Media and Cultural Studies (MCS) is an interdisciplinary concentration within the English program that examines the connections between media and broader cultural and social structures. MCS fosters and understanding of how media and communication intersect with environmental and cultural challenges, preparing students to address these issues thoughtfully and creatively by emphasizing place-based, civically engaged intepretation and analysis. Students gain a strong foundation in the theory, history, and ethics of diverse media forms while developing hands-on skills. Through creative and critical analysis, they explore how communication practices shape public discourse, influence policy decisions, and impact social equity worldwide.
Learning Outcomes
1. Analyze and critique the production and reception of communicative forms to recongize how cultural identities are constructed and negotiated through social interactions as well as identify the boundaries of texts across diverse cultures, genres, modalities, and historical periods.
2. Create and critique a variety of materials for real world situations by locating, evaluating, and using evidence relevant to audience, purpose, context, and design conventions.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the history, theory, and practice of mass media, literary forms, and technology, including its social dynamics, ethical concerns, and multimodal constraints.
4. Conduct innovative analyses of how media and literary forms intersect with everyday life and the broader environmental, economic, and cultural forces that shape individuals’ relationships with global communities.
5. Use interdisciplinary methods to clearly and persuasively convey research to professional, academic, and mass audiences through written, visual, and oral communications strategies.
6. Demonstrate the ability to critically select and apply appropriate techniques, forms, and conventions from creative, academic, or professional writing to produce effective work within a chosen genre.
Students must complete the General Education Cirriculum in order to satisfy requirements for this major.
