Media Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Do you ever wonder how the media impact how we live our lives, interact with others, see the world around us, and think about ourselves? Or how the technologies we use to communicate have changed cultures, organizations, and human relationships? In media studies, we aim to answer questions like these and more by examining the relationships between the media and the people who use them.
Interested in how people use communication to shape the world in which we live? Want to document history as it happens or help communities and organizations communicate through technology and media? These are the kinds of things students in communication and journalism do. This department offers opportunities to speak, argue, write, perform, document, narrate and visualize. Students learn about responsibilities, consequences and power dynamics involved in the way societies and cultures communicate.
Founded in 1915, the Department of Communication was one of the first of its kind in the country. Its programs are among the most popular on campus. The department is the second largest in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Part of that popularity is because these degree programs are flexible and pair well with many other minors and majors. Majors pursue secondary areas in art; business; English; environmental sciences; foreign languages; history; political science; professional writing; psychology; sociology; women’s, gender, and sexuality studies; and more. Communication is a fundamental part of human activity, and is relevant to any area of interest.
Graduates work in all forms of organizations — public, private and academic — because communication is a fundamental part of human activity. Recent graduates have taken positions with sports teams, news agencies, businesses, banks, medical centers and nonprofits. Some graduates work in more traditional human resource or public relations areas, while others are involved in event planning, fundraising, political organizing, community development and entrepreneurship. Other students continue their education at graduate school.
Our alumni include a Pulitzer Prize winner, directors of human resources at major medical institutions, public school teachers, professors, university administrators, and nationally recognized journalists at NPR and Grantland.
Students intern at media outlets, hospitals, television and radio stations, sports franchises, financial institutions, public agencies and nonprofit organizations across the state and country. Journalism students are required to intern to earn their degree. Multiple scholarships recognize excellence in journalism, such as the annual Grady Award and the Oak Award, a public speaking contest held each semester. Since 2001, the Department of Communication and Journalism also has had an active chapter of Lamba Pi Eta, the national honor society
Media Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Dunn Hall