Media Studies Major
The Media Studies Program is focused on the forms and effects of media (books, radio, film, television, photography, print, digital and electronic media). Media Studies includes: the study of aesthetics and form, individual perception, and the history of media (primarily mass-circulation prints, journals, and newspapers, recorded media, communications and broadcast media, and electronic modes), the ethics and effects of media in the arena of policy studies, the social impact of media on public opinion, the relations between media and the law, free speech issues, as well as the commerce and regulation of media in the public sphere, and it is critically engaged with the creative analysis, production, and research into traditional and emerging forms of media. The program has a significant emphasis on digital media through approaches to its history, theory, and technology and their impact upon contemporary life.
Media Studies is not a production-oriented program. Students supplement their historical critical studies with internships and work opportunities to acquire production skills. Students seeking traditional training in journalism (print, broadcast, or digital), public relations, advertising, marketing, and other areas association with Mass Communications programs should seek another major.
Concentration in Media Ethics and Policy
Media Studies majors have the option of concentrating their upper-division study in the general area of media policy and ethics by selecting at least three of their six electives from a list of approved courses that consider major issues in media policy or media ethics. This list of courses includes Media Policy (MDST 3405), Privacy & Surveillance (MDST 4101), Media Ethics (MDST 3410), Copyright, Commerce & Culture (MDST 3102), Issues & Controversies in the Media (MDST 3403), Democratic Politics in the New Media Environment (MDST 3404), War & The Media (MDST 3402), News & the Construction of Reality (MDST 3104), Global Media (MDST 4300), History of U.S. Broadcasting (MDST 4104). Any other courses, including cross-listed courses, which a student might wish to have count toward the concentration, must be approved by the chair of Media Studies.