Course Syllabus

Spring 2023 | COM-1180-VM01 - Storytelling through Media

In Person Class

Standard courses meet in person at CCV centers, typically once each week for the duration of the semester.

Faculty

Stephen Joyce
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Jennifer Gundy

Course Description

This course investigates the essence and power of storytelling, revealing how narrative can be effectively applied in a range of contexts and across multiple media platforms to achieve specific goals for businesses and organizations. Students explore the opportunities and perils of storytelling with regard to audience engagement, branding and successful marketing, and apply their learning to demonstrate proficiency in developing their own stories and selecting appropriate media technology and delivery strategies to convey these.

Essential Objectives

1. Define storytelling in the context of business and creative development and discuss the role and significance of storytelling through media in today’s world.
2. Discuss how storytelling strategies and concepts can be applied to various communications projects and delivered through media channels in the marketing and development of various entities, including businesses, nonprofit organizations, agencies, and political or social campaigns.
3. Examine the significance of traditional storytelling in human experience and explain how people respond to and connect with spoken, visual, and written messages.
4. Analyze principles pertaining to the branding of a product or service and the function storytelling plays in developing a consistent message or image that expresses the essence of an entity, resonates emotionally with a targeted audience’s needs and wants, and stimulates development and growth.
5. Evaluate effective and ineffective stories currently used in marketing and promotions and discuss how the stories themselves and the communication strategies behind them inspire or fail to elicit the desired response from targeted audiences.
6. Create succinct and cohesive stories applying various elements, such as language, tone, style, pace, metaphor and images to efficiently convey desired messages to select audiences.
7. Utilize storyboards in the creation process to determine the parameters of the story within available time and resources; to sketch out the various elements, such as video, still photos, audio, graphics, and text; and to ensure cohesiveness and interactivity.
8. Demonstrate proficiency in utilizing a variety of traditional and new media technology and in determining which media are most appropriate for delivering specific messages and engaging targeted audiences.
9. Discuss the social and ethical responsibilities of the storyteller in balancing the perspective of a business or organization with the public’s expectation of accuracy.
10. Prepare a formal presentation that demonstrates proficiency using the CCV Oral Communication Rubric.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

This class will not be lecture-based, but rather it will be heavily participatory. Your participation will take the form of activities such as: 3) dicussions of reading materials, 2) hands-on creation of work product such as story boards, memes, and GIFs, 3) the presentation of your homework, and 4) leading discussions as a student. To the extent that you will receive lectures, they will take place online.

Evaluation Criteria

Category																															% of Overall Grade
Perusall Annotations (annotating readings to show that you read them)																															10
30-Second Video Commercial																															10
Class Participation																															10
Videos																															10
Big Idea Video Response Papers																															10
Story Board																															10
Memes, GIFs, Instagram Posts, Twitter Posts, Facebook Posts																															10
1000-Word Autobiography																															5
Autobiographical Video																															5
500-word Biography of a Real Company or Product																															5
500-word Biography of Your Imaginary Company or Product																															5
PowerPoint Presentation of Your Story Board																															5
Color Magazine Advertisement for Your Product																															5

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

This course demands more than usual amounts of self-management, persistence, and self-motivation.Researching and recording stories, working on story presentation, writing in your journals, and working with each other will take time, so your best approach is to work steadily throughout the term rather than leave things until the last minute.

I want you to be “selfless discussants,” willing to put yourself forward to ask questions, propose answers, and provide feedback as needed. Forget yourself. Forget what others might think. In other words, I want you stop being self-conscious during our discussions. Keep it in mind that if one person has a question or needs clarification, many others also wonder. Try to be brave and bold, be that person who asks the question while the other students fall silent. There are no penalties for asking questions. In fact, it will boost your participation grade to ask these types of clarifying questions.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity