The minor in media studies (MDST) emphasizes the creative and analytical skills needed to make sense of current and future trends in media, and to gain a deep understanding of the history and development of various means and forms of communication.
Explorations of media theory, history, criticism, practices, popular culture, technology and emerging cultures are enhanced by practical training in media design, storytelling, digital art, online community engagement, documentary filmmaking and social media.
Requirements
A minimum of 18 credit hours is required for the minor, including 9 credit hours of courses numbered 3000 or above.
All courses counted toward the minor must be completed with a grade of C- or better. No pass/fail work may be applied. No more than six credit hours of transfer work may be applied to the minor, including 3 hours of upper-division credit. The grade point average for minor degree coursework must be equal to 2.00 or higher.
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| MDST 1001 | Foundations of Media Studies 1 | 3 |
| or MDST 1002 | Introduction to Social Media | |
| MDST 2002 | Media and Communication History 1 | 3 |
| Additional Courses | ||
| Select 12 hours of MDST courses, 9 of which must be 3000 or 4000 level 1 | 12 | |
| Foundations of Media Studies | ||
| Truth, Beauty, and Conspiracy | ||
| Introduction to Social Media | ||
| Critical Media Literacies | ||
| Introduction to Global Media | ||
| Media and Social Movements | ||
| Disruptive Entrepreneurship in the Internet's New Economies | ||
| Hacker Culture | ||
| Documentary and Social Change | ||
| Visual Literacies & Design | ||
| Future Histories of Technology | ||
| Media Research | ||
| Digital Culture and Politics | ||
| Comic Books: Culture and Industry | ||
| Social Media Cultures | ||
| History of Computing and Information | ||
| Media, Culture and Globalization | ||
| Media Industries and Economics | ||
| Sports-Media Complex | ||
| Designing Alternative Media Platforms | ||
| Media, Food and Culture | ||
| Media and Popular Culture | ||
| Media and the Public | ||
| Digital Media Production and Design | ||
| Screenwriting | ||
| Crime, Media and Contemporary Culture | ||
| Deconstructing Disney: Mediated American Mythology | ||
| Asian Media and Culture | ||
| Viral Video & Media | ||
| Media Technology and Cultural Change | ||
| Youth Media: Culture and Politics | ||
| Visual Culture and Human Rights | ||
| Mass Communication Criticism | ||
| Gender, Race, Class, and Sexuality in Popular Culture | ||
| International Media and Global Crises | ||
| TV and the Family in American Culture and Society | ||
| Media and Religion | ||
| Islam, Pop Culture and Media | ||
| Fan and Audience Studies | ||
| Transmedia Worldbuilding | ||
| Queer & Trans Identities in Popular Culture | ||
| Media Law, Policy and Ethics | ||
| Undergraduate Independent Study | ||
| Special Topics | ||
| Internship | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 18 | |
| 1 | The minor requires either MDST 1001 or MDST 1002 as a core course. The other introductory course may be used as an elective towards the 18 required hours, but the minor must still result in 18 hours (the introductory course used as a core requirement does not also count as an elective). |
Learning Outcomes
Upon completing the program, students will have:
- Awareness of communication and power within and across networks.
- An understanding of the historic and contemporary systems of inequity across social identities, nationalities, socioeconomic class and the role of media, communication and information in both creating and addressing them.
- Competence to conduct research using at least one method appropriate to media research.
- The ability to produce compelling and effective problem-solving in their given fields.