2007-08 - Pitzer College

MEDIA STUDIES
MEDIA STUDIES
Media Studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the histories, technologies, and
social and cultural contexts of a range of contemporary media forms, including
mechanical and electronic media such as film, video, television, print, and the Internet as
well as other contemporary forms of culture. Media Studies at The Claremont Colleges
presents students with an integrated approach to media production and the critical study
of the media, seeking to understand the present state of media practices through an examination
of their historical and technological development, an analysis of their genres, and a
rigorous investigation of the theoretical approaches that have been brought both to the
creative practices of media producers and the critical practices used by contemporary scholars.
Production is a key element of the Media Studies major, but the mode of production
studied at The Claremont Colleges is not oriented toward traditional narrative film or
television, or toward commercial models of new media; rather, this major stresses
“independent” narrative forms, documentary, video and digital art, and communitybased
media practice, seeking to confront not only the ways that the media construct the
contemporary cultural environment, but also the ways in which we as producers and
consumers are all constituted by the same cultural formations that we seek to challenge.
Above all, the major seeks to explore the media from a perspective that eliminates the
traditional boundaries between disciplines and between media theory and media production,
thus illuminating new ways of seeing, thinking, and communicating in the world.
Pitzer Advisers: A. Juhasz, G. Lamb, J. Lerner, M-Y. Ma., T. MacLean.
Requirements for the Major
The Media Studies major requires the completion of 11 courses, with a concentration in
Film/Video, Digital/Electronic Media, or Critical Studies.
All Media Studies majors will complete the following courses. Courses listed as fulfilling
each requirement are subject to change, and other courses may be counted toward those
requirements with approval of the Curriculum Committee.
1. One introductory critical/theoretical course:
MS 49 PO, Intro to Media Studies or Art 179 SC, Media Studies in Visual Culture
MS 50 PZ, MS 50HM, or Lit 130 CM, Language of Film
MS 51 PO, Introduction to New Media
2. One introductory production course:
Art 20 PO, Photography I
Art 24 PO, Digital Art I
Art 141 SC, Introduction to Digital Imaging
Art 143 SC, Digital Color Photography
Art 145 SC, Beginning Photography
Art 148 SC, Introduction to Video
MS 82 PZ, Introduction to Film and Video Production
MS 182s HMC, Introduction to Video Production
3. One course in media history:
Lit 131 CM, Film History I (1925-1965)
161