Entrepreneurship and New Media

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores how communication functions as a strategic resource in entrepreneurial environments shaped by digital media. Examines how ventures mobilize economic, social, cultural and/or symbolic capital through branding, networking, design and storytelling. Introduces foundational theories of free market entrepreneurship culture to analyze how new media can affect barriers to entry and existing inequalities. Considers entrepreneurship as a communicative process of positioning, persuasion, collaboration and identity-building. Course projects involve developing mock enterprises that utilize multiple aspects of digital marketing, such as social media, photography, videography and web design. Course material may include discussion of prominent entrepreneurs, companies, disruptive technologies, strategic foresight and/or contested business practices. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Enhances entrepreneurial insight with practical communication strategies, demonstrating how the same media practices apply in both startup initiatives and established organizational environments. Builds marketable competencies in branding, messaging, audience analysis, collaboration and digital production, which are relevant to careers in marketing, public communication, content development, nonprofit advocacy and independent media ventures. Supports academic preparation for advanced study in communication, media studies, business, design or innovation fields. Strengthens professional and career preparation by illuminating how digital platforms structure access, influence and/or participation in public discourse. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Clarifies entrepreneurial models and highlights the interplay between economic opportunity and cultural participation. Examines how entrepreneurial success relies on the interplay between social networks, design decisions and public perception as much as financial capital. Illuminates collaborative entrepreneurial possibilities and clarifies how digital visibility can democratize as well as reinforce hierarchy. Considers how entrepreneurial narratives, whether inspirational or cautionary, can reflect broader assumptions about risk, merit, innovation and/or matters of equality. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include study of branding and identity-building across digital platforms; analysis of audience engagement strategies, crowdfunding models and influencer economies; exploration of social capital, cultural capital and symbolic capital as resources in entrepreneurial communication; consideration of collaborative media production and co-creation practices. Course material may reference past real-world ventures, ranging from grassroots movements to commercial startups, including examples involving economic disparity, controversial branding and/or public media backlash. Prerequisites: Grade of C or better in COMM 275/JOUR 275 or JOUR 275/COMM 275 ; junior or senior classification or approval of instructor.