Media & Popular Culture Concentration Requirements

From Barbie to Beyoncé, from theater screen to smartphone, via local network or streaming platform, from fan fiction to fan convention, and traversing borders of nation and continent, popular media culture influences the everyday world around us. Making sense of the always shifting array of media-centered leisure activities and cultural expressions in this “everyday world” is the focus of the Concentration in Media and Popular Culture.

Popular media culture is also the place where contemporary issues often surface, so the ability to decode, interpret, and articulate informed assertions about this culture requires a specific set of analytical skills. The Media and Popular Culture concentration provides the theoretical knowledge, historical grounding, and methodological instruction for analyzing and understanding the appeal of cultural phenomena in cinema, television, music, and new media. The concentration also provides students with critical thinking skills that potential employers highly value.

In our interdisciplinary graduate seminars, students investigate such topics as media theory, fan culture, diversity and inclusion, media literacy, media histories and industries, and media and cultural politics. Incorporating both the aesthetic and the political dimensions of popular culture, our courses also examine the social impact of new media technologies and media’s role in the formation of identities.

The concentration will be interest to those who are preparing for Ph.D. programs in media studies, cinema and television studies, and popular cultural studies. Many of our graduates have also gone on to pursue careers in such areas as media content production, copywriting, and social media messaging. With its emphasis upon learning to structure defensible arguments and to excel at problem-solving, the program also serves as most suitable preparation for any career that requires such skills.

Course Requirements

The MA in Communication and Media with a concentration in Media and Popular Culture requires a total of 12 courses, 48 credit hours, for completion. Students must complete the following requirements:

• Three core courses
• One methods course
• Four Media and Popular Culture electives
• One Applied Communication elective
• Three graduate level electives

Media and Popular Culture Concentration Core Courses

Media and Popular Culture Concentration Methods Requirement

Media and Popular Culture Concentration Elective Courses

Students must take a minimum of 4 Media and Popular Culture electives (16 credit hours). Topics courses can be taken multiple times for credit as long as the specific topic differs each time. 

 Applied Communication Elective

Students in the Media and Popular Culture concentration must take a minimum of 1 Applied Communication Elective (4  credits). 

General Electives

Students in the Media and Popular Culture Concentration must take a minimum of 3 general electives (12 credits). These electives can come from any of the Media and Popular Culture concentration electives, any of the Applied Communication concentration electives, and up to 2 electives can be an outside elective from a graduate program outside of Communication and Media. Outside electives must be approved by advisor or graduate program director. 

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