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. 

Required Courses
MDST 1001Foundations of Media Studies 13
or MDST 1002 Introduction to Social Media
MDST 2002Media and Communication History 13
Additional Courses
Select 12 hours of MDST courses, 9 of which must be 3000 or 4000 level 112
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
Writing for Screens
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
MDST 4405
Media Law, Policy and Ethics
Undergraduate Independent Study
Special Topics
Internship
Total Credit Hours18

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.