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Certificate in Digital Media Literacy

Enhance Your Media Literacy at Boise State University

The Certificate in Digital Media Literacy is designed for all students who want to enhance their media literacy and gain knowledge and skills that are vital to navigating the complex problems of the 21st century. Students explore media products and practices and their influence on American life. Students will have opportunities to engage with local organizations to conduct media literacy outreach and help support community information needs.

What We Do
• Analyze the accuracy and authenticity of media messages and products
• Examine the news and information landscape and the influence of media representations
• Explore the connections between media, culture, society, and democracy
• Develop critical thinking and communication skills valuable for any career path

Our world today can only be understood with access to complete and accurate information and knowledge. In this program, students will learn to assess the accuracy and completeness of news and information, and to examine gaps between media representations and reality. Students gain a holistic understanding of media production, distribution, and consumption with attention to the social and cultural forces that influence media products and practices.

In addition to studying the structural and institutional factors that shape the media environment, students will also learn about and raise awareness of the relationships between media, technology, economics, politics, policy, and power through an interdisciplinary lens drawing on sociology, psychology, political science, and other relevant fields. Students develop lifelong media literacy skills, research skills, and practical communication skills, and learn to engage in civic life and democratic society.

How it Works

Take these two required classes:

COMM 211 Media Literacy in the Digital Age (3)
COMM 311 Digital Communication Lab (3)

And choose two of the following:

COMM 335 Media Evolution and Social Change (3)
COMM 411 The Information Society (3)
COMM 415 Communication Law and Policy (3)
COMM 418 Media, Power, and Politics (3)

View the program requirements and course descriptions in the Boise State Academic Catalog.

Questions? Contact Dr. Seth Ashley, Digital Media Literacy Certificate Coordinator, at sethashley@boisestate.edu.

Course Descriptions

COMM211 Media Literacy in the Digital Age (3-0-3)(F/S). Introduction to the analysis of media messages and products as well as the social and cultural contexts where they are produced and consumed. Examines the news and information landscape, the influence of media representations, and the relationship between media system structures and democratic society. 

COMM311 Digital Communication Lab (3-0-3)(F,S). Builds media literacy skills by gaining an inside perspective on information production and distribution in a workshop environment. Examines the information needs of the community to create and analyze content that can serve and engage diverse audiences. Offers an opportunity to experience hands-on information gathering and media creation with a focus on the study of mediated representations of public affairs and social issues. Student work can be published in a variety of campus and community outlets. PREREQ: upper-division or higher.

COMM335 Media Evolution and Social Change (3-0-3)(F). Explores the political and economic factors that have shaped the evolution of the U.S. mass media system, how groups and movements have used mass media to advocate for social change, and the consequences of this history for the digital age. Examines how the relationship between mass media and the democratic system evolved during moments of political crises and debates over social issues, and how media production and content changed in response to economic, technological, and demographic developments. PREREQ: Upper-division standing.

COMM411 The Information Society (3-0-3)(S). Examines how people assess, use, create, and disseminate information in the digital age and the implications for political, economic, and social life. Students will explore how the integration of various communication technologies into daily life have increased the amount of information and misinformation people encounter as well as the impact that information has on how people live, work, learn, and interact; how they understand themselves and others; and how they participate in the democratic process. PREREQ: Upper-division standing.

COMM415 Communication Law and Policy (3-0-3)(S). Surveys the laws and policies that govern free expression in the United States with a focus on the influence of government regulation on communication practices and products. Discussion and debate of the merits and flaws of existing communication policy for consideration of possibilities and potential for structural reforms. Allows understanding of the historical and social contexts that affect the development of law and policy, and supports recognition of different philosophies and approaches to free expression. PREREQ:Upper-division standing.

COMM418 Media, Power, and Politics (3-0-3)(F). This seminar explores the role of media in politics, governance and citizenship, with emphasis on power relationships in the US media system. Students examine the individual and institutional relationships that control and influence media coverage of politics, campaigns, elections and policymaking, and examine the impact of digital technology and the internet on participatory democracy. The course is designed to provide access to a range of literature that will complement other coursework and help students develop their own original research and creative work. PREREQ:Upper-division standing.