Institute of Communications Research
Bachelor of Science degree in Media Studies
Media Studies: More than the study of media
"People live in a community by virtue of the things they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come to possess things in common."
—John Dewey, Democracy and Education
The study of media and mediated communications is increasingly central to all disciplines, none of which is untouched by our media-saturated world. From agronomy to zoology, from classics to medical sciences, from literature to cell biology, no one can afford to ignore the power of the changing media environment and its impact on our knowledge of the world. Media explain, media inform, media model, media entertain, and increasingly they structure our experience. Media Studies responds to pressing concerns: the astonishing power of media, communication, information and persuasion, the need for critical analysis of propaganda, and the need for ethical and reasoned policies guiding the development of these industries and ensuring democratic access for all citizens.
Race and ethnicity are crucial components in the study of the media. Given that the United States, as well as the rest of the world, is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-racial population, studying these issues within the media is absolutely essential. In all areas of Media Studies — including production, content, reception, cultural analysis and effects, and in all types of media, including radio, television, newspapers, magazines, popular music, film and the Internet — race and ethnicity are central to the understanding of mediated communications.
The Media Studies undergraduate program offers courses that consider ethnicities in a relational and contextual manner as well as courses that focus more centrally on particular ethnicities, including Latina/os, Asian Americans, and African Americans. In short, the Media Studies program brings together knowledge and values about these many dimensions of mediated communication and distills them into an undergraduate degree-granting curriculum that is interdisciplinary, critical and scholarly — and that is one of the few undergraduate degree programs in Media Studies in the country.