Media, Culture, and the Arts, B.A.
Curriculum
The Bachelor of Arts in Media, Culture, and the Arts requires 13 courses organized into five distinct categories. Together they form a coherent education in the production, cultural context and meaning of media.
Core foundation
Every media, culture, and the arts student begins with MCA 101: Introduction to the Theory, History and Analysis of Media — the anchor of the major and a prerequisite for declaring.
Media Production Workshops
Three courses, from different program areas
These hands-on courses develop practical skills across disciplines. Options span visual art, photography, graphic design, digital filmmaking, documentary production, music composition, theater, audio production, digital 3D modeling, and journalism. By working across different areas, students develop fluency across a broad range of media.
Histories of Sight and Sound
Three courses — from Classical and early modern, modern, and contemporary periods; each from a different program area
These courses examine media within their historical, cultural, and social context. You’ll move across time periods and disciplines — art history, music history, film history, literary history — developing skills in critical analysis. Courses include Bach and Baroque Art, the History of U.S. Film Since 1960, the History of Game Development, and Post-Music.
Theories of Culture
Two courses from different program areas
These seminars examine how culture is defined, expressed, and disseminated through media. How is meaning produced? How do relations of power, ideology, race, class, and gender manifest in media forms across historical periods and locations? Courses range from Hip Hop and Social Identity to Meme Culture and Comedy Theory, Gender and Film, Ecologies in Crisis, and From Wagnerism to Nazism — a range that reflects the breadth of the media, culture, and the arts program.
Creative Intermedia Seminars
Two courses
Creative intermedia seminars are the signature courses of the media, culture and the arts major. Each seminar investigates a focused, conceptually ambitious subject that spans two or more disciplines — and every creative intermedia seminar culminates in a public demonstration of student work. These courses are where history, theory, and practice come together in a fully collaborative setting that encourages bold thinking. Options include animation and motion graphics, podcasting, soundtracks, interactive theater, portfolio development, and acting for film and television.
Capstone
Senior year culminates in either the Visual and Performing Arts capstone course or a media, culture and the arts honors thesis/project. Both require advanced independent or collaborative work that addresses a significant issue or theme — and both involve a public demonstration of the work.
