Communication Department Program

1st year ‐ Semester I

1st year ‐ Semester II

2nd year ‐ Semester III

2nd year ‐ Semester IV

3rd Year ‐ Semester V

3rd Year ‐ Semester VI

4th Year ‐ Semester VII

4th Year ‐ Semester VIII

Elective Courses

COD 101 Introduction to Communication Design

In this course, students are introduced to the basic approaches and the practice of communication design. The historical background of communication design, dynamics of different technological platforms, principles of interactive media, creative thinking and problem solving strategies, methods for transforming ideas into visual form, integration of ideas, words and images for effective communication, and spatial communication techniques are among the subjects that are studied in the course.

COD 103 Graphic Design Tools

This course focuses on the basic tools in the computer graphics industry. Practicing with Adobe Illustrator, students work on the given examples, tracing images, creating vector paths, shapes, & patterns. They also use image processing techniques, including selecting, changing, and replacing colors, poster design, basic photography techniques, and create shapes with type through Adobe Photoshop. Practicing with Adobe InDesign, students create a full magazine spread, grasp the rules of print media, design the cover page, and create multiple pages with text and photos.

IDE 101 Principles of Design

This course provides a working knowledge of the basic elements and principles of design that will guide students in their pursuit to give form to ideas. The course will help students to attain an understanding of basic design concepts, visual thinking and design materials, as well as gain compositional skills through the use of formal and spatial elements. The goal of the course is to expand students? intellectual, visual and technical abilities besides encouraging and nourishing creative approaches to problem solving.

IDE 103 Design Visualization

In the scope of the course several visualization techniques beside the traditional ones are examined. Drawings and studies aimed at improving the ability of 3-dimensional thinking are made. The course aims to teach students the basic drawing standards in different scales.

COD 101 English I

The course focuses on language and academic skills development through the themes of contemporary global issues and sustainable development. It addresses the underlying causes and impacts of contemporary global issues and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) which aspire to achieve a sustainable future. The course has an interactive nature and requires students to develop skills through the weekly assigned readings, discussions, and writing tasks.

TLL 101 Turkish Language and Literature I

This course is based on exercises to make arguments without fallacies and discussions in various topics. Characteristics of Turkish and examination of selected literary texts are also part of this course. Discussions are carried out in debate format where two separate teams discuss positive and negative aspects of an issue. Correct use of language, grammar, and punctuation will be taught and also the historical and cultural backstage of literary texts will be discussed.

COD 106 Concept Development for Design

This course focuses on the design thinking process to support the identification of design problems and create design ideas. Within the scope of the course, students are expected to empathize with a target group, define a design problem, ideate on possible alternative design solutions, and bring a proof-of-concept for design decisions. Students practice solving wicked design problems through a creative and holistic approach by addressing their aesthetic and technical aspects and utilizing design thinking models.

COD 102 English II

The course focuses on language and academic skills development through the themes of contemporary global problems included in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). It requires students to suggest their solutions to these global problems by writing and presenting a project proposal. The course has an interactive nature and requires students to build knowledge and skills through research, the weekly assigned readings, and class discussions.

IDE 108 Art and Design History

The course will focus on the aesthetic and historical evaluation of arts and design from the early civilizations to modern era. With an emphasis on social aspects, works of art and design will be narrated in the context of the time and culture in which they were created. The course seeks to introduce a broad view of art history with special emphasis on major trends and movements that have occurred in the visual arts.

TLL 102 Turkish Language and Literature II

Several literary texts are analyzed in this course to answer the question ?why do we do/read literature?? and different approaches to literature are evaluated. Significance is given to reading selected fictional texts from different genres and writing critical essays about those texts. Correct use of language, grammar, and punctuation will also be part of the course.

COD 102 Communication Applications

This course addresses how to transfer concepts into visual language that are to represent the ideas and themes derived from the analysis of different media consisting of moving to static, or textual to visual messages such as movies, novels, advertisements or slogans. In parallel, students learn the necessary methods, tools and technologies for the effective presentation of developed projects.

COD 104 Photography

This course addresses the photographic language and methods, and practice with different techniques. The topics include the photographic concepts, basic use of camera and light, and photo processing in a digital environment.

TRL 101 Introduction to University Life

This course supports students? transition into university life through Özyeğin University's transformative Education Program. It develops key competencies such as help-seeking, self regulation, independent learning, academic integrity, ethical behavior and decision making, empathic interaction, AI and social media literacy. Adopting a blended learning approach, the course combines online and in-class activities: students first build foundational knowledge through flexible asynchronous online tasks, then engage in hands-on, practice-oriented sessions on campus. Online components must be completed in advance to ensure effective in-class participation. By the end of the course, students will submit (1) a reflective assignment on their university experience at ÖzU and (2) a confirmation of having read and understood the ÖzU Academic Integrity Code.

TRL 102 Personal Development

This course fosters students? self-awareness, personal growth, and readiness for independent, lifelong learning. It also builds essential life skills such as decision-making, stress management, resilience, and self-assessment. Using a flexible blended learning approach, the course includes both asynchronous online activities and scheduled in-class or synchronous sessions. Attendance is not weekly but required for designated sessions, and all online components must be completed regardless of format. By the end of the course, students define personal development goals and create a 3.5-year plan covering curricular and extracurricular activities to support those goals. This plan is submitted to the Student Development and Experience Unit for ongoing feedback and improvement. Students also begin developing professional CVs with guidance from the Professional Development Center, receiving feedback and support to enhance their CVs throughout their studies.

COD 200 Internship I (Research)

Internship I includes tasks that support specific research subjects which may require the students to work on site or in lab. The students will actively participate to analyze problems that can be solved through design and develop graphic and/ or multimedia students.

COD 201 Design Studio I

This course addresses visual communication design through studio problems focusing on research, concept development, creativity and form-making. It covers the methods and techniques used in the design process where complex ideas and messages are transformed into creative visual form.

COD 206 Information Architecture

This course introduces the students to the dynamics of information architecture and design for different areas of application. Starting from theories on structures, flowcharts, navigation, information design, the course advances with applied work on different areas. Class works for hierarchical, networking, temporal, spatial, networking, spatio-temporal structures are investigated within the semester.

COD 202 Design Studio II

This course focuses on visual communication design products where multiple components come together to form a dynamic system. Students work on the given design problems on topics such as creative brand identity, emblem and logo design, corporate identity, infographics, book, magazine and interactive interface design for print, digital and/or interactive media. They develop a creative and unique approach to design, along with the methods they can use to approach multi-layered design problems.

COD 207 Creative Coding I

This course addresses programming concepts using p5js, a JavaScript library for creative coding. Students work on the basics of programming, including variables, functions, debugging and control structures, and how to apply them to create custom applications. In the course, programming fundamentals are examined through Algorithmic Art practices to enhance students' comprehension of programming concepts and their creative applications in design. Students work on individual and collaborative projects, participate in in-class coding exercises, and discuss various Algorithmic Art techniques and their applications.

COD 208 Creative Coding II

This course builds on the fundamentals of Creative Coding I and introduces more advanced concepts and techniques for creating interactive graphics, animations, games, and custom applications using the P5.js library. Students develop more complex programs utilizing object oriented programming and external libraries.

COD 210 History of Communication Design

This course studies the history and theories concerning communication design, graphic design and interactive media in parallel with the movements in art history with the aim of providing students with the necessary theoretical basis in communication design. It focuses on the issues concerning communication and design practices within the historical, cultural, social, political and technological contexts. For this purpose, the class examines the relation between the societies, media, art & design, and discusses the role of communication designer comparatively in different periods.

HIST 201 Principles of Ataturk & History of the Turkish Republic I

This is the first of a two term-courses that analyze the political, economic and social aspects of the process of formation and development of the Republic of Turkey. It addresses issues related to the end of the Ottoman Empire; the formation of the Republic of Turkey and the inheritance it took from the empire; and the political, economic and social aspects of the nascent nation-state during the early Republican period. The course is taught in lectures and discussions. The students are encouraged to think the history of Turkey objectively and scientifically.

HIST 202 Principles of Ataturk & History of the Turkish Republic II

This is the second of a two term-courses that analyze the political, economic and social aspects of the process of formation and development of the Republic of Turkey. It addresses Turkey?s experience of democracy from the beginning of the multi-party parliamentarian system in 1946 to the present, and the political, economic and social aspects of this experience. The course is taught in lectures and discussions. The students are encouraged to think the history of Turkey objectively and scientifically.

SEC 201 Introduction to Sectors

This course focuses on major sectors and alternative career paths. Using a flexible blended learning model, the course includes both asynchronous online activities, synchronous sessions as well as scheduled in-class meetings. Students engage in sector-based analyses, reflect on career options, and build professional development plans aligned with their career goals. The course emphasizes cultivating lifelong learning and creative thinking skills that add value in navigating changing sectoral needs and dynamic environments. It also aims to raise awareness of innovative strategies for adapting to technological, social, and environmental change. Throughout the course, students are supported in identifying sector-specific career opportunities and referred to related curricular and extracurricular resources available at ÖzU. Course activities include development and refinement of CV, professional network building, and sector-focused career ideation. By the end of the course, each student submits a three-year personalized career plan to the Professional Development office (PD) for review, career consultation and continuous feedback.

COD 203 Video Production

Students are introduced to the main concepts of video production, such as the production phases of filmmaking, basic grammar of cinematic language, and film editing. The exercises and discussions intend to equip students with the principles of digital filmmaking and help them develop creative design skills and critical evaluation skills by using digital video as a source of production.

COD 209 Interactive Design Tools

The course starts with a thorough grounding in writing HTML and CSS, and continue through practical hands-on examples to better understand theories and use the tools effectively. Bootstrap as a framework is used for students to create a personal website.

COD 300 Internship II

Internship II requires students to actively participate in the production of various media in parallel with the communication needs of a company. Students are expected to understand and observe in detail the team work, in-group collaborations, and production-client relations on the subjects of planning, media integration, and production techniques & tools.

COD 301 Design Studio III

This studio design course focuses on the communication of a message by using sound, video and typography. For this purpose, the study topics are built around video design for interactive media. The selection of subjects, textual research, setting up of the problem and preliminary photographic sketches form the preparation stage. Next stage consists of preparing project flow charts, specifying the tools, completion of raw photographic and video images, and preparation of graphic elements. Finally, photography-based animations, design of interaction tools, video and photo editing, and textual elements are completed and the project is prepared to be presented on the Internet.

COD 302 Design Studio IV

The subject of this studio is the design of interactive exhibitions which focuses on the creations and organization of activity, use of media and spatial organization. With the use of space supported by movement and memory, this environment is expected to provide multilayered communication through a balanced construction of interconnected components.

COD 305 Interaction Design

This course introduces students to the concepts, principles, methods, and techniques of interaction design as a basis for developing ideas through design thinking models. During the course students carry out a design research which entails defining a design problem, identifying a target group, iteratively developing design solutions by using co-design methods and agile techniques, and evaluating their design ideas.

COD 306 User Experience Evaluation

This course covers the essence and foundations of usability testing for the analysis and evaluation of design elements as to whether they meet the users' requirements, needs, limitations, mental models and cognitive styles. In this course, the concept of usability, testing methods and how to design a study so that it addresses a usability problem, recruit the right participants, and set up the test environment are described. The students are expected to operate the moderation and observation of a usability session, interacting with participants and asking the right questions, making an analysis of the results, and ideating design solutions to address the problem.

COD 201 History of Communication Design

This course studies the history and theories concerning communication design, graphic design and interactive media in parallel with the movements in art history with the aim of providing students with the necessary theoretical basis in communication design. It focuses on the issues concerning communication and design practices within the historical, cultural, social, political and technological contexts. For this purpose, the class examines the relation between the societies, media, art & design, and discusses the role of communication designer comparatively in different periods.

COD 401 Design Studio V

This course explores the intersection of experience design and narrative production. Students investigate how spatial environments—both physical and virtual—can be crafted to support storytelling, emotional engagement, and user interaction. They conceptualize and produce design projects through the lens of videography and media production that integrate space, story, and movement. The course includes hands-on workshops in video production, spatial design, and narrative design, encouraging students to experiment with immersive multimedia formats and media-rich narratives.

COD 402 Senior Project

Within the scope of the class, the students are expected to work on a problem which they have researched and discovered and create a professional application on the basis of communication design throughout the term. They submit different stages of their projects once in a month to a jury and make use of the critics to develop the projects.

COD 404 Professional Practice & Ethics

The course includes both practical and theoretical work. The theoretical part enables students to ground their understanding of the communication design profession by including seminars and discussions on career strategies, market tendencies, business management, designer-client relations, copyright and licensing, labour laws and design ethics. With practical projects students obtain the necessary tools for applications and interviews such as preparing a résumé and designing a portfolio. The course also incorporates presentations by invited professionals, field trips as well.

COD 400 Internship III

Internship III requires students to actively participate in the production and post-production stages of audio-visual media productions relating to television, multi-media, film and advertisement campaigns in graphic design, interactive design, animation offices or post-production environments.