MDS 4615-01 - THE INTERVIEW

Academic Period:

Fall 2025

Section:

Title:

THE INTERVIEW

Meeting Patterns:

Tue/Thu | 9:45 - 11:15

Locations:

Babson Hall 305 Can be several values or empty

Start Date:

Tuesday, August 26, 2025 Date format can be changed

End Date:

Friday, December 12, 2025 Date format can be changed

Instructor Name:

Stephen McElroy

Instructor Email:

smcelroy@babson.edu

Academic Unit:

A&H - Arts and Humanities

Academic Level:

Undergraduate

Maximum Credits:

4

Delivery Mode:

In-Person

Allowed Grading Bases:

Graded

Section Status:

Waitlist

Enrollment Count:

20

Section Capacity:

20

Description:

MDS4615 The Interview 4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits To interview means literally to see (view) each other (inter). As media from paintings to pixels have emerged and proliferated over the past decades & centuries, so too have the means by which we see/read/hear one another, giving rise to a whole range of transmedia interview genres: news interviews, celebrity interviews, athlete interviews, political interviews, press conferences, podcasts, talk shows, and storytelling interview methods like documentaries, mockumentaries, reality TV, etc. These stand shoulder-to-shoulder with more time-test interview genres, like surveys, polls, focus groups, job interviews, police interviews, court testimony, and so on. In this class, which merges media studies, genre studies, and professional communication, we will uncover what is essential to each of these interview genres and to them all by experiencing the many roles of the ‘interverse:’ we will participate as observers--readers, watchers, listeners--but also meanwhile as doers—interviewers, interviewees, microphone positioners, camera operators, stenographers, question designers, video editors, and so on. What we will find is that a conversation always involves more than speaking & listening, and that seeing and being seen often create pathways to new futures. Prerequisite: Any combination of 2 Intermediate Liberal Arts Courses (HSS, LTA, CSP)

HTML Description:

MDS4615 The Interview

4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

To interview means literally to see (view) each other (inter). As media from paintings to pixels have emerged and proliferated over the past decades & centuries, so too have the means by which we see/read/hear one another, giving rise to a whole range of transmedia interview genres: news interviews, celebrity interviews, athlete interviews, political interviews, press conferences, podcasts, talk shows, and storytelling interview methods like documentaries, mockumentaries, reality TV, etc. These stand shoulder-to-shoulder with more time-test interview genres, like surveys, polls, focus groups, job interviews, police interviews, court testimony, and so on. In this class, which merges media studies, genre studies, and professional communication, we will uncover what is essential to each of these interview genres and to them all by experiencing the many roles of the ‘interverse:’ we will participate as observers--readers, watchers, listeners--but also meanwhile as doers—interviewers, interviewees, microphone positioners, camera operators, stenographers, question designers, video editors, and so on. What we will find is that a conversation always involves more than speaking & listening, and that seeing and being seen often create pathways to new futures.

Prerequisite: Any combination of 2 Intermediate Liberal Arts Courses (HSS, LTA, CSP)

Format:

In-Person Can be several values or empty

Session:

Full Session Can be several values or empty

Elective:

Advanced Elective (UGrad) Can be several values or empty

Program:

Advanced Liberal Arts (UGrad) Can be several values or empty