Virtual Communication and Expressive Technology

Catalog description

This course applies theories of oral communication and creative expression by examining the impacts of virtual communication technologies on the development of human societies and individual identities. Computer-mediated and other virtual communication environments are critically evaluated through the development and delivery of oral/live presentations, including informative and persuasive speeches. The rise of individual creative expression through virtual media (e.g., digital storytelling tools used across social media, animated camera filters, interactive and immersive videogaming, etc.) is analyzed in relation to historic technological advancements overlapping with radical changes in society. From social media features to immersive extended reality (XR) technologies, diverse and imaginative examples of expressive digital production and consumption are critiqued in the contexts of popular- and counter-culture, global and civic life, and free and creative expression. (CSU, AVC)