BA Media Studies at University of California, Berkeley

The Media Studies major integrates perspectives from liberal arts, social sciences, and humanities and offers an interdisciplinary framework to understand the essential role that media plays in economic, social, political, and cultural life. It weds traditions from communication, history, anthropology, sociology, political science and more with critical theories and cultural studies to analyze the role and meaning of media in our societies. Our emphasis in this major is historical and theoretical, examining media systems, institutions, technologies, policies, and practices.

Faculty: College of Letters & Science  |  Department: Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies  |  Duration: 4 years  |  Study mode: full-time  |  Location: Berkeley, CA, United States

What you will study

Major requirements are organised as: Lower Division Requirements (Requirements, Introduction to Media Studies, Post Civil War U.S. History, American Institutions, Introduction to Social Sciences and Humanities); Core Courses (Media History, Media Theories and Processes, Media and Democracy, Media and Globalization); Digital Studies Concentration (DS.1 Research Methodologies, DS. 2 Virtual Communities and Social Media, DS 3: Digital Projects and Digital Storytelling); Global Cultural Studies Concentration (GCS.1 Research Methodologies, GCS.2 Visual Culture, GCS.3 Popular Culture); Media Law and Policy Concentration (MLP.1 Research Methodologies, MLP.2 Institutions, MLP.3 Citizenship); Upper Division Electives: All Concentrations (Additional Electives). Students must complete each lower division course with a letter grade.

Career pathways

Graduates enter career areas including Arts & Entertainment, Business, Communications, Education, Law & Public Policy.

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