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Media Studies Track, Professional Communication BA

College of Liberal Arts / Professional Communication
Undergraduate major / Bachelor of Arts

About The Program

The Media Studies major is designed to merge practical application of media technology and production practices with a basis for practice built on critical thinking and awareness of the latest in media theory. As a Media Studies major, you obtain broadly applicable skills and knowledge for a wide variety of communications careers.

Professionals with a degree in Media Studies apply their sophisticated knowledge of media theories, digital production skills, and analytical abilities to plan and create media-based communication solutions for corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and advocacy campaigns. 

Student outcomes

  • Deliver effective presentations through a variety of media formats.
  • Write an effective paper.
  • Demonstrate effective critical thinking.
  • Know and apply leading media theories.

Related minors

How to enroll

Current students: Declare this program

Once you’re admitted as an undergraduate student and have met any further admission requirements your chosen program may have, you may declare a major or declare an optional minor.

Future students: Apply now

Apply to Metropolitan State: Start the journey toward your Media Studies Track, Professional Communication BA now. Learn about the steps to enroll or, if you have questions about what Metropolitan State can offer you, request information, visit campus or chat with an admissions counselor.

Get started on your Media Studies Track, Professional Communication BA

Program eligibility requirements

Any student admitted to Metropolitan State University may declare the Media Studies Track, Professional Communication, BA as a major.

Courses and Requirements

SKIP TO COURSE REQUIREMENTS

36 credits

Students should complete the Media Studies track course work in the order it is listed below. After completing the Foundational and Initial Courses students may concurrently take courses from the Media & Culture area, the Media Production area, and the Electives.

Courses

+ Prerequisite

Choose one

Students learn public speaking principles and techniques well enough to prepare, deliver, and evaluate informative and persuasive speeches. Videotaping and self-assessment are integral components of this class as is writing. Some speeches require students to research and critically analyze information. The six to eight class presentations include topics pertaining to the corporate world, community life, the political arena or human services. Students are expected to write well and will outline each presentation. Overlap: COMM 103P Public Speaking Proficiency Test.

Full course description for Public Speaking

This assessment is designed for students who wish to have prior learning in public speaking evaluated. Students who participate serve as an audience for other students. Assessment covers the student's knowledge and application of the theories and techniques of preparation, presentation and evaluation of public speeches. This assessment is evaluated satisfactory/nonsatisfactory only. No other letter grade is assigned. Overlap: COMM 103 Public Speaking Proficiency Test.

Full course description for Public Speaking Proficiency Test

+ Foundational Coursework

A student completing this course understands the process of finding, synthesizing, evaluating, and documenting sufficient and reliable information appropriate to a variety of purposes including upper division coursework, senior capstone papers or professional writing, and communication tasks. Students also explore a number of the contemporary issues surrounding information in society, have opportunities to use and/or visit primary resource collections and learn a variety of research techniques. Specific sections of the course will structure assignments around a course theme identified in the class schedule. Prior themes have included Civil Rights, Holocaust and Genocide, Crime and Punishment, Food, Immigration, and Health Care. Both themed and non-themed sections are offered every semester as are online and in-class sections.

Full course description for Searching for Information

Intercultural Communication has a global perspective and engages students in reflectively thinking about the growing interdependence of nations and peoples. Students develop their ability to apply a comparative perspective to cross-cultural communication episodes in interpersonal interactions. Students research topics of interest that compare two or more cultures in some aspect of their social, economic, or political values and practices. Through field experiences, in class exercises, and readings, students learn the dynamics and skills needed to engage in respectful and sensitive communication with others whose beliefs, values, and attitudes are different than their own.

Full course description for Intermediate Intercultural Communication

Designed as an introduction to visual literacy, this course surveys many of the media formats that define today's image-dominant culture. Various examples of print advertising, photography, film, television and multimedia are explored; the focus is equally on principles and concepts from both the fine and applied arts, and draws from history as well as the present day.

Full course description for Visual Communication

+ Media & Culture Area

Students select 8 credits from the following options:

This course is designed to introduce students to their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom to petition. It will also explore citizens' corresponding responsibilities and our frequent disagreements over these rights and responsibilities. Through course assignments students will develop a greater capacity to engage in civic activities by understanding the First Amendment, being able to more fully articulate their personal view of their First Amendment rights and responsibilities, refining their research and analysis skills, and developing their expertise in oral argumentation.

Full course description for Individual Rights and Public Discourse

Whether the well-known Sundance Film Festival, well-respected Cannes Film Festival or less-appreciated LUNAFEST, film festivals are celebrations of film and public relations devices fostering broader respect and wider dissemination of films of all genres and modes of production. By attending a local film festival (often the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival) or several smaller film festivals students will gain an appreciation of the film festival experience and understand how festivals rely on film criticism to cultivate broader film appreciation, stimulate fan culture, emphasize auteur acculturation and contribute to social change. As students view films at the festival they will also develop acuity as film critics and hone their skills in creating film reviews in a variety of forms.

Full course description for Cinema in the Cities: Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival

This course examines the influence of television, radio, film and new media on children and the family. Students discuss the unique production considerations involved when producing a media program for children and explore the research on media literacy, media violence, advertising, education, online privacy, gender roles, new technology and the child's response to programming. Includes critical viewing of media programs produced for children on broadcast and cable television, video, radio, computer, feature films, video games as well as international programs for children.

Full course description for Children, Adolescents and the Media

This course introduces students to early conventions of representing women's lives on film, tracing how those representations changed and expanded the 1930s to the present. Focusing on the genre of "the woman's film," students will learn specific film analytic approaches and recognize how technical components of film-making affect narrative, character, subtext, and theme to influence how an audience responds to stories about women. The trajectory of the course ends in examining changes in the woman's film when representations of women become more diverse, and as more women participate in screenwriting and film-making. Assignments in the course will develop the student's ability to write critically about film, tying mechanical techniques to narrative analysis, using contemporary film theory to advance the student's own thesis on depictions of women in particular films.

Full course description for Women in Film

An opportunity for students to explore the world, world cultures and film traditions, and world issues through films from around the globe. The goal is to enrich students' film and cultural understanding of selected parts of the contemporary world.

Full course description for World Cinema

+ Media Production Area

Students select 8 credits from the following options:

Digital storytelling is a growing area of multimodal communication that is part of a larger movement to empower communities and voices through the use of digital tools and platforms. Digital stories are short videos that combine narration, images (still and moving), sound effects, and music to tell a compelling story. Students will create two digital stories: a personal story and a story that promotes a cause or organization (e.g., a Kickstarter-style video). The process will include multiple rough cuts and a final version of each video, as well as extensive instructor and peer feedback.

Full course description for Digital Storytelling

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to effectively promote and advocate for events, organizations, or issues using a variety of social media and multi-media. Students will combine online writing (or blogging) with other forms of social networking and media (wikis, YouTube, Facebook, and/or Twitter) to build a comprehensive online initiative promoting a timely and relevant issue or event either of their choosing or provided by the instructor. Students will increase their knowledge of online rhetoric, audience research, planning for media events, script or treatment writing, and evaluation of communication programs.

Full course description for Communicating with New Media

This course explores radio/audio and you learn about podcast creation, international radio programs for development and digital storytelling. Students learn the craft of writing for the ear which can be translated to professional work in broadcast media, advertising, speechwriting or work as an independent artist. Through work as writers, directors and voice talent, students produce projects that range from short dialogue pieces and storytelling to news documentaries, podcast and radio plays.

Full course description for Podcasting: Writing and Producing for Audio/Radio

The course introduces the principles and practices of electronic filmmaking as a personal and creative art form. Students will engage in exercises and projects to explore and understand editing, camera work, light, composition, and sound. A variety of cinematic forms will be examined. Student screenplays may be produced. Students will film and edit individual creative projects.

Full course description for Film Production and Editing I

+ Electives

Students select 8 credits from the electives to complete their major. Students interested in completing an internship must apply and register for an internship (MDST 350I) BEFORE registering for WRIT 010. For information on internships please consult with your advisor or the Internship Coordinator at internships@metrostate.edu.

This course covers theory and practice of communication in small task-oriented groups. Communication topics include team management, models of group problem solving and decision making, leadership, building cohesiveness, resolving conflict, managing diverse views, negotiating roles, and norms. Students learn to interact productively in small task groups as members and leaders. Numerous group activities, group assignments and laboratory work require an extended class time and group meetings outside of class. Overlap: COMM 351T Communication in Work Groups Theory Seminar.

Full course description for Communication in Work Groups

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the health care industry and the theory and practice of face to face and mediated forms of communication by health care administrators, managers, providers, and patients. Students will analyze both common and best practices in health care campaigns, training, public relations, patient satisfaction, patient advocacy, administration, media covering health issues, and public education. Significant focus is given to issues of race and racism, and how social constructions of race and racism affect perspectives and create disparities in health care access, communication, and outcomes experienced by different populations.

Full course description for Health Communication

This course focuses on designing, implementing, and evaluating communication campaigns designed to impact the beliefs and behaviors of people with the goal of improving health outcomes. In order to prepare Health Communication professions for work on health campaigns, the course will address identifying critical health concerns, exploring the populations and sub-populations affected, determining beliefs and/or behaviors to strategically target, developing persuasive messages, selecting specific media, and evaluating the effectiveness of the health communication campaign. Different persuasion theories and approaches will be explored, and logic models will be developed for campaigns.

Full course description for Advanced Health Communication: Campaigns

This course is designed to provide insights into digital marketing strategy and various digital channels. Students will gain an understanding of the trends, concepts, and tools of digital marketing that companies use to engage with current customers and attract new. This course covers topics such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), online advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, and similar topics.

Full course description for Digital Marketing

This course focuses on the multidisciplinary field of environmental communication and helps students understand the ways in which environmental issues and conflicts develop, the values underlying the ideologies on these issues, the ways in which these values are presented, and the variety of scientific and technical communication genres involved in understanding environmental communication messages. Significant focus is given to issues of race and racism.

Full course description for Environmental Communication