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Undergraduate Bulletin College of Arts and Sciences
The Media School

Concentration in Media Technologies, Games and Culture (Bachelor of Arts in Media)

Students on Summer 2023, Fall 2023, or Spring 2024 requirements MDAC06

The Media Technologies, Games, and Culture concentration critically explores the dynamic interplay of technology and culture to better understand the complex social relations at the intersections of diverse user groups, infrastructure and policy, environments, production, design, materials, and practices in both historical and contemporary contexts. Students in the Media Technologies, Games, and Culture concentration learn how to investigate such complexity through a broad range of media technologies (e.g. telecommunication networks, screens, social media platforms, technological artifacts, games); inquire into how particular technologies have operated in distinct historical situations (e.g. games in public spaces in the 1970s, screens in global urban environments, push-buttons in late 19th century America, online services in 1980s France); and address the development and implementation of media technologies as cultural forms in the context of everyday life and use. The concentration provides a range of critical-cultural research methods (including but not limited to media theory, policy studies, game studies, philosophy of technology, historical analyses, and ethnography) that equip students to understand, critique and intervene in the technologically mediated productions, politics, debates, spaces and power relations that construct our contemporary cultures and worlds.  

Requirements

The major requires at least 36 credit hours (12 in the Media Core and 24 in the Concentration), including the requirements listed below.
  1. Media School Core.
    1. Introduction to Media. One (1) course:
      • MSCH-C 101 Media
    2. Making Media.
      • MSCH-C 241 Watching Film
    3. Managing Media. One (1) course:
      • MSCH-C 200 The Videogame Industry: Systems and Management
      • MSCH-C 207 Introduction to Media Industry and Management
    4. Thinking Media. One (1) course:
      • MSCH-C 249 Media Technologies and Culture
  2. Concentration.
    1. Thinking about Cultures. One (1) course:
      • MSCH-C 215 History of Videogames
      • MSCH-C 247 Screen Cultures
    2. Required Courses. Seven (7) courses:
      • MSCH-A 315 Advertising and Consumer Culture
      • MSCH-D 301 Media Technologies and Culture II
      • MSCH-D 302 Games, Culture, and Society
      • MSCH-D 331 Social Media Cultures
      • MSCH-D 332 Media Technology and Difference
      • MSCH-D 337 Digital Media
      • MSCH-D 413 Global Screen Cultures
      • MSCH-G 320 Game Art and Sound
      • MSCH-H 300 Honors Media Law in the Digital Age
      • MSCH-H 310 Honors Media Topics (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • MSCH-H 410 Honors Media as Social Institutions
      • MSCH-J 300 Communications Law
      • MSCH-M 310 Disruptors: Internet Industries
      • MSCH-M 322 Internet Ecosystems
      • MSCH-T 311 History of Electronic Media
      • MSCH-V 334 Current Topics in Media (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • MSCH-X 360 The Media School in Los Angeles
      • MSCH-X 373 Media Internship in Los Angeles
      • MSCH-X 478 Field Experience in Media (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
    3. Additional Requirements.
      • At least nine (9) credit hours in the concentration must be at the 300–499 level.
      • Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the concentration.
      • A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the concentration—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
  3. Major GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
    1. Major GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
    2. Major Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
    3. Major Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
    4. Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
    5. College Breadth. At least 58 credit hours must be completed in courses from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines outside of the major area.

Major Area Courses

  • Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:

    • Any course at the 100–499 level with the MSCH prefix—as well as any other subject areas that are deemed functionally equivalent
    • Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
    • Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
    • Any course, consistent with the policies herein, that is part of a concentration, track, and/or specialization being pursued as part of this academic program
Exclusions

The following courses cannot be applied toward major requirements or the College Breadth requirement:

  • None

    • This program of study cannot be combined with the following:

    • Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (JOURBAJ)
    • Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cinematic Arts (CINEARTBFA)
    • Bachelor of Science in Game Design (GAMEDSGNBS)
    • Certificate in New Media and Interactive Storytelling (NMISTACRT1)
    • Minor in Black Cinema and Media Studies (BLKCNMDMIN)
    • Minor in Cinema and Media Studies (CNMDASTMIN)
    • Minor in Fashion Media (FAMEDIAMIN)
    • Minor in Film Production (FILMPRDMIN)
    • Minor in Game Design (GAMEDSNMIN)
    • Minor in Global Media (GLVMDIAMIN)
    • Minor in Media and Creative Advertising (MDCRADMIN)
    • Minor in Media and Diversity (MDIADIVMIN)
    • Minor in Media Law and Ethics (MDLWETMIN)
    • Minor in Media Persuasion (MDIAPRSMIN)
    • Minor in Media, Sex and Gender (MDGNDRMIN)
    • Minor in Public Relations (PBLCRELMIN)
    • Minor in Sports Media (SPORTMDMIN)
    • [Name unavailable] (NMISTACRT)

    Exceptions to and substitutions for major requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.