Introduces changing images of race and ethnicity in U.S. entertainment media and popular culture, emphasizing critical and cultural studies approaches.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026 Explore prerequisite map →
Browse all Communication Arts courses →
The department at a glance
All recorded grades average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
How grades break down
Grades over time
Red: department · Gray: UW–Madison
About these statistics
GPA and percentages are weighted by recorded letter grades. UW comparisons use the same terms. Cross-listed courses count once within this department and once across UW; department totals should not be added together. Grade counts are not unique students. Offering counts reflect captured records, not a complete historical schedule.
Spring 2027
Recorded this termcourses with offerings
instructors recorded
Grades have not been recorded for this term. Historical results remain in the overview above.
Across course levels
Recorded this termNo released grades for this term.
Recorded offerings over time
Find your next class
61 courses
Introduction to Speech Composition develops written and spoken communication skills through hands-on study of audience-centered public speaking.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Kenneth Lythgoe
The class involved four speeches and significant busy work, with students describing the writing process as brutal.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to Digital Media Production teaches skills to produce, engage with, and understand emerging technologies for communication and creative expression, fostering critical consumption and production of digital media.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Eric Hoyt
Students reported that exams and assignments were fair. One student noted that even harder concepts like coding were made enjoyable and accessible through the instruction.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026COMARTS 198
Directed Study
1–3 creditsElementary level directed study project(s) under supervision of faculty member, graded on a credit/no credit basis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
COMARTS 199
Directed Study
1–3 creditsElementary level directed study project(s) under supervision of a faculty member, graded on a lettered basis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Introduction to digital communication covering its impact on daily life, development of digital skills, exploration of media tools/trends, and analysis of online power dynamics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Ailea Merriam-Pigg
One reviewer said lectures were mandatory with attendance questions, but paying attention was not required.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Examines reboots, remakes, and retellings across film, TV, literature, games, and digital media to analyze narrative persistence, cultural significance, and artistic style.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Introduction to Contemporary Media covers key concepts for critical analysis of television, film, radio, and digital media, focusing on meanings, aesthetics, technology, industries, representations, and audiences.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Lori Lopez
The course is writing-heavy and multi-dimensional, which can be challenging if you dislike writing or social politics. Paper prompts are tough to work through, but tests were described as fair with mostly short-answer questions.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Communication and Human Behavior covers communication inquiry, face-to-face interaction dynamics, and the pragmatic and artistic functions of public communication.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Lillie Williamson
The workload included four major writing assignments, biweekly module quizzes, and weekly lecture-based case studies, with most components completed online.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026COMARTS 262
Argumentation and Debate
3 creditsArgumentation and Debate course focusing on constructing and evaluating arguments in democratic societies, discussing differences, and examining advocate/audience roles.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Karma Chavez
The course required four 500-word papers and regular reading, with one student noting it was not too hard if you kept up.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to interpersonal communication covering concepts, theories, and research across relationship phases with theoretical and practical applications.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Catalina Toma
The final research paper carried significant weight, worth 15% of the grade, with a revision component worth another 10%. Lectures and quizzes were described as primarily memorization-based tasks.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026COMARTS 298
Directed Study
1–3 creditsDirected Study is an intermediate-level project under faculty direction, involving independent reading, production, or research, graded on a credit/no credit basis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
COMARTS 299
Directed Study
1–3 creditsDirected Study: intermediate-level project under faculty direction, such as independent reading with research paper, production project, or membership in a research team.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
COMARTS 300
Film Comedy
3 creditsFilm Comedy explores the comedy genre by examining theories of humor in film, introducing conceptual tools for critical appreciation, and investigating subgenres across popular film traditions.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Megan Boyd
Students completed reading assignments as homework during Megan Boyd's instruction.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026Explore various topics in rhetoric, politics, and culture. Students explain the role of a rhetorical perspective in interpreting emerging topic areas.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Explore various topics in film and media studies, history, and theory.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Ben Singer
Course definitions were described as confusing due to complex vocabulary, though grasping the general ideas was manageable.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026The Rhetoric of Reproductive Justice studies US reproductive justice activism, legal bases for rights, and Supreme Court decisions on birth control and abortion.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
COMARTS 317
Rhetoric and Health
3 creditsRhetoric and Health investigates how health is rhetorically constructed and deployed across various contexts.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Explores the landscape of communication technologies with a focus on generative AI, discussing its role in communication contexts and examining its transformative effects on individual, social, and professional lives.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2025–Spring 2026Examines how personal relationships unfold in online communication contexts including social network sites, online dating, and mobile computing. Covers impression management, deception, trust, identity, and social support.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Critical Internet Studies traces the Internet's history, reception, audience, industries, rhetorics, fictional and filmic narratives, and its role in transmitting culture.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Austin Morris
A past student noted a significant reading load, stating there was a ridiculous number of readings for tests.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025COMARTS 350
Introduction to Film
3 creditsIntroduction to Film explains how films work using classics like Citizen Kane and Vertigo. It covers major film types, film criticism approaches, and techniques like mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and sound.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Kelley Conway
Assessment relied on multiple choice exams that tested subjective material, which one student found frustrating and difficult.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026COMARTS 351
Television Industries
3 creditsA critical overview of U.S. television cultural industries, covering broadcast to streaming, with focus on economic/regulatory structures, programming, labor, and digital adaptation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026A hands-on introduction to creating film, video, and television content from script to screen, covering media production principles and visual storytelling approaches.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Craig Erpelding
The final exam covered only lecture material, and the student reported that attending lecture and paying attention was sufficient to achieve a good score without the textbook.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores fact/fiction in documentary film, analyzing experimental techniques and filmmakers’ portrayals of reality.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Fall 2024 · limited sampleIntroduction to rhetoric in politics and culture, exploring the interrelationship of theory, criticism, and practice as a social force emerging from political and cultural contexts.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2025Analyze the persuasive communication of demagogues, dictators, and extremists across various media to understand how they exploit uncertainty and gain power.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Study social influence and persuasion to improve skills, reduce audience resistance, and critically consume messages in contexts like influencers and marketing.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Lyn Van Swol
The workload included three tests, a few group projects, a final paper, and not too much work outside of class.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores communication science and rhetoric with a digital focus, analyzing digital media through historical, technical, cultural, social, or political lenses.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Sebastian Scherr
The final exam accounted for 45% of the grade, and students reported that the instructor did not allow alternate formats for this assessment.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026COMARTS 459
New Media and Society
3 creditsNew Media and Society explores political, economic and cultural relationships between new media of communication and society, including history, race, gender, class, globalization, national identity and everyday life.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2025–Spring 2026 · limited sample