Required Courses

MCS 501 Introduction to Media and Communication Theory (3-0)3
MCS 500 Prothesis Seminar NC
MCS 589 Term Project (Non-thesis) NC
MCS 599 Master's Thesis (thesis) NC

Core Courses

MCS 503 Sociology of Journalism (3-0)3
MCS 504 Texts,Contexts and Readers (3-0)3
MCS 505 Communications Policy in Turkey (3-0)3
MCS 506 Ethical Issues in Journalism (3-0)3
MCS 508 New Trends In Broadcasting (3-0)3
MCS 509 Cinema Studies (3-0)3
MCS 512 Media and Politics (3-0)3
MCS 513 Documentary Genres (3-0)3

MCS 516 Digital Media Theory ((3-0)3
MCS 514 Visual Thinking II (3-0)3
ADM 517 Issues In Cultural History (3-0)3
ADM 534 Media and Society (3-0)3
ADM 570 Political Economy of Communication (3-0)3

SOC 516 Gender, Media and Cultural Representation (3-0)3
PHIL 517 Philosophy of Communication I (3-0)3
PHIL 518 Philosophy of Communication II (3-0)3
STPS 505 Knowledge,Science and Technology In the
Information Age (3-0)3/

STPS 542 Art, Technology and Visual Culture(3-0)
THEA 643- 451- 452 Int. to Video Production (2-2)3
MCS 800-899 Special Studies NC

DESCRIPTION OF COURSES *

MCS 501 Introduction to Media and Communications Theory
(3-0)3
As an introduction to theories of media and communications this course aims to offer to students a critical exposition of the explanatory frameworks provided by a range of different perspective. On the basis of an historical introduction it focuses on the theoretical contributions of major schools (namely, political economy, critical theory, structural and post structural approaches and cultural studies). The course aims a systematic expositions of the key concepts of each approach placed in its historical context and offers a critical and comparative perspective to assess the strengths and weakness of each theoretical framework.

MCS 503 Sociology of Journalism (3-0)3
The object of this course is to examine the profession of journalism in its relations to other socio-economic and political actors. The birth of journalism in an historical context and the relationship between the grand sociological theories and media theories will be studied. The relationship between media atmosphere (which consists of the level of democratic development, characteristics of state and government in a given country), nature of the media ownership and civil society, and the practice of journalism will be discussed. It will be argued that media are a constitutive element in the power structure of societies. Professional unions and existence of a professional ideology among journalists will be two major topics. Journalists' role in reproducing the dominant ideas and values will be discussed. The course also aims to develop a sociological model to understand the functioning of the media.

MCS 504 Texts, Contexts and Readers (3-0)3
The aim of this course is to construct a theoretical perspective for the analysis of media texts. For this purpose, theoretical approaches of Barthes, Bakhtin, Volosinov, Hodge, Kress, Fowler, van Dijk will be read and their methodologies will be disscussed. The course will focus on language and representation, social construction of media narratives, semiotic structure of different media, reading and signification, with a special emphasis on culture and power. Different media genres including news, TV series, serials, continuous serials, talk shows, reality shows, advertisements etc. will be analysed focusing on their narrative and semiotic characteristics.

MCS 505 Communications Policy in Turkey (3-0)3
Recent years have tremendous changes to both broadcasting and telecommunications structures across the word. Turkey was not an exception. These changes have usually been attributed to technological developments by the business and governments while changing political strategies towards technological and broadcasting issues are almost ignored. This course will examine these strategies, such as privatization and deregulation with "new communications and information technologies" and stress their convergence. Following a theoretical assessment of the policy implications of the twin processes of technological developments and privatization/deregulation in Turkey, the course will explore history of communications regulation in Turkey and discuss policy issues and tensions in the formulation of policy.

MCS 506 Ethical Issues in Journalism (3-0)3
The course examines the key ethical issues confronting media professionals, journalists. 'What are the critical ethical considerations to which journalists need to be sensitive during the practice of reporting?' is the major question of the course. Topics to be covered include: What is ethics and professional ethics? Is there an ethics for journalists? Are un-ethical practices due to personal or structural reasons? What is the relationship between media and democracy? Ethical dimensions of infotainment. Ethical dilemmas in war and election reporting. Privacy, sexism, plagiarism and reporting on minorities. Ethical responsibilities in medical reports. Duty-based ethics versus virtue based ethics. Rights and responsibilities of journalists. Codes of conduct in different countries. Emerging ethical concerns in the new electronic media, etc. The course will emphasize discussion, debate and analysis of specific concrete cases from the international and Turkish practice of journalism.

MCS 508 New Trends In Broadcasting (3-0)3
Recent changes in the structures of the media organizations together with the newly developed technology has also brought important changes to the content of the broadcasting journalism. This course will aim top give students a critical understanding of these new broadcasting trends practiced today in media industry.

MCS 509 Cinema Studies (3-0)3
Cinema Studies is a broad field that takes as its subject matter the interdisciplinary study of various aspects of the institution of cinema. Cinema Studies encompasses the studies of the modes of production and distribution of films on the one side, and the various loci and nature of the viewing experience on the other. The two sides of this process are intermediated by the interference of social, political, and cultural factors that make history, of which the films produce a certain specific representation. In addition, this course will selectively focus on at least one period, one national cinema, one genre, one auteur and one film theory.

MCS 510 Thinking Through Images (3-0)3
The course will be concerned in the appropriation of the "audio-visual" world: the end of the classical attitudes towards imagination and dominance of the "audio-visual" in the modern world, in culture, education and politics, up to the birth of television. Imagination now is a requirement to go beyond the world of images, a socio-political faculty, which has to be evolved critically. Such a valorization of the faculty to imagine is not the way in which the media today are organized and the mainstream cinema is practiced. The course will be a critique of images and clichés, which are constantly bombarding the actual human beings.

MCS 512 Media and Politics (3-0)3
The objective is to take an in-depth look at the relationship between media, the political system, and the public at large.

MCS 513 Documentary Genres (3-0)3
This course is designed to explore the various forms and the styles of documentary film/video. In this course the historical development of the documentary will be discussed. The main concern will be on identifying and exploring major directions documentary has taken. During the course the critical issues that arise along the way will be analyzed. The emphasis in class sessions will be on viewing. A tight and extensive schedule of screenings will be established. The goal is to view as much as possible. Students will be expected to be involved, in researching areas of interest outside of the class. For the most part, class sessions will be devoted to watching documentaries as well as lectures about documentaries.

MCS 514 Visual Thinking II (3-0)3
The theme of this course is to develop the perception and the visual experience of the students through making a videographic iconography of Ankara, supposedly the actual city in which they live. There will be a collective exercise of video-action, oriented towards the re-constitution of this urban iconography, which we believe is also part of the generalized popular imagination and televisual experience. Ankara would probably be the first step to such a project, which can be formally expanded to other urban spaces, since it is a newly established, republican city with rich symbolic and iconographic spatio-temporal details.