Media Studies (MA)

Courses in digital cinema production enable students to learn skills involved in film and video production, including producing, screenwriting, directing, advanced editing, cinematography, lighting, sound, and post-production. Drawing on film history, theory, and aesthetics, students gain skills and experience in the creation of new modes of cinematic expression.

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Courses in documentary studies explore nonfiction media as practiced by artists and activists around the globe. Documentary studies courses appeal to students interested in the history, theory, criticism, and production of linear and nonlinear documentary work. These courses help to build a firm foundation for critical writing and thinking about documentary, conducting documentary research, and developing introductory and advanced skills in digital production and post-production for film, audio, interactive, multimedia, and installation forms. Students gain a broad perspective on classic and innovative contemporary documentary, including observational, personal, epistolary, investigative, political, advocacy, and hybrid work that blurs boundaries between fiction and fact.

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Courses in media analytics enable students to learn the basics of data analytics to understand patterns and changes in media experiences and usage. Students apply these skills to understand new developments in the creative industries: publishing, broadcasting, social media, cinema, and emerging media. Courses investigate topics in media management, data visualization, and cultural analytics.

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Courses in media history, criticism, and philosophy allow students to learn how to investigate a range of critical and philosophical issues pertaining to the theory of media, the development of media technologies, and changing patterns of mediated cultural experiences. Drawing on a wide range of research in media aesthetics, genres, and cultures, courses provide students with a strong foundation in a theoretical approach to the study of media in contemporary culture.

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Courses in sound studies enable students to investigate the production and consumption of sound, music, noise, and silence. Students learn the skills of audio production and sound design while also experimenting with the creation of podcasting and radio programs. This area enables students to understand the development and changes in sound cultures throughout history.

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Courses in transmedia and digital storytelling focus on the creation of narratives that move across platforms and enable students to learn practices of multimedia storytelling. Students investigate different forms of storytelling such as writing across media channels, interactive film and episodic online content, graphic novels, games, virtual and augmented realities, as well as transmedia activism and social engagement tools. Students learn how to engage audiences as creative collaborators through the use of participatory and social media applications.

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