The relevance of the traditional division of East and West, Orient and Occident, will be re-examined in the context of popular culture flow. We believe that through examining the flow of popular culture between different countries in Central Asia (and beyond) our students will develop interest, empathy and a desire to build strong relations with other countries based on mutual respect and understanding.

The course assist students with the preparation for the senior exegesis for the research based   creative projects.

This course is sponsored by the Eurasia Foundation from Asia.

Course Learning outcomes:

Upon the completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Apply cultural theories and concepts to explain popular cultural phenomena
• Examine the historical, social and cultural environments that spawn popular culture products
• Discuss the relationship between popular culture, society, and cultural politics
• Analyse inter-Asia and global cultural flows using a multi-disciplinary approach
• Explain the factors that result in the formation of fan communities
• Examine the role of popular culture in developing mutual understanding and empathy between different countries.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # MDIA 3071

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: None

Course Description

This practical, studio-based course introduces students to the theories and practices of visual communication through hands-on production across a wide range of media. The semester opens with a photo-dérive — a guided, exploratory walk through Naryn in which students photograph freely and without a fixed plan — before building a shared visual vocabulary through semiotics, collage, and autoethnography, a method for examining personal and cultural identity through one's own experience (students begin with a short autoethnographic collage about home or a favourite food. A virtual museum visit and two documentary film screenings provide shared visual references throughout the semester. The course then moves into documentary photography, video, and an exploration of local textile pattern as a visual language, with students keeping an ongoing phone-based visual journal as a documentation tool across every phase. All assignments are rooted in the Naryn region: pastoral life, the seasonal jailoo migration, craft traditions, and students' own families and communities. The course closes with a public, multi-media exhibition — combining video, photography, collage, drawing, and textile-inspired work — built around each student's individually produced visual communication campaign.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon the completion of the course, students will be able to:

Identify and analyse how visual messages encode explicit and implicit cultural, social, and political meaning.

Apply core principles of visual composition across collage, drawing, photographic, video, and textile-based media.

Use autoethnographic and dérive-based methods to examine personal and cultural identity through visual work.

Produce a documentary photo essay and a short video piece that responsibly represent people and communities in Naryn.

Evaluate the ethics of representation in documentary and campaign-based visual work, including informed consent and the avoidance of stereotyping.

Design and produce a coherent, multi-platform visual communication campaign addressing a real social or cultural issue.

Present a body of multi-media work (video, photo, collage, drawing, textile) in a public exhibition format.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # COMP 2013E

Credits 3

TBA

Physical training

Course # HUSS 3081

Credits 0

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: None

Course description

The purpose of the Physical Education course is to promote students’ health and well-being, support the balanced development of their physical and psychological abilities, and foster sustained motivation to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.

Physical exercises and sports activities contribute to the development of physical capabilities, improvement of fitness levels, enhancement of mental well-being, and the development of discipline and personal qualities.

The course has both practical and theoretical components and is designed to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain health and physical activity and to participate safely and effectively in physical exercises and sports activities.

Course learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course students will be able to:

• perform a range of physical activities
• understand health and safety requirements for a range of physical activities
• Describe the role and progress of sport in Central Asia
• choose an appropriate physical activities program for their age and gender
• identify tiredness and its symptoms to control the body during athletic exercises
• describe the technique of running for a long and a short distance and jumping
• accomplish running for a short and a long distance and jumping according to all necessary norms
• Describe the rules of a range of sports games
• participate in a range of sports games according to their rules and techniques

Course Assessments and Grading

* The course will be graded with PASS/FAIL.