Communications and Media - Junior

Course # MDIA 3195

Credits 6

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: None

Course Description

This course offers an in-depth analysis of digital media and social media that continue to impact on the global contexts of communication, culture and commerce with a focus on an intersectional approach to understanding the complexity of our digital world. The course blends theory with practice, covering topics like digital media ecosystems, user engagement, ethics and emerging trends. Students develop hands-on projects in social media planning, analysis, and digital storytelling to prepare for careers in the digital world.

Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Define the historical, cultural, and economic dimensions of digital and social media.
2. Assess interventions on digital platforms for framing and guiding the ways in which digital communities communicate.
3. Utilize analytical tools to assess social media performances and learn how to enhance them.
4. Design and implement digital strategies towards organizational goals and for diverse audiences.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # MDIA 3192

Credits 6

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: Media Production TV

Course Description

This course covers the basics of filmmaking, including the narrative elements of storytelling for documentary films. In the course, students learn every stage of the filmmaking process, from pre-production to post-production, and have opportunities to put their knowledge into practice. The course focuses on the development of documentaries and explores different genres and modes of production. Students analyze documentaries from directors in Central Asia and worldwide, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the industry. The course combines a theoretical and practical approach to documentary filmmaking.

Course Learning Outcomes

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

• Generate ideas for documentary films
• Plan the script elements in preparation for a documentary film project
• Write a script that can convey a storyline
• Operate essential video and audio equipment items to create a professional product
• Analyze different kinds of non-fiction and fiction films
• Apply post-production methods and techniques using editing software.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # MDIA 3156

Credits 6

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites:

Course Description

The Film Development Course is a hands-on filmmaking programme that guides students through the essential stages of transforming their storytelling potential from an initial concept to a comprehensive film project package ready for production. Through practical workshops and team collaboration, students gain hands-on experience in preparing essential pre-production elements, including logline, synopsis, director's vision statement, production budget, marketing strategy, and distribution plan.

Throughout the programme, students explore film development's creative and industry aspects, from narrative structure and visual storytelling to market analysis and audience engagement. They learn to balance artistic vision with practical considerations, developing skills in script analysis, project pitching, and industry collaboration. The course emphasizes real-world applications through case studies and intensive workshop sessions.

Course Learning Outcomes

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

• Develop a Film Project Package consisting of a Teaser and a Film Project Dossier that meet industry standards.
• Articulate story, vision, and production strategy for a short film in a structured format.
• Deliver a professional pitch of their developed film project to industry representatives.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # MDIA 3087

Credits 6

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: None

Course Description

This course extends student knowledge and skills in communication studies into the field of science communication.  The course provides an introduction to forms of science communication intended for non-scientific audiences, such as writing for both online and print outlets, podcasting and short video production.  Students will develop a critical understanding of the wider societal context of both science and communication.  They will examine how communication practices can address contemporary science communication challenges and enhance public understanding of science.  Science communication is examined through both conceptual analysis and practical skill development and critical issues and themes in the field are explored.

Course Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course students will be able to:

• Discuss the conceptual basis of science communication.
• Analyse contemporary global science communication issues and practices.
• Examine ways that communication practices can address contemporary science communication challenges and enhance public understanding of science.
• Use a variety of media to share science information in different formats and contexts.
• Discuss the relationship between non-western knowledge and science and the ways that non-western worldviews can shift our conception of science

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # COMP 1073

Credits 6

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: None

Course Description

This "Introduction to Computer Science" course is designed for students majoring in Communications and Media, offering a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts in computer science with a special focus on data science and AI. Throughout the semester, students will explore key areas including data manipulation using Excel, introduction to machine learning and AI, web development, and programming in Python (optional). The course emphasizes practical skills in data analysis, visualization, and/or web design development, culminating in a final project where students will apply their knowledge to real-world projects. Ethical considerations in research, data science, and AI are also integral to the curriculum, preparing students for responsible and informed engagement in the digital world.

Course Learning Outcomes

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

• Manipulate data using Excel, demonstrated through their ability to copy, fill, format cells, utilize functions for data analysis, clean datasets, remove duplicates, and construct pivot tables.
• Tell compelling stories by means of data visualization and interpretation.
• Apply basic AI concepts and employ prompt engineering techniques for generative AI applications.
• Critically analyze ethical issues in data science and AI to advocate for responsible and ethical conduct in technological research and applications.
• Apply web development techniques, including basic design elements and principles, through practical labs and a final project that simulates real-world tasks to assess skill mastery.
• Use Python to declare variables, define functions, implement loops, and conditional statements, demonstrating a practical understanding of foundational computer science concepts such as algorithms and logical operations (optional).

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # ECON 4010

Credits 6

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: None

Course Description

This course uses a project-based learning approach to help students provide useful applications and concrete contributions in support of local development. For Communication and Media students the focus is on audio and video production. Students work in teams (of four or five students) to integrate music, graphics and video technologies into entrepreneurial projects aimed at supporting the local communities. For Computer Sciences students, a variety of mobile applications, augmented virtual reality applications, Big Data applications, Internet of Things, Video Game Experiential Marketing applications, Machine Learning Methods, Mobile Operating Systems and Mobile Signals and Sensors applications and many more are on offer. Whenever possible, multidisciplinary collaborations between students will be suggested and recommended. The aim is to boost local development, preferably in the Naryn Oblast.

Student projects can be implemented in a variety of sectors such as tourism, agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, hospitality services (sports, leisure & recreation), public services, health, education, transportation, or any sector that contributes to support the development of local communities. However, an emphasis will be put on the tourism sector which has the potential to substantially contribute to Naryn’s economic progress.

Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion the course, students should be able to:

• Define local development priorities and strategies
• Explain how specific digital projects can contribute to these goals
• Collect relevant data on which to build a digital project
• Determine the needs expressed by actors on the ground and design potential solutions to address those needs
• Relate their theoretical knowledge to the design and implementation of concrete projects on the ground
• Develop appropriate technical solutions to serve the specific needs of economic and social actors in the region
• Present to the public at large specific finalized projects

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # HUSS 3126E

Credits 6

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: None

Course Description

The unprecedented changes brought by technological development often referred to as digitalization shape society, culture, and human identity in today’s digital world. Humans are becoming hybrids, communities are emerging online, many people live in virtual reality and the digital world certainly has altered social norms and created new forms of communication and values. This transformation required anthropologists to use relevant approaches to study the current digital phenomena. Thus, the course invites students to explore how digitalization shapes human subjectivity and social relationships between individuals, groups, organizations, and communities. The course will introduce students to the new theoretical framework for the study of digital phenomena and provide ground for the study of digital culture which is a controversial point of many current debates on digitalization and its impact on society. Thus, the goal is to use anthropological approaches to the study of digital phenomena.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course students will be able to:

• Identify key theoretical frameworks and important debates in digital anthropology
• Apply anthropological approaches to study digital phenomena and their societal impacts as well as to digital technologies and practices
• Analyze the ways that digital experiences can differ across social, cultural, and political contexts
• Reflect on how digital technologies and practices are changing anthropological
• research
• Employ the methods of digital anthropology to organize, conduct, and analyze research

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # HUSS 3082

Credits 0

Course description

The purpose of physical education is to strengthen health and develop the physical and mental abilities of students. Physical exercises and sports games are the way to a powerful and functional body, clear mind and strong spirit. The course is both practical and theoretical, it covers basic concepts of anatomy and physiology as well as health and safety requirements.  

Course learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students should 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 programme 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

Course Assessments and Grading

The course will be graded with PASS/FAIL.

Course # COOP 3001

Credits 2