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Media, Culture, and Communication

Welcome to the NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication

As founders in the field of media studies, MCC first pioneered and now shapes the critical study of media, culture and technology. It’s nothing less than a future-oriented liberal arts education for a new era.

Studying media here allows you to connect and understand our changing world. In digital media, you can study AI, assistive technologies and video games, as well as learn how to code and make video. In visual culture, study Black landscape, art and mass incarceration, advertising, and the built environment. In global media, study migration, social movements, Chinese internet governance, and Latino media.

Learn how to use media as a critical practice in our dynamic Media Lab. Use New York City as a classroom and visit newsrooms, independent media startups, museums and monuments. Challenge yourself with innovative new approaches like science and technology studies, or disability studies. 

It’s all held together by our focus on critical interpretation and historical context, taught by our award-winning faculty whose media expertise spans the globe.

Degrees

Bachelor of Science
Media, Culture, and Communication

The media studies BS engages the history, present, and future of global media, offering significant opportunities to study media abroad in international contexts.

Master of Arts
Media, Culture, and Communication

The media studies MA trains agile researchers of a shifting global media landscape.

Doctor of Philosophy
Media, Culture, and Communication

The interdisciplinary media studies doctorate foregrounds a diverse array of research methods and theoretical frameworks.

Master of Arts / Master of Science
Media, Culture and Global Cities
Dual Degree

This dual degree graduate program with the London School of Economics (LSE) is designed for media studies students who want to critically engage with how media shapes and is shaped by two global media capitals: London and New York.

Bachelor of Science
Global Public Health / Media, Culture, and Communication

As future public health practitioners, Global Public Health/Media, Culture, and Communication majors/co-majors develop an interdisciplinary understanding of the sociological, political, and cultural intersections of global media and health policy.

Minor
Disability Studies

This interdisciplinary undergraduate minor introduces students to the historical, social, and legal circumstances that shape the experience of disability.

Department News

Nicole R. Fleetwood elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The Paulette Goddard Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication joins one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

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NYU Media Studies Senior Awarded 2026-27 Fulbright Grant

Elaine Ho, a senior in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, will be traveling to South Korea next year to serve in the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program.

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A Conversation with Prof. Kendra Kintzi

Assistant Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication Kendra Kintzi reflects on her journey into political ecology and energy infrastructure research, sharing insights on decarbonization, digital technologies, and what it takes to build more just climate futures.

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Curry J. Hackett named 2026 United States Artist Fellow

Media, Culture, and Communication Clinical Assistant Professor Curry J. Hackett was named a 2026 United States Arts Fellow, one of 50 artists recognized for their "groundbreaking artistic vision."

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Mara Mills Awarded $1 Million Grant from Mellon Foundation

The three-year grant will support Mills and the NYU Center for Disability Studies in running the Access for Small Arts Partnerships program.

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Who’s Buying the Free Press? A Q&A with Rodney Benson

The professor of media, culture, and communication explains the spectrum of media ownership—public to market and everything in between—and how these forms support or threaten today’s journalism.

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With Agreement on a Dual-Degree Program, NYU and the London School of Economics and Political Science Expand Their Partnership

Students will receive master’s degrees from both institutions and study with faculty from two of the world’s leading media studies departments.

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A Beat of Her Own: Alum Amanda Morris (BS '18) Shapes How The Media Reports on Disability

Amanda Morris, a graduate of NYU’s Media, Culture, and Communication and Journalism departments, is a reporter for The Washington Post and considered a trailblazer on the national disability beat.

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Cool Course: Critical Making

Students in this hands-on course engage with software and hardware to create a technological device—no engineering or coding experience required.

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50 Years of Media Studies at NYU Steinhardt

The Department of Media, Culture, and Communication celebrates 50 years since Neil Postman founded the Media Ecology program, launching media studies at the university.

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NYU in Top 10 for Media Studies

New York University claims the 9th spot in the QS Top Universities ranking of media studies programs worldwide.

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Department Land Acknowledgment

We begin by acknowledging that we are gathered, speaking, and learning on Lenapehoking, the ancestral lands of the Lenape peoples, which settlers call New York City.