Arts and Media/Mass Communication and Media Arts | 2026-2027 Academic Catalog | SIU

Colloquium-based course wherein students will learn how SIUC faculty think about and use Artificial Intelligence in their teaching and research. The invited professors will focus on the various dimensions of the revolution in computational technologies as they pertain to academic disciplines in the College of Arts and Media. The course uses academic methods (such as critical and cultural studies) to interrogate various art generators, from text (such as ChatGPT), to image (i.e., Dall-e 2, Craiyon), to music (such as Suno), and beyond. Guided by a vast array of SIUC?s most talented faculty members, students will learn how to think beyond the limitations of academic disciplines, ranging across the arts, sciences, and humanities.

(University Core Curriculum) The course will introduce students to the many roles media have in everyday lives, and their influence on individuals and societies. It will provide skills to critically analyze various contents offered by media (e.g., news, advertising, video games, facebook pages)-in all its forms: television, radio, print, internet, and mobile media; and an understanding of the institutions that produce these media and their economic and political interests. In this course we will ask ourselves: what does an educated person need to know about media today in order to take full advantage of everything they are offering us, and yet guard against potential negative influences?

(University Core Curriculum) The freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment have resulted in a multitude of alternatives to the establishment media. These alternative media give voice to a range of communities ignored or suppressed by the dominant culture. Publications, alternative art spaces, film, radio and television messages and the groups and individuals who create them are examined.

Supervised research, project, or creative work. The area of study is proposed by the student with the approval of a Mass Communication and Media Arts faculty member. Not for graduate credit. Special approval needed from the instructor.