College Schools, Departments & Programs

Media School, The

Media School Minors

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. Note: some minor courses have prerequisites. Be sure to consider prerequisite coursework when selecting a minor.

Black Cinema and Media Studies

The Minor in Black Cinema and Media Studies examines Black filmmaking and media within historical, artistic, formal, and national contexts. It is administered in consultation with the Black Film Center/Archive

Requirements

Students must complete at least 15 credit hours in the minor, including all other College requirements for minors, and the following:

  1. Required courses.
  2. Complete both:
    1. MSCH-C 212 Screening Race and Ethnicity 
    2. MSCH-F 377 Cinemas of the Black Diaspora
  3. Electives, as needed to complete remaining requirements. Select from the following courses, at least two of which must be MSCH courses:
    • MSCH-F 204 Topics in Media, Culture & Society ("Emerging Media Nollywood Films" topic only)
    • MSCH-F 311 Media History ("Black Film History I: 1896-1927" topic only)
    • MSCH-F 326 Authorship in the Media ("Black Women Make Movies; Spike Lee’s Filmworks" topic only)
    • MSCH-F 375 Race, Gender, and Representation 
    • MSCH-F 392 Media Genres ("Signifying Race in Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Genre" topic only)
    • MSCH-F 398 National and Transnational Cinemas ("African Cinema and Politics" topic only)
    • MSCH-F 420 Topics in Media History ("Third World Cinemas" topic only)
    • AMST-A 200 Comparative American Identities ("Race & Visual Culture" topic only)
    • AAAD-A 277 Images of Blacks in Films: 1903-1950s
    • AAAD-A 278 Contemporary Black Film
    • AAAD-A 330 African American Cinematic Experience
Game Design

Students will learn the fundamental skills of game technology and design. These include basic programming, game design principles and project development skills. Courses in the minor present a sequence of increasingly complex problems that game design students solve as they move from concept to finished game. These include a basic literacy with different forms of games; a fundamental understanding of game engines and other software tools that enable interactivity; an introduction to the principles of game design; production and management in a multidisciplinary media creation environment; and basic asset creation in visual and auditory media. The basic skills involved in making an effective game can be applied to many different fields, including history, computer science, and education.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 18 credit hours in the minor as specified below and meet all other College requirements for minors:

  1. Game Design Foundations. Complete the following:
    1. MSCH-C 210 Introduction to Games
    2. One (1) of the following courses:
      • MSCH-C 220 Game Technology
      • INFO-I 210 Information Infrastructure I (has prerequisites)
      • ILS-Z 399 Topics in Information and Library Science (Approved topic: Introduction to Game Programming)
  2. Game Design Developmental Skills Courses. Complete the following:
    1. MSCH-G 300 Game Production I
    2. MSCH-G 310 Game Design I
    3. MSCH-G 320 Game Art and Sound
  3. Elective Course(s). Complete at least one (1) of the following:
    • MSCH-C 200 The Videogame Industry
    • MSCH-C 215 History of Videogames
    • MSCH-G 440 Aesthetics of Games
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.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 15 credit hours in the minor, including all other College requirements for minors, and the following:

  1. MSCH-C 101 Media
  2. One (1) course from the following:
    • 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
  3. At least three (3) courses from the following:
    • INTL-I 305 Advanced Topics in Culture and Politics
    • MSCH-F 398 National and Transnational Cinemas
    • MSCH-F 413 Global Villages
    • MSCH-J 448 Global Journalism: Issues and Research
    • MSCH-J 460 Topics Colloquium (Approved topics)
    • MSCH-M 413 Global Media Issues
    • MSCH-T 427 International Telecommunications
    • MSCH-X 478 Field Experience in Media (Approved topics only)
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.
Requirements

Students must complete at least 15 credit hours in the minor, including all other College requirements for minors, and the following:

  1.  MSCH-C 101 Media
  2.  One (1) course from the following:
    • MSCH-C 207  Introduction to Media Industry and Management
    • MSCH-C 226 Visual Communication
  3. At least three (3) courses from the following:
    • 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
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.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 15 credit hours in the minor, including all other College requirements for minors, and the following:

  1. MSCH-C 101 Media
  2. One (1) course from the following:
    • 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
  3. At least three (3) courses from the following:
    • 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-F 377 Cinemas of the Black Diaspora
    • MSCH-J 360 Journalism Specialties (Approved topics)
Media Law and Ethics

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.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 15 credit hours in the minor, including all other College requirements for minors, and the following:

  1. MSCH-C 101 Media
  2. One (1) course from the following:
    • 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 
  3. At least three (3) courses from the following:
    • 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 Policymaking
    • MSCH-L 424 Telecommunications and the Constitution
    • MSCH-T 427 International Telecommunications
Media Persuasion

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.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 15 credit hours in the minor, including all other College requirements for minors, and the following:

  1. MSCH-C 101 Media 
  2. One (1) course from the following:
    • MSCH-C 207 Introduction to Media Industry and Management
    • MSCH-C 213 Introduction to Media and Society
  3. At least three (3) courses from the following:
    • 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   
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.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 15 credit hours in the minor, including all other College requirements for minors, and the following:

  1. MSCH-C 101 Media
  2. One (1) course from the following:
    • MSCH-C 212 Screening Race and Ethnicity
    • MSCH-C 216 Social Scientific Perspectives of Gender and Media  
  3. At least three (3) courses from the following:
    • 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