Starting in Fall 2023, admission to the MA in Media Arts & Studies is currently suspended pending changes to the program.

The M.A. concentration in Media Arts and Studies is designed to immerse students in the technological, creative, societal, research and analytical considerations of our globalized, multi-platform, multi-screen media environment. Students matriculating through the program will demonstrate a strong foundation in digital media technology and its applications, along with research and analysis skills that will grant them flexibility to enter a broad range of professional and creative environments, as well as a foundation for potential doctoral work.

The concentration offers electives in media storytelling and production, media studies, media entrepreneurship and management, and media in strategic and applied communication; enabling students to design a program to specifically meet their needs and goals, and the opportunity to explore creative and scholarly approaches to multiple screens. Students may complete the M.A. in Media Arts and Studies with a minimum of 30 credits. Media Arts and Studies students should meet with a Media Arts and Studies faculty member to develop their Plan of Work.

Requirements include:

COM Requirement (3 cr):

• COM 7000: Introduction to M.A. Studies in Communication (3 cr)

Theory Requirement (3 cr):

Select one of the following:

• COM 6270: New Media Theory (3 cr)
• COM 7520: Theories of Media Effects (3 cr)
• COM 7530: Critical Mass Communication Theory (3 cr)

Research Methods Requirement (3 cr):

Select one of the following:

• COM 6530: Audience Measurement and Survey Techniques (3 cr)
• COM 7260: Quantitative Research Methods in Communication (3 cr)
• COM 7360: Qualitative Research Methods in Communication (3 cr)
• COM 7365: Ethnographic Methods for Communication Research (3 cr)
• COM 7580: Content Analysis (3 cr)

Foundation Requirements (6 cr):

• COM 6050: New Media Practices (3 cr)
• COM 5520: International Communications (3 cr)

Creative Requirement (3 cr):

Select one of the following:

• COM 5350: Media Arts Production (3 cr)
• COM 5610: Advanced TV Production (3 cr)
• COM 6090: Digital Screen Media (3 cr)
• COM 6410: Allesee Master Class (3 cr)

Capstone plan options (12 cr):

Select one of the following:

• Plan A: COM 8999: Master's Research Thesis* (6 cr); plus electives (6 cr)
• Plan B: COM 7999: Creative Project* or Master's Essay* (3 cr); plus electives (9 cr)
• Plan C: Electives (11 cr) plus COM 6190: Internship (1 cr)

*Please note, this is the most recent curriculum guide for the Media Arts and Studies Program, effective Winter 2019

**Before considering a Creative Project, Masters Essay, or Research Thesis, students should consult with a Media Arts & Studies faculty member.

If you are looking for degree requirements for Media Arts or Media Studies, please click here

Recommended Electives:

(Groupings are for ease in content identification only. Electives should be selected in consultation with an advisor and may include other graduate level courses related to the student's field of study, including those outside of the department.)

• COM 5380: Video Field Production and Editing
• COM 5381: TV News Reporting and Digital Editing
• COM 5390: Digital Animation
• COM 5400Techniques in Film and Video Production
• COM 5440: Film, Cinematography & Lighting COM 5610Advanced Television Production COM 6090Digital Screen Media
• COM 6310: Allesee Lectures in Media
• COM 6390: Documentary Storytelling 1
• COM 6410: Allesee Master Class
• COM 7270: Advanced Screenwriting
• COM 7380: Advanced Media Editing
• COM 7390: Documentary Storytelling 2
• COM 7420: Seminar in Directing

• COM 5010: History of Communication Technologies
• COM 5020: Topics in Film History
• COM 5060: Documentary and Non-Fiction Film and Television
• COM 5330: Rhetoric of Visual Culture
• COM 5510: Societal Effects of New Technologies
• COM 5540: Film Criticism and Theory
• COM 6310: Allesee Lectures in Media
• COM 7500: Seminar in Mass Media
• COM 7510: Seminar in Research Methods
• COM 7520: Theories of Media Effects
• COM 7590: Criticism of Mass Media
• COM 7610: Feminist Media Theory and Criticism
• COM 7700: Mass Media and Political Communication

• COM 5410: Producers Workshop
• COM 6530: Audience Measurement and Survey Techniques
• FPC 5025: Entrepreneurship in the Arts
• THR 7651: Leadership in the Arts
• COM 5130: Communication and Social Marketing
• COM 6220: Dispute Resolution and Communication Technology
• COM 7210: New Media and Strategic Communication
• COM 6190: Internship (1-3 credit hours) A maximum of 3 internship credit hours may count toward electives in the Media Arts and Studies Concentration.