Undergraduate Courses
Summer 2026
FOR CLASS DETAILS, INCLUDING TIMES, CLICK ON "FIND COURSES NOW" ON THE REGISTRAR'S COURSE SCHEDULE PAGE.
Note: For more information on summer internships, which are managed through University Extension (UEX), see the section on summer internships on the Moody College internships site.
Summer courses are offered in four terms. The letter preceding the course number describes the course dates:
| f | first term | June 4 – July 11 |
| n | nine-week term | June 4 – July 28 |
| w | whole summer | June 4 – August 17 |
| s | second term | July 13 – August 17 |
NINE-WEEK TERM
FIRST TERM
COM f134 ESPORTS • BEN BAYS
The global phenomenon of esports—multiplayer video games organized as a spectator sport—is a multibillion-dollar enterprise on a growth trajectory, with the U.S. and Texas at the forefront. This course examines the games, the players, the teams, and the programs that result in the ultimate virtualized athlete. We will delve into esports events, organizers, media rights holders, streaming and broadcast technologies, spectatorship, scholarship, and much more. This lively curriculum includes practical experiential challenges, vibrant discussions with guests, site visits, events, and networking opportunities designed for anyone interested in esports to rank up!
RTF f304 STORYTELLING IN FILM AND TV– Web-Based • TERESA WARNER
Restricted to non-RTF majors.
In this introduction class, students will be given the fundamentals of story structure for Feature Films and Television. This will include analysis of three act structure, character development, and the language of screenwriting.
RTF f329C DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION – Web-Based • BEN BAYS
Open to both RTF majors & non-RTF majors.
Animation, Visual Effects, Digital Painting and CGI are used to produce digital content for a variety of media including films, animation and interactive formats like video games and VR/AR. This course is an interactive, online experience designed to teach you the foundational Digital Media Production tools: Photoshop, After Effects, Adobe Animate thoFlash) and Maya. Through creative hands-on challenges, you will apply digital media tools and techniques to a variety of tasks in the pipeline of production from concept, storyboard, layout to compositor, VFX, CG and interactive design. In the end, you must choose: Will you become a generalist across all digital media production, will you specialize in one discipline or will you define a new role in digital media production? This course offers both access to instructor guidance and the ability to complete assignments at your own pace.
RTF f344M VIDEO GAME PRODUCTION – Web-Based • BEN BAYS
Open to both RTF majors & non-RTF majors.
Students explore the history, mechanics, aesthetics and cultural touchstones of video games through a wide variety of creative projects. Topics include writing story and dialogue, creating/acquiring/implementing audio and music, designing puzzles games and combat, drawing and painting, CGI asset creation and implementation, and more. The course is auteur focused (not collaborative), software agnostic, gamified, and designed for RTF students, but open to all majors. No coding required. No prior art skills required.
RTF f352 GLOBAL CULT CINEMA – Web-Based • BABAK TABARRAEE
This course carries the Global Cultures Flag (GC) and the Writing Flag (Wr).
With their dedicated fans and enduring presence in the public sphere, cult films unfold important crossovers between media and culture in different regional contexts. This course will analyze global configurations of cult cinema, especially in the Middle East. From various scholarly viewpoints, we will ask how and why certain movies have generated emotional attachments in different sociocultural environments. Reviewing the foundational texts on the concept of cult in cinema studies, we will examine several approaches to studying the applications and functions of cult films and film cults. We will specifically examine case studies from and through the Middle East to understand the resonance of cult media texts around the world. Moreover, we will investigate the communal identities displayed through the cultural expressions of cult fans in order to better understand people’s complex relationship with the political order and cultural power. As such, “Global Cult Cinema” will explore less examined but significant areas of international film canons and fandoms. The interdisciplinary nature of this course further enables us to investigate important constituents of audience reactions to the global and local media through the purposeful use of the theories on popular culture, fandom, stardom, and politics of national and transnational film reception.
SECOND TERM
RTF s302D HISTORY OF THE MEDIA INDUSTRIES– Web-Based •
May count toward the Media Studies Minor and the Media & Entertainment Industries Minor.
This course examines the historical development of media industries—film, radio, television and digital. Through lecture, discussions, readings and screenings, we will investigate historical contexts (cultural, industrial, technological) in which media have been produced and consumed in the US and globally.
RTF s303C INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES– Web-Based •
Restricted to non-RTF majors. Fulfills a social & behavioral sciences core curriculum requirement. Qualifies for the Media & Entertainment Industries Minor.
Drawing on literatures from media studies, management, sociology, and communication, this course helps students to develop a social science understanding of media industries and entrepreneurship. We start with a survey of key social science theories and concepts the media landscape. We examine the social, political, and economic contexts in which media are produced, distributed, and monetized. Special attention is paid to new media and communication technologies such as Web 2.0, social media, gaming, and mobile media and the implications of these disruptive innovations for media organizations and professionals. Cases in old and new media industries from different countries will be analyzed. It is designed to help students achieve the following goals upon successful course completion:
- Understand key social science theories, concepts and methods on the complicated interaction between media and society.
- Recognize various opportunities, challenges, and responses media industries have to address due to globalization and technological advancements.
- Understand government policies and industry practices that affect the formation and function of media organizations.
- Understand the trajectory and development of various legacy and new media industry sectors.
- Evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities, challenges, and process in the media industries facilitated and constrained by institution and culture.
WHOLE SUMMER
There are no scheduled undergraduate RTF courses for the whole summer at this time.