Current Courses
Emerson College
Communication, media, & society
B.S. Marketing Communication Program
This course is designed to help students develop an informed and critical understanding of the dynamic relationships between communication, media, society, culture, and identity. The course is designed to help students develop greater media literacy and a heightened awareness of the significant ways that newly emerging media and marketing communication continuously shape our daily lives, our cultures, our societies, and our environment.
We look deep into our roots to understand how human language and communication are integral parts of what make us social beings, and the various ways that media respond to and influence our constant desire to connect with one another. We will explore social, communication, and linguistic anthropology theories through multiple media formats and channels.
We practice applying these foundational concepts and theories to the world of marketing communications via active debate, class discussions, and engaging course activities and assignments in order to help students develop a greater sense of responsibility in terms of the consumption and creation of media and marketing content. Students should leave the course with a deeper understanding of the ways that our lives are intricately with one another and to the evolution of media, marketing, and communication.
Global Cultures: Applied Anthropology, Sociology
M.A. Strategic Marketing Communication Program
This course offers an exploration of global cultures and the various relationships that culture has with marketing, business, politics, religion, the environment, climate, health, language, race, gender, money, and even love. We will dive into questions like those above in order to expand our understanding of what it means to be human, and what it means to be part of particular social worlds.
The course is roughly divided into three main pillars that students apply to the creation and planning of marketing communication: exposure to cultural difference – in all of its varieties; interpreting the processes of cultural homogenization, heterogenization, and the impact on global and local value systems; and learning how to recognize, account for, and respect cultural difference while simultaneously being cognizant of the universal aspects of humanity.
Human-Centric Marketing & Social Responsibility
M.A. Marketing Program
Social and mobile media are among the most dynamic marketing channels, full of great opportunity, but also full of risk. Marketers are constantly challenged to keep up with the hottest social media trends and the latest new ways to communicate on-the-go, which may be obsolete in no time. These markets evolve so quickly that we rarely have the time to pause and reflect on just what it is that makes social and mobile media channels so important in contemporary societies and what might make one outlet more sustainable than another. But what if we did? What would we learn about marketing effectiveness and efficiency if we took the time to better understand the “social” in social media, the “why” of mobile media, and the cultural foundations these ever-evolving media channels?
Students are encouraged to take seriously the interdependent relationships between marketing, media channels, societies, and cultures in order to think beyond the immediate marketing challenges of today. Instead, this course encourages an orientation toward long-term, purpose-driven goals beyond the bottom line of any given marketing campaign as well as one that embraces social-positive, future-forward marketing strategies.
This course is designed to provide a critical approach to social and mobile marketing that begins with social scientific grounded understandings of the origins, histories, and evolution of social and mobile media. The course provides you with the tools to develop smart, responsible, and holistic social and mobile media marketing campaigns that add value to, and fit coherently into, broader strategic marketing plans.
The Responsibility Ladder: People, power & policy
M.A. Business of Creative Enterprises Program
This course explores the dynamics of the current wave of social and environmental responsibility movements that are increasingly influencing the corporate and consumer landscape. We will consider the various rungs of the responsibility ladder, including both internal and external stakeholders, as they relate to these dynamics. In doing so, we’ll draw upon social science theories of human nature, culture, ethics, societies, organizational behavior, and social change.
We apply these theories as we examine recent technological, social, policy, and environmental changes as well as corporate responses to these changes in a variety of contexts around the world. For example, how have corporate cultures and policies evolved in regards to sustainability, transparency, social justice, parental leave, childcare support, health care, work flexibility? How have companies evolved in terms of hiring and sustaining more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplaces? How is innovation and technology being redefined and transformed by local cultures around the world? Furthermore, weconsider our personal and professional relationships with these domains, as well as with our fellow global citizens and consumers. Throughout the semester, students complete a project series researching industry-specific issues related to environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and corporate culture/workplaces providing students with the knowledge and skills to affect positive change within and across a variety of creative industries.
Previous Courses
Religion & secularism in contemporary societies
Islamic Ways of Life
Islam in the World
What Students Are Saying
“Carol brought a really strong energy to each class and did her best to make each student feel respected and valued. As a result, the learning environment was collaborative and inclusive.”
— anonymous student, course evaluations Spring 2021
“I think this class went above and beyond its learning goals. Not only did this course provide knowledge on the origins, history, and principles of Islam and discuss the lives and culture of Muslims around the world today, it provided an eye-opening perspective on a topic that is often misunderstood, including ways in which we can make steps to a better, more accurate interpretation of Islam in the media. I am walking away from this class with an educated perspective on Islam and the ability to correct and dispute misinformation, and it was one of the most insightful and useful classes I have taken at Emerson.”
— anonymous student, course evaluations Fall 2017
“If we are going to be responsible marketers, journalists, writers, and filmmakers, we need faculty like Carol and courses like this one to connect with the students ... The rest of us need to be challenged to look at issues in different ways, and approach our work from an ethical standpoint. Our work will be stronger and more influential as a result of our education.”
— anonymous graduate student, course evaluations Summer 2019
“This course had a very diverse selection of reading assignments. They allowed me to look at marketing from perspectives that I had never considered before. I also was very appreciative of how Professor Ferrara conducted midpoint evaluations and adjusted the intensity of the readings. It showed that she was compassionate and truly cared about her students success within the course.
— anonymous graduate student, course evaluations Fall 2020