2017-2018 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Media, Culture and the Arts Major


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Media, Culture and the Arts Overview


Media, Culture and the Arts combines hands-on media production experiences with the cultural and historical study, and critical analysis of media practice. Students engage with histories and theories of production informed by philosophical, artistic, and technological traditions, while learning to produce creative works that interrogate these traditions. MCA faculty members comprise specialists in the history of media, theorists of media, and practitioners/makers of media.

In the context of this major, the term “media” includes both art works and forms of mass communication; pre-electronic analog through digital forms; performance, broadcast, installations, print (from literature to journalism) and all “new” and developing manifestations. MCA will emphasize the study of media in their historical, economic, social, and political contexts. MCA courses draw on a broad range of cultural theories and historical approaches spanning a spectrum of concerns and historical periods, all centrally relevant to the functioning of media in a diverse and globalizing cultural environment. MCA pushes the boundaries of interdisciplinarity–a triangular nexus of history, theory, and practice, none of which assumes priority over the other.

Media, Culture and the Arts Major Requirements


13 courses required:

  • One Core Course - MCA 101 - Introduction to the Theory, History & Analysis of Media  (Students may count toward their major one MCA course taken prior to taking MCA 101; all other MCA-qualifying courses must be taken either alongside or after MCA 101.  MCA 101 must be taken prior to declaring the major.  A minimum grade of B-minus is required in this course.)
  • Three Media Production Workshops (choose 3 from different program areas)

ARTS 100 - Visual Studies: 2D Design and Color  
ARTS 102 - Drawing: Eye, Mind, Hand    
ARTS 122 - Introduction to Digital Photography 
ARTS 120 - Introduction to Photography  

ARTS 124 - Introduction to Graphic Design  
MCA 282 - Radio Journalism in the Community  
MUSC 121 - Theory I: Principles of Tonal Analysis  
MUSC 141 - Computers and Music  
MUSC 220 - Composition Seminar  
SCRN 107 - Introduction to Digital Filmmaking  
SCRN 145 - Experimental Video Production  
SCRN 214 - Social and Cultural Issue Documentary Production  
TA 219 - Directing Seminar  
TA 230 - Playwriting  

  • Three Histories of Sight & Sound (choose 3, one each from Classical & Early Modern, Modern, and Contemporary categories; each course must be from a different program area)

Classical and Early Modern:
ARTH 109 - Greek Myth and the Classical Ideal in Art  
ARTH 114 - Ancient Cities and Sanctuaries  
ARTH 124 - Italian Art from Giotto to Botticelli  
ARTH 131 - Baroque Art in the Age of Bernini  
ARTH 245 - Urban Art and Society in Jazz Age New York  

Modern:
MUSC 101 - Bach and Before: Studies in Music before 1750   
MUSC 102 - Music of the Classical and Romantic Periods  
MUSC 104 - Music and Modernism in Society, 1885-1945  
SCRN 119 - History of U.S. Film Until 1960  
SCRN 121 - History of International Cinema Until 1960  
SCRN 122 - History of American Broadcasting and Electronic Media  

Contemporary:
ARTH 144 - Art Since 1970  
ARTH 243 - Design in the 20th Century: Arts & Crafts to Ikea  
MUSC 103 - Post-Music  
SCRN 120 - History of U.S. Film Since 1960  
SCRN 124 - History of International Cinema Since 1960  

  • Three Theories of Culture (choose 3 from different program areas)

ARTH 216 - Architecture and Democracy  
ARTH 248 - Gender and Representation  
ARTH 230 - Caravaggio  
ARTS 274 - Contemporary Directions  
MCA 285 - New Media, Youth Action & Social Change  
MUSC 210 - Seminar in Music History and Criticism  
SCRN 168 - Image Theory  
SCRN 217 - Cult Logics  
SCRN 231 - Film Theory  
SCRN 261 - Critical Perspectives on Television  
SCRN 288 - Gender and Film  
TA 211 - Performance Philosophy  

  • Two Creative Intermedia Seminars (choose 2)

ARTS 209 - Motion Graphics  
MUSC 125 - Musical Acoustics  
MUSC 142 - Recording Practice and Audio Art  
MUSC 225 - Jazz and Popular Music Composition and Performance  
MUSC 270 - Senior Tutorial in Computer Music  
SCRN 209 - Genre Production Workshop  
SCRN 210 - Experimental Production Workshop: Glitch Aesthetics  
TA 206 - The Image and the Word  
TA 212 - Actor as Thinker  

  • One Capstone (choose 1) - VAPA Capstone (examples: MUSC 200 , SCRN 291 ) MCA Capstone, or MCA Honors Thesis

 

Media, Culture and the Arts Faculty


Program


Matt Malsky
Hugh Manon
Toby Sisson
Robert Tobin
Kristina Wilson
 

Media, Culture and the Arts Courses


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