Media Studies Major

Requirements for the Major

The Media Studies major requires the completion of 12 total courses: 3 introductory courses, 6 intermediate level courses, 2 advanced level courses, and a Senior Seminar. 

Courses designated as fulfilling each requirement in the course list below are subject to change and other courses may be counted toward those requirements by petition to the IMS curriculum committee. For an up-to-date list of all approved courses, their designations and current course offerings, please see the IMS Website.

Three Introductory Courses

Students take three introductory courses to introduce them to Media Studies theory and practice. Two thirds of courses in this area must be completed before moving to intermediate level courses and all should be completed by end of junior year.

1. Introduction to Media Studies: MS 049 PZ, MS 049 PO, or MS 049 SC

2. Introduction to Film: MS 050 PZ, MS 050 PO, or LIT 130 CM

3. One introductory production course from the following:

Introduction to Video Art: Art 148 SC, MS 82 PZ, MS 182 HM, or LIT 30 CM
ART 020 PO: Black and White Photography
ART 021 PO: Foundations of 2D Design
ART 116 SC: Intro to Digital Photo
ART 141 SC: Introduction to Digital Art
ART 145 SC: Intro B/W Darkroom Photo or Intro to Black and White Photography
MS 38 SC: Machine Learning for Artists
MS 53 SC: Intro to Computational Media
MS 55 PZ: Digital Storytelling
MS 57 SC: Intro to Game Design
MS 58 PZ: Intro Digital Sound Production
MS 59 SC: Intro to Python and Viz (formerly Alt Comp Sci: Analogs/Algorithms)
MS 60 PZ: Algorithmic Art (formerly Creative Coding)
MS 159 SC: Fundamentals of Computational Photography (formerly Computational Photography I)

Six Courses in Intermediate Theory and Practice

Students take six intermediate level courses to broaden their knowledge and skills within Media Studies and related fields. A minimum of three courses must come from the intermediate theory/practice courses listed in the catalog and IMS program materials, with at least one being a theory course. A second introductory production course may be taken as one of the six required intermediate courses. A maximum of three crosslisted courses from outside the Media Studies intermediate theory/practice list is permitted. Students who study abroad can bring back two courses to the intermediate level with IMS approval.

Theory:

AFRI 144A PO: Black Women, Feminism, and the Arts
ARHI 141A PO: (Re)present Africa: Art, History, Film
ARHI 144B PO: Daughters Africa Art Cinema Love
ARHI 178 PO: Black Aesthetics/Political (Re)presentation
ARHI 186L PO: Critical Race Theory/Representation
ARHI 186W: Interrogating Whiteness: Race, Sex, Representation
LIT 131 CM: Film History I (1925-1965)
LIT 132 CM: Film History II (1965-Present)
LIT 134 CM: Special Studies in Film
LIT 136 CM: American Film Genres - The Hollywood Western
LIT 138 CM: Film and Mass Culture
LIT 139 CM: Film Theory
MS 52 PZ: Introduction to Sound Studies
MS 70 PZ: Media and Social Change
MS 71 PO: Conspiracy and Media
MS 73 PZ/PO: Capitalism, Technology & Race
MS 079 PZ: Silent Film
MS 88 PZ: Mexican Visual Cultures
MS 89D PO: Popular Cultures and Audiences
MS 091 PO: History of American Broadcasting
MS 92 PO: Principles of Television Study
MS 97 PZ: Contemporary US Media (formerly American Media in Trump Era)
MS 98 PZ: Media of the Middle East
MS 100 AA: Asian Americans in Media
MS 101 PZ: Asian American Media in Communities
MS 111 PZ: Perspectives on Photography
MS 112 PZ: Anthropology of Media
MS 114 PZ: Film Sound
MS 120 HM: Animal Media Studies
MS 120 PO: Disability and Media
MS 120 PZ: Social/Media
MS 120 SC: Video Games & Media Discourse
MS 123 PZ: Embodying Identity in Practice
MS 124 PO: Self-Representation of Islam and the Middle East in US Media
MS 125 PO: Critical Game Studies
MS 124 PO: Self-Representation of Islam and the Middle East in US Media
MS 124 PZ: K-Pop and Digital Culture
MS 125 PO: Critical Game Studies
MS 126: Media Ecologies & Energies
MS 131 PO: The “Two” in Media
MS 135 PO: Romantic Comedy: Ethics and Aesthetics
MS 138 SC: Media and the Environment
MS 141 PO: Cinema, Sensation, and the Body
MS 142 PO: Queer Visions, Queer Theory
MS 146 PO: Temperature of the Moving Image
MS 148G PO: Film Theory
MS 153 PO: The Original Television Series
MS 175 PO: “Horro” and The American Horror Film

Practice:

ART 134 SC: Traditional and Digital Printmaking (formerly Between Analog+Digital Printmaking)
ART 142 SC: Intermediate Digital Art
ART 147 SC: Intermediate/Advanced Digital Photography
ART 149 SC: Intermediate Video Art
MS 48 PZ: (Digital) Media Ethnography
MS 54 SC: Intermediate Computational Media
MS 77 PZ: Short Screenwriting
MS 78 PZ: Intermediate Media Projects
MS 87 PZ: Media Sketchbook
MS 107 PZ: Mythologies: Video + Performance
MS 131 SC: Interactive Narrative Design
MS 160 SC: Computational Photography II

Two Courses in Advanced Theory and Practice

Students will take two courses in advanced theory/practice to develop depth as well as breadth. These courses need to come from the advanced/theory practice course list in the catalog and IMS program materials.

Theory:

ART 181 SC: Topics Seminar in Studio Art
LIT 84 CM: Lyric Voice in Modern American Literature and Film
LIT 135 CM: Alfred Hitchcock
LIT 137 CM: Gay and Lesbian Cinema in the U.S.
MS 115 PZ: Sound, Art, and Power
MS 117 PZ: Celebrity Culture (formerly Fan Culture and Celebrity)
MS 121 PZ: Cultural Politics of Self Care
MS 122 PZ: Popular Feminism
MS 123-JT: Body Media
MS 128 PZ: Disaster Media
MS 130 SC: New Media Research Studio
MS 132 SC: Theories of Interaction
MS 140 PO: Screening Violence
MS 147B PO: Body, Representation, Desire
MS 147H PO: Reality, Realism, & the Real
MS 148D: Powers of Pleasure
MS 148F PO: Global Cinema
MS 149G PO: Theory & Aesthetics -Television
MS 149T PO: Seminar: Critical Studies - Core Theories in Media Studies
MS 150 PO: Seriality
MS 180: The War Film

Practice:

ART 143 SC: Advanced Digital Art
ART 144: Digital Fabrication in Fine Art
ART 150 SC: Installation Art
MS 045 PZ: Documentary Media
MS 84 PZ: Handmade Film
MS 90 PZ: Ecodocumentary
MS 93 PZ: Experimental Media Studies
MS 99 PZ: Advanced Editing
MS 170 HM: Digital Cinema: Experimental Animation
MS 194 PZ: Media Arts for Social Justice

A senior seminar

Students complete their capstone by enrolling in a topical seminar in the fall or spring of their senior year.

MS 190A-Z-JT: Senior Seminar: Topics

Honors

A Scripps student who wishes to graduate with honors in Media Studies must:

Achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.67 in the major.
Earn a grade of A in their capstone course.
Be nominated for honors by IMS faculty.

Double Major

Students must complete the requirements for both majors, including any theses or honors requirements. Normally, no more than two courses can be counted to fulfill the requirements in both fields.

Dual Major

Students combining Media Studies with a second major intending to complete a single senior thesis must integrate the skills and knowledge of both disciplines. The thesis must be cooperatively reviewed, read and graded by one faculty reader from each discipline; one of the two readers must be a Scripps faculty member. Dual majors may pursue honors in either or both majors. Fall or spring thesis enrollment (depending on the discipline of the other major) will be in ID 191D.