Film & Media Studies

This course examines representative works of Japanese cinema. It explores the wonders of cinematic form and how it can communicate fundamental aspects about Japanese culture and society as well as the human condition. The course introduces the basics of film analysis, giving students critical-thinking skills that enable them both to see how Japanese cinema engages with world cinema and to understand how Japan—especially after the post-war—becomes a hub for myriad cultural flows. Each lesson begins by referring to various academic readings and showing movie clips, if necessary, to serve as the basis for in-class discussions.

This course covers historical and thematic aspects of the ‘media technologies and culture’, by raising some significant questions along with three modules: (1) media ontology; (2) media epistemology; and (3) media axiology.  

Module 1 : Media ontology (Lecture 1-3) The first three lectures on the existential forms of the media technologies in history will cover : the days of printing technology and mass media inaugurated by Johannes Gutenberg since the 15th century ; those of the second media age suggested by Mark Poster in the late 20th century ; the recent interpretations of World Wide Web and A4AI(Alliance for Affordable Internet) initiated by Tim Berners-Lee.  

Module 2 : Media epistemology (Lecture 4-6) The following lectures are about how the media technologies could be comprehended and interpreted in conjunction with the societal and cultural transformations : how the new media technologies enact the human digital networks ; enable the digital technology-based knowledge system to solidate the social rules and cultural norms ; and empower the diverse, digitally-networked institutions and groups of the society.  

Module 3: Media axiology (Lecture 7-12) The focus of the next six lectures is upon what should and could be done with the present and future media technologies for sustainable human society and culture.  Discussions on the traditions of dominant political philosophies in the age of media and social communication technologies, which are  liberalism and communitarianism, are followed by specific case studies on the  location of human agency besieged by social and institutional structure, geopolitics of transnational media and communication industries, intersectional convergence of news and data industries, and by the society’s post-truth and post-human transformations. 

The course introduces students to the life and novels of Jane Austen and explores how her work has been adapted in Hollywood. Students examine the relationship between source texts and their adaptations, and analyze genre, form, and thematic concerns like feminism and class.

This course familiarizes students with the kindred relationships between film and literature as well as their essential mediumistic differences such as film and the novel, film and drama/theatre, film and poetry, etc. Their similar or different uses of time and space, and problems of adaptation are discussed in some works which have both filmic and literary versions. Examples include examining the enduring lives and afterlives of the cyborg, the alien, the undead, and the living dead, and consider why they matter. Staging thought experiments where opposites thrive and converge, the course explores how imaginative fiction challenges and destabilizes the boundaries between the human and the non-human, self and other, and life and death. 

This course examines representaions of American society through popular Hollywood films. Issues we examine include race, gender, class, sexuality and (dis)abilities. These films show customs, traditions, values and institutions in American society. They also depict cross-cultural dilemmas that people from different background face. In this way, the class aims to develop students' understanding of and sensitivity to the influence of culture on communication in different social settings.

This is a production-based course with an emphasis on hands-on learning. The course provides students with intensive training on digital storytelling techniques from cinematography, lighting to sound recording. Going through different stages of video-making from preproduction, production to postproduction, students are abel to understand the aesthetic reasoning behind visual production. They learn how to communicate and tell a story via visual images.

This course explores the intersection of Digital Media, Design Thinking, and AI, guiding students to transform creative ideas into meaningful and impactful applications. It first builds a strong foundation in digital media ecosystems and business models, then dives into the core design thinking abilities of Noticing, Sensemaking, and Experimenting. Students learn to integrate AI tools into the design thinking process — for ideation, synthesis, and rapid prototyping (no coding required) — bringing ideas to life faster and smarter. This course emphasizes applying core design thinking abilities to real-world challenges in the digital media world. The course includes reflection journals, hands-on workshops, and a final project where students design, test, and pitch their own Digital Media Design and Application Project, demonstrating how design thinking and AI can shape new possibilities in digital media.

This course focuses on the surprisingly long history of facts and truths in the public sphere. Study how politicians and philosophers devised ways to counter populism without touching the vital democratic principles of freedom of speech or the right to vote.  In this course, conduct a research project that explores the intricate relationship between press (media) and politics through analyzing the power of rumor, researching how representative political systems in the past have tried to avert the dangers of fake news and information, and researching news media in all ages in digitized collections across the globe or in the physical archives in The Netherlands. The course answers questions such as what is public opinion? Where and when does it take shape? If freedom of speech is a necessary condition for representative democratic systems, does it automatically breed populism? Did people in the past assess the information that they had to base their political opinions on differently than we do today? The course has entry requirements. 

The course focuses on two major themes, namely media and social development in Mainland China since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. Using key concepts and theories from the political economy of media and developmental communication studies, it introduces students to different periods of media reform and social change from the era of Chairman Mao to the period of "harmonious society". Emphasis is attached to post-1989 media regulatory systems, media industrialization, and their influence on the meeting of such developmental goals as poverty alleviation, democratization, and communication empowerment. The course examines Mainland China's key media sectors including the printing press (newspapers and magazines), film and broadcasting media (radio and TV), and new networked communication tools (Internet and mobile phone) as well as alternative social formations through Internet activism, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and transnational developmental projects. The course identifies and discusses several ongoing debates, and the ensuing actions, held by different stakeholders, including governmental officials, media producers, educators, activists, international agencies, and the general audiences. Wider implications to public policy are identified. The course includes discussions of current affairs related to media and social development in the country. It describes the key characteristics of contemporary Mainland Chinese media and their roles in facilitating or obstructing development towards the ideals of a "new China".