Curriculum

The BS in Media, Culture, and Communication is a 128-credit program that foregrounds the historical, political, and cultural dimensions of media and technology. As an MCC major, you’ll gain the tools to research, analyze, and understand complex media landscapes in local and global contexts. 

You are encouraged to take advantage of the courses we offer abroad, for example through our Global Media Scholars Program, to cultivate your knowledge of the production, circulation, and reception of media around the world. 

Opportunities to apply your theoretical coursework in practice can be sought through the degree’s Professional Electives, by completing the optional Internship Program, and/or the BEMT minor, among other pathways.

Major Requirements

The degree’s core requirements prepare you to think deeply and broadly about media through a critical lens. Through a strong liberal arts preparation, you’ll explore an expansive definition of what constitutes media; more than just print, television, or the Internet, you’ll consider everything from video games to wearable technology, artificial intelligence, social media, political campaigns, and urban design. 

“Core” courses survey the field of media studies, introducing you to media history, media theory, and research methods. These three courses cover essential approaches to media analysis and provide opportunities to apply methods like survey and data collection, media production, and ethnographic fieldwork.

Subsequent "Framing" courses offer an overview of particular sub-fields in media studies exposing you to the scholarly questions, theories, and debates within the major’s five Areas of Study. "Focus" courses allow you to explore specific topics in depth.

Areas of Study

Global Communication and Media courses examine global media production, circulation and consumption in relation to citizenship and identity, immigration and diasporas, human rights and social movements, political-economic inequalities, and geopolitics.

Visual Culture and Sound Studies courses focus on the ways that visual and sound media shape everyday life on and offline, especially through politics and power.

Technology and Society courses focus on information and communication technologies and their social, political and ethical implications.

Media Industries and Politics courses examine the political economy of media and information industries, the use of media to shape and mobilize public opinion, social movements, and electoral politics.

Interaction and Experience courses explore how we relate to ourselves, each other, and the material world in various social, cultural, and technological contexts. 

Professional Electives

Designed to allow you to further tailor your degree, Professional Electives can be taken in or out of the department in consultation with your advisor. Choose from MCC professional electives in social-impact advertising, marketing innovations, public relations, or non-MCC classes in Business, Journalism, Computer Science, Film & Television, and Arts, among other programs.