Departments & Programs
The Media School
Media School Minors
Minor Requirements
The following minors are designed for students pursuing majors outside The Media School and provide intriguing and coherent study options for students with an interest in the interdisciplinary study of media:
- Global Media
- Media and Creative Advertising
- Media and Diversity
- Media Law and Ethics
- Media Persuasion
- Media, Sex and Gender
1. Global Media
The minor in Global Media considers media in a global context. Media production, circulation and impacts do not respect regional or national boundaries. Understanding how messages and concepts travel, shape opinion and impact the flow of intellectual capital and social concepts is essential. This program of study provides a set of perspectives and critical tools that allow students pursuing a wide variety of careers to address these issues as they impact their work. The lists of upper-level courses represent a variety of approaches and skills and incorporate the potential for international fieldwork. The role of media as a means of cultural expression and entertainment are represented by the film courses, while a number of courses on the practice of journalism look at this aspect of media as a social institution.
I. Complete MSCH-C 101 Media (3 cr.)
II. Complete one of the following two courses from the Media Core lists (3 cr.)
- MSCH-C 206 Media Reporting in a Global World
- MSCH-C 214 Race, Prejudice and the Media
- MSCH-C 219 Media in the Global Context
III. Complete three courses from the following list (9 cr.):
- INTL-I 305 Advanced Topics in International Communication and the Arts
- MSCH-F 393 History of European and American Films I
- MSCH-F 394 History of European and American Films II
- MSCH-F 398 National and Transnational Cinemas
- MSCH-F 413 Global Villages
- MSCH-J 418 Field Experiences in Journalism (Approved topics)
- MSCH-J 448 Global Journalism: Issues and Research
- MSCH-J 460 Topics Colloquium (Approved topics)
- MSCH-M 413 Global Media Issues
2. Media and Creative Advertising
The Media and Creative Advertising minor provides instruction in the practice and study of advertising, paying close attention to its history, current state of development in a rapidly evolving media landscape and its role in, and impacts on, contemporary society. The lists of upper-level courses represent a variety of approaches and skills allowing students to engage with advertising from a practical and applied or theoretical perspective depending upon their interests and goals. These classes will provide:
- a critical framework to understand media advertising as a central feature of contemporary society;
- skills-focused courses with a focus on the craft of writing advertising copy;
- an introduction to the current state of advertising in the rapidly evolving media ecosystem;
- comparative study of, and intensive practice in, studies of "old" and "new" media.
Required Courses
I. Complete MSCH-C 101 Media (3 cr.)
II. Complete one of the following two courses from the Media Core lists (3 cr.)
- MSCH-C 207 Introduction to Media Industry and Management
- MSCH-C 226 Visual Communication
III. Complete three courses from the following list (9 cr.)
- MSCH-A 315 Advertising and Consumer Culture
- MSCH-A 320 Principles of Creative Advertising
- MSCH-A 337 Electronic Media Advertising
- MSCH-A 420 Advertising Concepts and Copywriting
- MSCH-A 441 Advanced Advertising Strategies
3. Media and Diversity
The Media and Diversity minor approaches diversity as an important social principle that is continually examined, debated and circulated in a wide variety of media. The social concept of diversity has eclipsed concepts like "integration" in part because the older term was tied to a concept of proximity in space that could not anticipate the rapid evolution of virtual social spaces such social networks and fora. The growing importance and understanding of diversity as a broad spectrum of people, ideas and experiences has paralleled the rapid evolution of the connected world. Courses in this minor examine how media and mediated experience simultaneously break down old barriers at the same time that new types of digital divides arise. It connects The Media School curriculum with the teaching and research of faculty from many units. It also promotes a core feature of the Media School's mission: the study and analysis of the interaction of technology and media in the creation of new social, economic and entertainment networks.
Required Courses
I. Complete MSCH-C 101 Media (3 cr.)
II. Choose one of the following courses from the Media Core lists (3 cr)
- MSCH-C 206 Media Reporting in a Global World
- MSCH-C 214 Race, Prejudice, and the Media
- MSCH-C 219 Media in the Global Context
III. Complete three courses from the following list (9 cr.)
- AAAD-A 330 African American Cinematic Experience
- AAAD-A 359 Ethnic/Racial Stereotypes in American Film
- AAAD-A 430 The Cinema of Africana Women
- AAAD-A 447 Race, Crime, and Media
- LATS-L 302 Latinos in the Media
- MSCH-F 326 Authorship in the Media (Approved topics)
- MSCH-F 375 Race, Gender and Representation
- MSCH-J 360 Journalism Specialties (Approved topics)
The Media Law and Ethics minor studies the intersections of social institutions and practices with issues of professional and individual responsibility. The laws and regulations that govern the organization, content and ownership of media outlets profoundly impact on the shape of our society. Students preparing for careers across the public and private sectors need to understand the historical and contemporary context for a variety of policy debates. This knowledge will help them develop their own ideas about proper conduct and just behavior. This minor incorporates courses on professional ethics and conduct that conform to the national standards set by the American Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication as well as the Public Relations Society of America.
Required Courses
I. Complete MSCH-C 101 Media (3 cr.)
II. Choose one of the following courses from the Media Core (3 cr.)
- MSCH-C 206 Media Reporting in a Global World
- MSCH-C 207 Introduction to Media Industry and Management
- MSCH-C 219 Media in the Global Context
- MSCH-C 225 Reporting, Writing, and Editing I
III. Complete three courses from the following list (9 cr.)
- MSCH-J 300 Communications Law
- MSCH-J 407 Newsgathering and the Law
- MSCH-J 410 The Media as Social Institutions
- MSCH-L 317 Media Ethics and Professional Responsibility
- MSCH-L 322 Telecommunications Networks
- MSCH-L 424 Telecommunications and the Constitution
The Media Persuasion minor studies the intersection of media messages and technologies with social institutions and individual behaviors. It investigates how media messages are crafted, how they work at both technological and physiological level, with attention paid to their uses and impacts. It sits at the core of The Media School's mission to investigate the interconnections and intricacies of the contemporary media complex. Students will study the methods and strategies of persuasion in an interdisciplinary context that will provide them with critical perspectives. The minor focuses on the interaction between media, technology and opinion. It provides instruction in both media processes and impacts. Students will develop a framework to assess how contemporary society is being reshaped by media, and this should in turn, help them to determine the best uses and practices we should expect of professionals in the field.
Required Courses
I. Complete MSCH-C 101 Media (3 cr.)
II. Choose one of the following two courses from the Media Core lists (3 cr.)
- MSCH-C 207 Introduction to Media Industry and Management
- MSCH-C 213 Introduction to Media and Society
III. Complete three courses from the following list (9 cr.)
- MSCH-A 315 Advertising and Consumer Culture
- MSCH-A 337 Electronic Media Advertising
- MSCH-A 347 Media Promotion and Marketing
- MSCH-J 423 Public Opinion
- MSCH-R 429 Public Relations Campaigns
- MSCH-S 312 Politics and the Media
- MSCH-S 315 Media Processes and Effects
6. Media, Sex and Gender
The Media, Sex and Gender minor studies the highly complex and controversial role that mediated messages about sexuality and gender play in contemporary society. The minor allows The Media School to collaborate with a number of departments working on gender in media using their distinctive methods and approaches. The list of upper-level courses represents a variety of approaches and skills allowing students to engage with sexuality and gender by focusing on its construction and representation in film, through the study of these topics as their intersect with technology, as well as the investigation of these phenomena as broadly social constructs. Courses will investigate questions of ethical behavior, pleasure, consumption, and psychological impacts.
Required Courses
I. Complete MSCH-C 101 Media (3 cr.)
II. Choose one of the two following courses from the Media Core (3 cr)
- MSCH-C 212 Screening Race and Ethnicity
- MSCH-C 216 Social Scientific Perspectives of Gender and Media
III. Complete three courses from the following list (9 cr.)
- AAAD-A 430 The Cinema of Africana Women
- GNDR-G 310 Representation and the Body
- GNDR-G 325 Technologies of Gender
- GNDR-G 330 Looking Like a Feminist: Visual Culture and Critical Theory
- INTL-I 425 Gender: International Perspectives
- MSCH-F 375 Race, Gender, and Representation
- MSCH-F 420 Topics in Media History (Approved topics)
- MSCH-S 410 Sex in the Media
- MSCH-S 451 Topical Seminar in Media and Society (Approved topics)
- SOC-S 422 Constructing Sexuality