User:Meghasubramanian/Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai

username: meghasubramanian/Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai

The 'Social Communications Media' course at Sophia Polytechnic trains young women to be media professionals, providing them with a firm theoretical base as well as practical hands-on experience. It also aims to inculcate a sense of social awareness of human issues, so that media studies and technical skills are linked to media responsibility and ethics in society.

HISTORY

It was established in 1969 is one of the oldest courses in mass communications in the country. It was set up to equip women with the necessary skills to be a part of the media profession. The one year post graduate diploma course is recognized by the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education. It has a total of 40 seats and applicants from the best colleges across the country compete to be selected.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The course is specially designed to give students a wholistic overview of the media industry. It enables students who are interested in more than one aspect of the media to explore various options before they decide which field they wish to carve out a career in. The curriculum covers a broad range of subjects including Fundamental Concepts in Communication, Communications Research, Journalism, Advertising, Corporate Communications, Film, Radio and Television. Since there are so many subjects to be covered within a year the course tends to be an intensive one.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of our department is to train women to become media professionals and also inculcate in them a degree of awareness about social and human issues, which affect the development of our country. In particular issues related to caste and gender bias, communalism, social discrimination, environment and health. To this end the students' key documentary projects center around topics such as Women and HIV, Water, Beach Pollution, The Girl Street Child, Tuberculosis, and Hospital Waste Management; and their class magazines deal with issues such as globalization and education.

FACULTY

The department's permanent faculty includes Jeroo Mulla, Nirmita Gupta and Sunitha Chitrapu. Jeroo Mullla has been the Head of the department since 1986. She teaches film appreciation and the basics of film-making. Anupamaa Joshi is a lecturer in radio and television. The department is closely linked to the media industry and has some of the best media professionals as regular visiting faculty.

Eminent professionals are also invited as guest faculty for special lectures. In the past, students have had the privilege of being addressed by persons such as: Kumar Shahani, Shyam Benegal, Tanuja Chandra, Mark Tully, N.Ram, Darryl D'Monte, Romilla Thappar, Vijay Bhatt, Raghu Rai, Raghubir Singh, Anand Patwardhan, Dr. Robert Jensen, Dina Vakil, Dr.Carolyn Byerly, Geeta Rao, Piyush Pandey, Prof. P.K. Nair, Prof. Suresh Chabria, Rajan Kothari, Mani Kaul, Arun Khopkar, Srinivasan Jain, Shishir Joshi, Kalpana Sharma, Kumar Ketkar, Ramachandra Guha Ammu Joseph, Ranjit Hoskote, Jerry Pinto, P.Sainath, Smruti Koppikar,Deepa Bhatia,Geeta Rao,Ajay Noronha, Paromita Vohra and Arvind Rajagopal.

FACILITIES

The facilities include a newly-renovated studio, which is equipped with basic sound recording facilities, Final Cut Pro for video editing, digital video cameras and professional lights. The studio is also equipped with a DVD player and a LCD projector for screening film classics, which are studied in the film appreciation classes. Among the facilities, there are also several professional 35 mm SLR cameras for learning the basics of still photography.

USP

During the course students are required to work on practical projects such as a 20-minute audio-visual in a documentary format, a five-minute video film and a print magazine. Since the emphasis of the course is on human development issues, the documentaries centre around topics such as: Environmental Pollution, Gutka and Oral Cancer, Domestic Violence and Employment for the Visually Impaired. These have been screened widely by NGOs, citizens' groups, and educational institutions. The videos have been made on topics such as: Beauty Without Cruelty to Animals, The Menace of Plastic Bags, Anorexia, Irani Cafés, Grave Diggers and Circus Artistes. The class magazines have dealt with issues such as the aftermath of India's partition, media and youth, and the problems of the marginalized.

Over the years, the 20-minute audio-visuals have been transferred on to the VHS and DVD format.The department now has a large collection of over 50 such audio-visuals. Copies of these audio-visuals can be purchased from the department.

THE COMPLETE PROFESSIONAL

One of the important features of the course is that it concludes with a month-long practical training in the media industry in a field of the student's choice. This course allows the student a chance to understand working of various media industries, be it TV , Print , Advertising or Corporate Communications. Students from SCM, not only have a more holistic approach to media , they also understand the workings of fields other than those they choose to work in. They are not just given the tools to communicate with, but also taught the fundamentals of communications , ethics and a perspective on social issues that makes them stand out.

ALUMNAE

Students who have completed the course hold positions of responsibility in the mainstream media including publications like The Times of India, Indian Express, Outlook, Mint, Wall Street Journal website, news channels such as NDTV and CNBC and advertising agencies like Ogilvy and Mather and Lintas (Lowe). Others have achieved eminence as ad film-makers, documentary film-makers, film editors, script-writers and assistant directors of feature films. A few are currently directing their first feature films. Many students have also begun their own successful enterprises. Others have used their knowledge of communications to work with NGOs and some have even set up their own non profit organisations. Several students have also won national and international awards.

References:

1.www.scmsophia.com

2.http://www.sophiacampus.com/scm.htm

Links 1. http://www.mid-day.com/whatson/2009/feb/230209-Student-films-Radhika-Iyengar-Kinjal-Mehta-Mirror-Mirror-on-the-Wall-former-anorexics.htm