BA in Journalism and Media and Screen Studies

A BA in Journalism and Media and Screen Studies is designed for the student who is interested in pursuing a career as a journalist specializing in the film industry. Media and Screen Studies educate students in the analysis and production of media. Taught from a liberal arts perspective, a Media and Screen Studies degree gives students the ability to think critically about the continually changing media industry and the complex world in which it exists, and to apply that knowledge to media production. The Media and Screen Studies program in the College of Arts, Media and Design offers courses on the analysis of a wide range of media (film, TV, digital, music). Required courses provide students with the critical thinking skills necessary to better understand media content, media technology, and media production. Our production courses give students the skills to make film (documentary and fiction), video, and television. Media and Screen Studies is a challenging degree that is not limited to what is traditionally offered at a film school or in a visual and performing arts degree. It gives students the tools to become engaged citizens equipped to meet the challenges of living in a global culture defined by technological and social change. The BA in Media and Screen Studies combines analysis and practice. It is up to individual students to decide how many production and analysis courses they want to take. Choosing from a broad range of electives a student could take more than half their degree in media and film production courses. Or a student could choose a majority of courses that apply critical thinking to media industries, media content, and media technology. This combination of analysis with production within one degree is based on the belief that to be innovative you need continual exposure to new ways of thinking, and to actively participate in the world you need to be able to imagine new possibilities.