Degree Requirements

The MA in Communication and Media degree requires a minimum of 48 credit hours to earn. Courses include a set of core courses, a methods course, concentration electives in either Applied Communication or Media and Popular Culture, and general electives. Students complete the program with either a comprehensive exam or a project/thesis.

Students in this degree program must meet the following requirements:

• Complete a minimum of 48 graduate credit hours and a degree completion option.
  
• Complete all graduate courses and requirements listed in the designated degree program.
• Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher.

Optional Latino Communication and Media Concentration

The graduate concentration in Latino Communication and Media is comprised of at least three graduate courses drawn from the areas of advertising, journalism, media and cinema studies, multicultural communication, organizational communication and public relations. Graduate students in any of the College of Communication Master of Arts programs can elect to complete the Latino Communication and Media concentration. Students may need to use outside electives to complete this concentration.

• Develop an understanding of the heterogeneous and rapidly changing Latino communities locally, nationally and globally
• Ground their knowledge of intercultural studies within a more extensive and concrete knowledge of a particular (even though diverse), rapidly growing, and increasingly important population within the U.S.
• Increase their cross-cultural competence (understanding and ability to dialogue across difference, develop cultural sensitivity and awareness) with Latino communities
• Enhance their capacity to communicate with and learn from Latino populations in the workplace, in community situations and other sites of engagement
• Recognize the impact of the movement of Latinos across the globe and develop the skills to critically consume and produce media, public relations and advertisement representations that communicate to and about Latino communities
• Develop field-specific knowledge of Latino media and communication along with an understanding of how Latino studies shapes other fields of communication

Courses

* Topic must be related to Latino Communication and Media.

Completion Requirement: Comprehensive Final Exam or Project/Thesis

Students in the Master of Arts in Communication and Media complete their degree requirements by passing a comprehensive final exam. Students who attain a 3.75 GPA or higher and obtain prior approval from the graduate program director have the option to complete a culminating project or thesis instead of the comprehensive final exam. Students completing a project or thesis will enroll in CMNS 599 as their 12th and final course in the quarter they defend their project/thesis.

Grade Requirements

All students are required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.000 in their coursework. If a student's cumulative GPA falls below 3.000, the student will be allowed to complete an additional 16 credits or 3 quarters (whichever comes first) to attain the 3.000 minimum GPA. If the cumulative GPA remains below a 3.000 at the conclusion of this time period, the student may be dismissed from the program. The student's cumulative and term GPAs along with overall academic performance will be factored into the dismissal decision.