Cultural Studies and Communication Major

Cultural Studies and Communication Overview

 The Cultural Studies and Communication Program (CSAC) offers a unique interdisciplinary major and minor at Clark University - emphasizing human communication, broadly conceived as the exchange of information through linguistic, nonlinguistic, representational, or technological means. Courses focus on the complex relationship between communication and culture, via critical and comparative examinations of media, local and global cultural processes, and social institutions. The CSAC major offers students a vigorously interdisciplinary program of study that examines the cultural foundations underlying the vast communication phenomena that we experience daily. The program encourages students to think analytically about human communication, to integrate concepts and ideas with professional practices, and to engage in original projects and research, equipping students with the tools to become engaged citizens, generators of new knowledge, and 21st century leaders.

At the heart of the CSAC program is what might be thought of as “cultural and ideological critique.” CSAC students interrogate texts, messages, media, and practices - exploring the many ways that what appears “normal” and “natural” is actually socially constructed (through media, schools, and institutional practices, as well as through moment-to-moment social interactions via conversation, gesture, fashion, even eating). We are particularly interested in the ways that social practices (often mediated through new digital tools) can create oppression and injustice or open up spaces of opportunity and liberation.
 

For more information, please visit the Cultural Studies and Communication Program’s website.

Cultural Studies and Communication Major

The CSAC major is designed with a developmental trajectory to assure intellectual coherence, rigor, and a pathway toward increasing expertise. CSAC 101 must be successfully completed before any 200 level “Theories of Culture” courses can be taken for credit. At least 1 “Problems of Practice” course must be completed before taking the Senior Capstone Seminar, Project or Thesis, which must be taken in the senior year. The “Chronologies,” “Methodologies,” and “Engaging in Practice” courses may be taken at any time, but some electives will have their own prerequisites as well. Internships are typically taken no earlier than the junior year. In order to complete the major within four years, you will need to plan your course of study carefully, with support from your faculty advisor. This is especially important if you plan to take a semester abroad, something that we encourage all majors to consider seriously. Note that all courses for the major must be passed with a grade of C or better.
 

When you declare CSAC as your major, you have one month to write 2 short (1-2 page) essays, and submit an academic paper from a previous course that you are particalarly proud of

1. A “retrospective” essay, explaining how you arrived at this moment in your intellectual journey.  What experiences (at Clark or before and/or beyond Clark) brought you to the CSAC major?  Who or what has influenced you?  How did you find your passion and voice in making this decision?
2. A “prospective” essay, imagining yourself in the future.  What are your dreams and plans for the future, and how do you imagine that the CSAC Program will prepare you for the world after Clark?  Who do you imagine you will be and what will you be doing, and where does CSAC figure in this?
3. Select a paper you’ve written for a course at Clark that relates to communication and/or culture, and that shows your strengths as a reader, thinker, and writer (not necessarily an A paper).  Submit the paper with your instructor’s comments and grade, along with the prompt or assignment the paper was in response to.  Write a thoughtful commentary about why you selected this paper, and how you think it highlights your strengths as a reader, thinker, and writer (as well as places where you see weaknesses or areas where you’d like to improve as a writer).  Note specific evidence in the paper that shows you are becoming a member of a community of thinkers who look at problems and issues from a “cultural studies” perspective.

These essays will be the first items entered into your CSAC digital portfolio.

Major Requirements

 The CSAC major is an 11-course sequence:

• 1 Foundation Course – CSAC 101 (or CSAC 050 - a First-Year Intensive option)
• 3 Chronologies courses (historical lenses on media):
• 1 course in Chronologies I (Pre-2oth Century Print, Material Culture, Music, and Art History)
• 1 course in Chronologies II (20th Century Film, TV, Radio, Print, Music, Art, Photography)
• 1 course in Chronologies III (21st Century Internet, Social Media, New Digital Literacies)
• 2 Theory-Intensive Courses (at least 1 at the 200-level)
• 2 Methodologies (at least 1 Qualitative)
• 1 Engaging in Practice Course
• 1 Problems of Practice Course
• 1 Capstone or Honors Thesis

Cultural Studies and Communication Faculty

Michael Bamberg, Ph.D.
Parminder Bhachu, Ph.D.
Ramon Borges-Mendez, Ph.D.
Eric DeMeuleanere, Ph.D.
Odile Ferly, Ph.D.
Betsy Huang, Ph.D.
Benjamin Korstvedt, Ph.D.
Stephanie Larrieux, Ph.D.
Stephen Levin, Ph.D.
Matthew Malsky, Ph.D.
Hugh Manon, Ph.D.
Sarah Michaels, Ph.D.
Debra Osnowitz, Ph.D.
Jie Park, Ph.D.
Laurie Ross, Ph.D.
Rhys Townsend, Ph.D.

Amy Whitney, M.B.A.

Kristina Wilson, Ph.D.

Cultural Studies and Communication Courses

Courses offered within the last 2 Academic Years