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| Media Studies | |
| MDST 150 | Special Topics in Media Studies (0) |
| Special Topics in Media Studies. | |
| MDST 1001T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Artistic, Interpretive, and Philosophical Inquiry. | |
| MDST 1002T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Cultures and Societies of the World. | |
| MDST 1003T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to MDSTorical Perspectives. | |
| MDST 1004T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Social and Economic Systems. | |
| MDST 1005T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Chemical, MDSTematical, and Physical Inquiry | |
| MDST 1006T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Living Systems. | |
| MDST 1007T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Science and Society | |
| MDST 1559 | New Course in Media Studies (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Media Studies. Course was offered Summer 2011 | |
| MDST 2000 | Introduction to Media Studies (3 - 4) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course is a survey introduction to the complex and increasingly pervasive impact of mass media in the U.S. and around the world. It provides a foundation for helping you to understand how mass media -- as a business, as well as a set of texts -- operates. The course also explores contextual issues -- how media texts and businesses are received by audiences and by regulatory bodies. Course was offered Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Summer 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 2010 | Introduction to Digital Media (3 - 4) |
| The history, theory, practice and understanding of digital media. Provides a foundation for interrogating the relation of digital media to contemporary culture and understanding the function, design, and use of computers. Course was offered Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| MDST 2100 | Media, Culture and Society (3) |
| Explores the relationships among various forms of mass communication, social institutions and other dimensions of social life from a sociological perspective. | |
| MDST 2200 | Introduction to Film (3) |
| The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the variety of cinematic forms and genres as well as the history and theories behind them. Class work will include lecture and discussion groups.
There will be two papers of approximately 4-5 pages and an online final exam. Papers will count for approximately 75% of the final grade, the final exam approximately 25%. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2011 | |
| MDST 2301 | Democracy in Danger (3) |
| Democracy is in trouble today. Why? This course explores the growing threats to democracy in the United States and globally. Topics include: the impact of xenophobia, racism and radical nationalism on democracy; the rise of far-right media; the appeal of ethno-nationalism; the growth of White Power militias; legal barriers against voting, immigration and citizenship; as well as the impact of social media and cyber-based disinformation. Course was offered Spring 2023 | |
| MDST 2305 | Podcasting, Radio and Sound Production (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Students will learn the practical components of podcast production including: audio recording and editing, sound mixing, script writing, interview techniques, and the final production of a podcast. In addition, students will critically analyze the components of radio/podcast features. The course includes a lecture component and lab time where the instructor will consult with students about their projects. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015 |
| MDST 2440 | Language and Cinema (3) |
| Looks historically at speech and language in Hollywood movies, including the technological challenges and artistic theories and controversies attending the transition from silent to sound films. Focuses on the ways that gender, racial, ethnic, and national identities are constructed through the representation of speech, dialect, and accent. Introduces semiotics but requires no knowledge of linguistics, or film studies. | |
| MDST 2502 | Special Topics in Film Genre (3) |
| This course will offer historical and critical perspectives on a selected film genre each semester. Genres might include Noir, war, romance, musicals, gangster, New Wave, etc. | |
| MDST 2508 | Topics in Media Practice (1 - 4) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course will provide practice-based learning opportunities for students in various forms of media, including video, podcasting, film, etc. Course was offered January 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018 |
| MDST 2559 | New Course in Media Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Media Studies. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, January 2021, Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2014, Fall 2012, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 2660 | The Internet Is Another Country: Community, Power, and Social Media (3) |
| Explores the concepts of community, nationalism, the public sphere, and social action in the context of the Internet and social media. Begins with a cultural history of the Internet and virtual community and then explores several ethnographic case studies of communities and social movements from around the world. Concludes with a consideration of the Internet as a political economic system. Students blog and conduct collaborative research. Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| MDST 2690 | Sports Journalism (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course will cover all manner of media as it relates to sports journalism. Students will analyze published work across various mediums, learn the tools for reporting and writing different types of coverage, including features, profiles, long-form, game stories and more. Students will write articles, interview subjects, analyze sports journalism, participate in peer reviews and hear from some of the most prominent figures in sports journalism. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020 |
| MDST 2700 | News Writing (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Introductory course in news writing, emphasizing editorials, features, and reporting. Course was offered Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 2710 | Screenwriting (3) |
| An introduction to the art and craft of screenwriting through the writing and discussion of short scripts. Will involve study of screenplays and films, and focus on the basic elements of screenwriting, including story structure, creation of character, and formatting. Prerequisite: Media studies major or instructor permission. Course was offered January 2025, Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Spring 2024, January 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Summer 2021, Summer 2020, Summer 2019 | |
| MDST 2810 | Cinema As An Art Form (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | A course in visual thinking; introduces film criticism, concentrating on classic and current American and non-American films. Course was offered Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 2870 | Writing Film Criticism for Popular Consumption (3) |
| Writing about film or television for the media provides a platform to both engender and enter into a cultural and aesthetic dialog by way of shared experience. This course explores what's required for thoughtful, informed and engaged non-academic film criticism, including the obligation to understand the historical and contemporary landscapes of film, to write well and develop an individual voice, and to entertain and connect with a readership. Course was offered Spring 2023, Spring 2022 | |
| MDST 3000 | Theory and Criticism of Media (3) |
| This course introduces students at the beginning of the major to theoretical and critical literature in the field. Topics range from the psychological and sociological experience of media, interpretation and analysis of media forms and aesthetics, theories of audience and reception, anthropological approaches to media as a cultural force, and contemporary theories of media from humanities and social sciences perspectives. The goal of the course is to provide a foundation for thinking critically about media and to give them a sense of media studies as a critical and theoretical field. Restricted to Media Studies majors. | |
| MDST 3050 | History of Media (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This is a hands-on introduction to global media history. The course situates technologies, industries, texts and programs in the context of social, cultural, and political changes. Students will acquire basic competencies in historical research and writing: developing research questions, evaluating secondary sources, selecting archives, querying databases, managing notes, citing sources, sharing resources, and communicating findings as a team. Course was offered Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 3102 | Copyright, Culture and Commerce (3) |
| In this course, we will discuss one of the most powerful social, cultural, economic and political institutions of our day: intellectual property (IP). How did we arrive at the notion that creative works and ideas can be owned, bought and sold like tangible commodities? What impact does this concept have on the way we view the world? How does it help us achieve our social goals, and how does it present obstacles to reaching those goals? Course was offered Spring 2016 | |
| MDST 3104 | Making (and Faking) the News (3) |
| The course uses theories of social construction to examine the relationship between news and reality. With this as our framework, we apply various critical perspectives to examine the way news "reality" is constructed, from the discursive and semiotic frameworks used to present current events as "stories," to how journalists make decisions about what is news, to the factors that structure news form and content. | |
| MDST 3105 | Latina/o Media Studies (3) |
| This course is designed to introduce students to critical analyses of media texts, media industries, and media audiences that help explain the social, political, economic, and cultural locations of Latinas/os in America. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2012 | |
| MDST 3106 | History of American Radio and Television (3) |
| This course examines U.S. broadcasting in historical perspective, not only as an industry, but as a vital component of American culture and everyday life. We will examine the technological, social, political, industrial and cultural forces influencing the development of broadcast media and we will link these forces to the programs created and the audiences served.
Prerequisite: MDST 2000 and restricted to Media Studies Majors and Minors | |
| MDST 3107 | Evolution of Media in Italy: From Unification to the Present (3) |
| The course will explore the specific features of Italian mass media from the Unification to the present, considering how the press, cinema, radio, television and the Internet have affected and shaped Italian society. It will trace the evolution of Italian media in relation to key events such as the Risorgimento, Fascism, both World Wars, reconstruction and industrialization, and the political rise of media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi. | |
| MDST 3108 | Media Law (3) |
| This course uses audio, video, and text to explore the basics of media law: copyright; privacy; libel and defamation; and free speech. Students will be able to describe the tension between efforts to sustain an informed public and protect rights of expression; identify legal agents in the global system; identify powers and responsibilities of agents; grasp the basics of the 1st Amendment; and prepare for deeper analysis of these areas of law. | |
| MDST 3111 | Food Media and Popular Culture (3) |
| Media representations of food across time and place offer a lens through which we can understand the cultural politics of food production, preparation, consumption and commercialization. Studying a range of food media genres, this course explores media storytelling around food, along with the racial, ethnic, gendered, class, and trans/national complexities that characterize our food narratives. A word of advice-do not to come to our class hungry! | |
| MDST 3113 | Horror Noire: History of Black Americans in Horror (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Black horror is a primer on the quest for social justice. What can such a boundary-pushing genre teach us about paths to solidarity and democracy? What can we learn about disrupting racism, misogyny, and anti-Blackness? If horror is radical transgression, then we have much to learn from movies such as Candyman, The First Purge, Get Out, Eve¿s Bayou, Blacula, Attack the Block, Demon Knight, Tales from the Hood, Sugar Hill, and Ganja & Hess. |
| MDST 3115 | Breaking Bad: Once Upon a Time with the Pests (3) |
| The course explores Breaking Bad through study of the show's narrative, characters, and formal design. Topics examined include: socio-economic anxieties and spiritual longings in contemporary America; the political and religious implications of addiction to speed (technological and pharmacutical); the show as revisionary Puritan narrative and revisionary Western; the problem of being bugged; the desire to get away with it; the poetry of W.W. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016 | |
| MDST 3120 | Global Media & Cybersecurity (3) |
| This course will use cases from around the world to examine the relationship between media and cybersecurity. The course will analyze criminal hacks of media production companies, how cybercrimes are represented in popular media, and how media use exposes users to risk of cybercrimes. Course was offered Spring 2017 | |
| MDST 3140 | Mass Media and American Politics (3) |
| Examines the role of mass media in the political process including such topics as print and broadcast news, media and election campaigns, political advertising, and media effects on public opinion and political participation. | |
| MDST 3201 | New German Cinema (3) |
| Examines German art cinema from the 1960s-1980s, focusing on modernist aesthetics and filmic responses to major historical events in post-war Germany. Films by Fassbinder, Herzog, Wenders, Kluge, Sander, von Trotta, and others. Course was offered Fall 2017, Spring 2012 | |
| MDST 3205 | New Latin American Cinema (3) |
| This course provides a historical and critical perspective on Latin American Cinema (LAC), with an emphasis on LAC's relationship to Third Cinema, revolutionary cinema, and contemporary progressive filmic cinematic forms and traditions. Course was offered Spring 2018, Spring 2014 | |
| MDST 3206 | Documentary Film (3) |
| The course examines the different ways documentary filmmakers have attempted to represent reality. The course surveys the development of different 'modes' of documentary and the different ways these modes claim representational authority. Throughout, we will be conscious of the particular truth claims of documentary and the ethical issues involved in filming real people. | |
| MDST 3207 | Experimental Ethnography & FIlm (3) |
| This course explores film and other experimental modes of research to consider the multiplicities of knowledge and being in the world. We work with ethnography, anthropology's mode of investigation, to consider the capacity for experimentation to engage with the diverse range of human and non-human experiences and materialities, in nuanced, dynamic and imaginative ways. In addition to film, we will also consider & work with other creative modes. | |
| MDST 3230 | Basic Multimedia Reporting (3) |
| Basic Multimedia Reporting teaches the hands on skills required for professional level news reporting, news production and short documentaries. Students may choose to specialize in Written Journalism, TV Journalism or Production. However, all students learn proficiency in research, news writing, ethics, camera use, video editing, and where requested, broadcast presentation skills. | |
| MDST 3281 | Reimagining the News (3) |
| In this course, we will explore the obstacles confronting the news industry -- disinformation, declining trust in institutions, eroding business models, inequitable practices -- but we won't dwell on what's gone wrong. Instead, we'll focus on what can be done about it. We'll define the role of journalism in society, we'll examine emerging models of solutions-based journalism, and we'll envision new models for community-minded news-sharing. | |
| MDST 3306 | Sexuality, Gender, Class and Race in the Teen Film (3) |
| The focus of this class will be on viewings and analyses of films featuring images of teens produced between 1930 and the present, focusing on the following questions: what is adolescence (and how has it been defined in American film)? What is the range of experience that characterizes American adolescence across gender, race, and class lines? How does it make sense to think about the social influence of films on individuals and society? Course was offered Summer 2017, January 2017, Summer 2016, January 2016, January 2015, Summer 2014, January 2014, Spring 2013, January 2013, Summer 2012 | |
| MDST 3307 | Animated Media (3) |
| This course considers how animation and cartoons have historically been translated into the media of cinema and television. Focal points will be: Disney in traditional cinema animation, Hanna-Barbera in the broadcast television cartoon, Nickelodeon in cable television cartoons, and Pixar in digital cinema animation. Students will also practice creative and technical processes involved in making animation, individually and collectively. Course was offered Fall 2022, Spring 2022 | |
| MDST 3320 | The Politics of Video Games (3) |
| Video gaming is the fastest growing form of media: Americans spend twice as much on gaming as on recorded music and it is estimated that young men average over 670 hours a year playing video games. Yet we know relatively little about the broader social and political impact of this new medium. This class will sample the existing literature and explore ways of understanding the political implications (broadly defined) of gaming. | |
| MDST 3338 | New Cinema History: Nontheatrical Films (3) |
| This course studies nontheatrical films such as public relations films, management films, educational films, industrial films, and government-sponsored films. We will treat film as visual evidence to explore social, cultural, political, and industrial information across historical periods. Besides learning historiographical method to study cinema, students will examine representations of sex/gender, race/ethnicity, class, and religion. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| MDST 3355 | Border Media (3) |
| In this course we consider the depiction of the U.S.-Mexico border from the perspective of popular and mass media cultures. We examine the border as a site of cultural exchanges, resistance and critical negotiation; interchanges that impact the construction of race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender from both sides of the border. Course was offered Fall 2017 | |
| MDST 3375 | History of Music and Broadcasting in the US (3) |
| The history of popular music in the U.S. is intimately intertwined with broadcasting. The relationship between "radio and records" has been one of mutual dependence and abiding antagonism. Students will learn how this relationship developed historically, and will consider its continuing evolution. Our narrative will include the effects of legal decisions and technological innovations on music-making; on broadcasting; and on music consumption. Course was offered Spring 2018, Fall 2017 | |
| MDST 3380 | Music, Sound, and Culture (3) |
| A study of media and culture through music. Our focus is on tracing the cultural origins of popular genres of music, mostly across the 20th century history of the United States. We will listen to the sounds of classical, jazz, country, pop, rock, hip hop, and electronic music. Central themes include instrument, identity, lyric, style, industry, and distribution media. Students will also practice making their own music. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| MDST 3388 | Friday Night Lights (3) |
| This course will explore the TV show Friday Night Lights through study of its narrative, characters, themes, filming style and the media's response. Through episodic examinations, students will explore topics such as: team versus individual, the role of a coach, race and gender relations, socioeconomic and class structures identified through sport, the significance of high school football, and the media's role/influence in telling those stories. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| MDST 3402 | War and the Media (3) |
| This course examines media coverage of American wars from World War I to the present. Study of the evolution in media coverage of war provides an ideal vantage point for understanding the changing nature of warfare in the 20th and 21st centuries, war's impact on American society, and the ways in which political elites have attempted to mobilize public support for foreign conflicts. Prerequisite: MDST 2000 or instructor permission. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| MDST 3404 | Democratic Politics in the New Media Environment (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course examines the ways a changing media system is altering the dynamics of public discourse and democratic politics in the United States. Throughout the course we will critically analyze the ways in which scholars from a wide range of disciplines have studied the connection between media and politics, the methods they have employed, and the validity of their findings and approaches in the new media environment in which we now live. Prerequisite: MDST 2000 or instructor permission. |
| MDST 3405 | Media Policy and Law (3) |
| This course examines the constitutional, legal and regulatory foundations common to print, broadcast media and the Internet. An overview of topics such as libel, invasion of privacy, obscenity and copyright helps students understand forces that shape news and information they receive and prepares them to use media more effectively as citizens, voters and entrepreneurs in an increasingly complex multimedia world. Course was offered Summer 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012 | |
| MDST 3406 | The Wire: Understanding Urban America Through Television at Its Best (3) |
| This class explores HBO's The Wire as an examination of race, class, and economic change in urban America. We examine the series as a creative work which balances a commitment to realism with the demands of television drama. Students will view episodes of The Wire and read material on urban America, the changing contours of television, and the series itself.
Requisites: Permission of Instructor | |
| MDST 3407 | Racial Borders & American Cinema (3) |
| The history of American cinema is inextricably and controversially tied to the racial politics of the U.S. This course will explore how images of racial and ethnic minorities such as African Americans, Jews, Asians, Native Americans and Latino/as are reflected on screen and the ways that minorities in the entertainment industry have responded to often limiting representations.
Prerequisite: MDST Major | |
| MDST 3409 | LGBTQ Issues in the Media (3) |
| This course will explore the complex cultural dynamics of LGBTQ media visibility, along with its social, political, and psychological implications for LGBTQ audiences. It explores four domains: (1) the question of LGBT media visibility (2) the complex processes of inclusion, normalization, and assimilation in popular culture (3) media industries and the LGBT market (4) the relationship between digital media, LGBT audiences, and everyday life. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2020, Summer 2019, Summer 2018, Summer 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Fall 2015 | |
| MDST 3410 | Media Ethics (3) |
| This course provides students a familiarity with the terrain of moral philosophy, improves students' awareness of the complex ethical issues and dilemmas in journalism and other areas of mass media, and engages students in the process of critical thinking, moral reasoning and problem solving in media communications. Prerequisite: MDST 2000 or instructor permission. | |
| MDST 3420 | Media and Power in Iran (3) |
| Successive Iranian leaders have struggled to navigate the fraught political-cultural space of media in the Islamic Republic, skirting the line between embracing Western communications technologies & rejecting them, between condemning social networking sites & promoting themselves on Facebook. What is the role of media in political power construction in Iran? This class will consider this question through a number of inflection points in history. | |
| MDST 3430 | Rendering AI: Cinema and Artificial Intelligence (3) |
| This course examines film renderings of artificial intelligence to foster critical perspectives on AI's entanglement with human experiences (e.g., of identity, work, privacy, sex, aging, memory, death). Issues raised will include: the political economics of computational culture; the ethics of algorithmic tracking systems; the religious underpinnings of AI's promise to deliver efficient transport (of information, services, goods, passengers). Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023 | |
| MDST 3460 | What Does It Mean to Be Local in the Digital Age? (3) |
| We will investigate the dynamics between democracy, capitalism, communication, and localism, attempting to understand the place of place, communities, cities, towns, states, nations, and regions in an increasingly-complicated and technologically-mediated world. It challenges students to think beyond geography and place, and to consider what "local" means to them and in their connection to the larger world. | |
| MDST 3490 | Just Kiddin': Comedy & Humor Across Media (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course explores humorous and comedic texts and performances across a variety of media forms in America. We will begin by understanding theories of comedy and the logic of jokes alongside histories of comedians and humorous tropes and aesthetics. Examining a variety of content, we will discover how American comedy offers a rich relationship between creative expression and sociopolitical critique across different media and contexts. |
| MDST 3500 | Topics in the History of Media (3) |
| Topics have historical breadth and cover the historical development of media institutions, technology, or forms in areas of television, journalism, graphic media, film, print and publication history, digital media or other relevant areas.
These courses may be repeated for credit if course content is sufficiently distinct to merit. Decision about repeated credit is at the discretion of the Director of Media Studies. Prerequisite: MDST 2000 or instructor permission. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017 | |
| MDST 3501 | Special Topics in Directors and Auteurs (3) |
| This course will offer historical, comparative, and critical perspectives on a selected major directors and auteurs each semester. Directors might include Hitchcock, Welles, Heckerling, Ray, Speilberg, Renoir, Truffaut, etc. | |
| MDST 3502 | Special Topics in Film Genre (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course will offer historical and critical perspectives on a selected film genre each semester. Genres might include Noir, war, romance, musicals, gangster, New Wave, etc. Course was offered Spring 2024, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, January 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Fall 2021, January 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, January 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010 |
| MDST 3503 | Special Topics - Issues and Controversies in Media (3) |
| This course will consider recent and current controversies in media and media studies. It surveys a series of "hot" topics within media. In each case it examines issues both historically and theoretically. The purpose of the course is to provide students with the tools and habits of thought to delve into the background and issues surrounding controveries so that the shallow presentation of the controversy does not remain the dominant frame. | |
| MDST 3504 | Topics in Global Media (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course offers historical, comparative, critical, and media industry perspectives on global media. It explores how capital, geopolitics, new technologies and forms of production and consumption impact global media flows. Topics include studies of media systems, textual traditions, media circulation, globalization, the role of media technologies in international affairs, and the role of transnationalism in national and international affairs. Course was offered January 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024, January 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, January 2021, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2014 |
| MDST 3505 | Special Topics in Diversity and Identity in Media (3) |
| This course will offer historical, comparative, and critical perspectives on issues of diversity and identity in media studies. Topics may include the relationship between media and underrepresented groups, media use in identity construction, masculinity and feminine role models in media, media power, etc.
Prerequisite: MDST Major and Minors or Instructor Permission Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, January 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Janiuary 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, January 2021, Summer 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2014 | |
| MDST 3508 | Advanced Topics in Media Practice (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This practice-based course will build on previous knowledge and/or experience in various forms of media, including video, podcasting, film, etc. |
| MDST 3510 | Topics in Media Research (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This hands-on course prepares students to read, evaluate, and design research in media studies. Drawing on critical, historical, administrative, and industrial traditions in the field, students will learn to assess the validity and anticipate the ethical requirements of various methods & data collection procedures. Following a theme selected by the instructor, the course culminates with each student proposing a new, original research study. Course was offered Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020 |
| MDST 3559 | New Course in Media Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Media Studies. Course was offered January 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024, January 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Janiuary 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, January 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, January 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, January 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, January 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, January 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, January 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, January 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, January 2014, Fall 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, January 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 3584 | Global Cinema (3) |
| This course entails study of films originating from and/or identified with non-US nations and cultures. Topics include: introduction to a nation's cinematic achievements (e.g., Korean cinema); in-depth study of one or more influential cinematic movements (e.g., French New Wave; Italian Neo-Realism); exploration of a particular historical period (e.g., German silent cinema). The course fulfills the non-US requirement for the Media Studies major. Course was offered Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017 | |
| MDST 3600 | Women and Television (3) |
| Examines how television addresses women, how it represents women, and how women respond to the medium. Explores the relationship between the female audience and television by focusing on both contemporary and historical issues. Areas of particular concern include: how women have responded to television as technology; how specific genres have targeted women; how female-focused specialty channels have addressed women; and how specific programming and genres have mediated the changing status of women from the 1950s to the present. Prerequisite: MDST 2000 or instructor permission. Course was offered Fall 2021, Spring 2017 | |
| MDST 3602 | Television, New Media, and Society (3) |
| For the last 60 years, TV has been one of the most important cultural forms in the American mediascape. Mindful of this past, this course will explore contemporary issues in television studies as we enter the digital age. How does time-shifting technology fundamentally alter our conceptions of TV? What does Hulu mean for the television industry? What does the emergence of 'quality TV' imply imply aboutTV's rich past as ashared cultural product? Course was offered Summer 2015 | |
| MDST 3605 | New York Media Cultures (3) |
| This course investigates the mediated city spaces through the case of New York City. City spaces are often characterized by their appearance in the media, especially in cinema. Martin Scorcese has given us a sense of New York through midtown Manhattan, Woody Allen depicts New York through the upper east side and Spike Lee uses the outer boroughs of New York City for his films. This course presents a range of questions on this topic. Students can't enroll if previously taken MDST 3559 topic #104 New York Media Cultures. | |
| MDST 3630 | Screening Terrorism (3) |
| This course examines contemporary cinematic & televisual representations of terrorism. It aims to do the following: to promote critical awareness of the ways in which terrorism is depicted on screen, particularly in the post-9/11 world; to encourage exploration of the complex ways in which real acts of terror involve performance & theatrics; to address the ethics and responsibilities of film and TV in re-creating acts of terror on screen. | |
| MDST 3640 | American Gangster Film (3) |
| This course offers in-depth examination of American gangster films, tracing the genre's development from early silent film to the present. It investigates the extensive influence the genre has had on the nature of the American film industry and explores how the representation of gangster life on screen articulates crucial anxieties, frustrations, and desires circulating in American society at the time of the film's creation. | |
| MDST 3650 | Shooting the Western (3) |
| This course provides an overview of the enduring genre of the American Western in its classic and revised forms. The course will address the social and historical contexts informing the films. Students will be asked to perform both cultural and formal analysis of the cinematic texts. | |
| MDST 3662 | Disability and Media (3) |
| Disability is a pervasive, yet little studied, dimension of popular media. This class considers the stereotypes, interventions, and politics of on-screen images of disability as well as the ways in which disability affects the production and reception of media texts and technologies. Thus, we will watch a range of disability media, engage with disability cultures, and consider necessary additions to media experience (such as close captioning). | |
| MDST 3665 | Digital Media Accessibility (3) |
| Accessibility--building digital technologies that they can be used by people with disabilities--involves specific technological, critical, and interpersonal skills. This teaches practical web development skills alongside theoretical questions about the meanings of access, disability, design and the ethics of technological innovation. | |
| MDST 3670 | Sports, Media and Society (3) |
| This course will explore the role that sports have played in the development of media and society, primarily but not exclusively in the United States. It will consider such issues as amateurism, labor, performance-enhancing drugs, race, gender, sexuality, body image, and the role of sports within American universities.
Prerequisite: MDST 2000. | |
| MDST 3680 | The News Media (3) |
| This course will examine how the US news media is organized, what gets news coverage and why, and the role the news media plays in our democracy. Issues will include the impact of the digital news revolution, the importance of who owns the media, the differences between the many types of TV news and why the students' personal consumption of news matters. Students will gain an ability to analyze the news, and whether it helps them as citizen. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016 | |
| MDST 3700 | Newswriting II (3) |
| This advanced newswriting course trains students to practice 'point-of-view' journalism, and to understand it as a controversial but credible alternative to the dominant model of 'objectivity' on the part of the news media.
Prerequisite: Basic newswriting course and/or experience working on college newspaper (or equivalent) or literary maga- or e-zine. Course was offered Summer 2012 | |
| MDST 3701 | New Media Culture (3) |
| A survey of issues in the study of new media and of new media artifacts. Objects studied may include films with digital special effects, digital animation, digital video, video games, digital art, internet art, and others. Theories of new media, media art, media change. Taught primarily via discussion with some lectures. Short papers, class participation, final project. Prerequisite: one course in Media Studies, English, Art History, or a related discipline. | |
| MDST 3703 | Introduction to the Digital Liberal Arts (3) |
| Students will gain a practical and critical introduction to key technologies that are shaping research, innovation, and critical thinking across the liberal arts curriculum: specific technologies, including a programming language, that will empower them to better envision and develop technology-mediated projects in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students will reflect on the history and discourse in these areas. | |
| MDST 3704 | Games and Play (3) |
| This course is an introduction to the field of Game Studies, surveying theories of play and research on contemporary videogames to non-digital, analog, and "folk games." Historic tensions and debates in game studies will form the foundation for the course, then students will engage with game studies as inherently interdisciplinary, developing novel research projects on games and play as well as interrogating their own play experiences. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018 | |
| MDST 3705 | Code, Language, and Media (3) |
| Introduction to the theory and practice of the database as media form in the context of the digital liberal arts. Students review critical literature about databases, study examples of their use in projects from a variety of disciplines, and engage in the actual design of a database application as a course project. Topics include cross-cultural modes of classification, data models, big data, visualization, and building web-based databases. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| MDST 3706 | Media in China: Technology, Policy and Commerce (3) |
| The growth of media industries in China sits at the intersection between commerce, technology and policy. The objective of the course is to cultivate a rigorous understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of these three areas within the context of China's global expansion. Students will also be expected to develop fresh critical perspectives on the significance of analysis of industry practice as a means to critique media texts. | |
| MDST 3710 | Comics & Sequential Art (3) |
| This course addresses the medium of comics, including comic books, graphic novels, la bande dessinee, fumetti, and manga. Addressing comics as media, we will investigate comics form, publishing, creative movements, and adaptations into televisual media. Students will engage with primary comics sources, comic studies scholarship, and each others' creative work. | |
| MDST 3712 | Interactive Storytelling (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course approaches the design and creation of "interactive stories." Over the term, students will develop prototypes of multiple interactive storytelling media (interactive fiction, games, simulations, scenarios), balancing an understanding of the scholarship on interactive narrative with individualized design goals. No experience with game design or programming is required. |
| MDST 3720 | Social Media and Global South Societies (3) |
| This course studies the relationship between social media and Global South societies. Students in this course will analyze the various theories related to the effects and affordances of social media on ideological polarization, social influence, social capital, and social movements. Students will be required to look beyond positive/negative effects of social media, and conduct in-depth interrogations about issues that surround them. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020 | |
| MDST 3740 | Cultures of Hip-Hop (3) |
| This course explores the origins and impacts of American hip-hop as a cultural form in the last forty years, and maps the ways that a local subculture born of an urban underclass has risen to become arguably the dominant form of 21st-century global popular culture. While primarily focused on music, we will also explore how forms such as dance, visual art, film, and literature have influenced and been influenced by hip-hop style and culture. | |
| MDST 3742 | Athletes, Activism and the Media (3) |
| This course examines the history of athletes as activists and the media's coverage and understanding (and at times, misunderstanding?) of those movements. How did the media cover early protests and activism from athletes? How has that coverage changed in subsequent years? How have movements paralleled larger movements (MeToo, Black Lives Matter)? We will also look at political ties to athlete activism, examining how each sphere affects the other. | |
| MDST 3750 | Money, Media, and Technology (3) |
| Money is one of the oldest media technologies in the world, but in recent years a variety of experiments from Venmo to Bitcoin have emerged, promising to reinvent the form of money itself. This class looks at the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of money as a media technology. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018 | |
| MDST 3751 | Value, Values, Valuation (3) |
| Measuring "value" is an important feature of media industries and contemporary life more broadly. This class asks how value is determined, according to what value systems, through what systems of valuation. We will look at taste, metrics, reviews, awards, likes, retweets, and ratings, to try to understand how people answer the question, "What is valuable?" Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2019 | |
| MDST 3755 | Social Media and Society (3) |
| This class examines computer-mediated communication forms known as "social media." What makes these technologies "social" or "media"? From algorithms to selfies, most aspects of social media have been met with both moral panics and utopian pronouncements. Students will develop a set of critical frames and analytical methods for understanding the role of social media in society. | |
| MDST 3757 | Design, Technology, Media (3) |
| This course will introduce Media Studies students to-- but also critique-- the theory and practice of design thinking and research in media. There will be a strong practice component. No technical skills required. Course was offered Spring 2020 | |
| MDST 3760 | Reading Black Digital Culture (3) |
| Using a mix of scholarly and popular-press readings and an examination of digital artifacts, we will analyze the creations and contributions of Black digital culture from the mid-90s to the present. Covering topics including the early Black blogosphere; the creation of niche content sites like BlackPlanet.com; the emergence of Black Twitter; the circulation of memes, and the use second-screening. Course was offered Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018 | |
| MDST 3800 | Field Experience in Media Studies (1) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Provides an opportunity for students to get credit for field work, in the area of media studies. Students must put a proposal together for the project with a faculty sponsor, which must be approved by the add/drop deadlines. Restricted to Media Studies Majors. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 3801 | Research in Practice (3) |
| This is a course designed specially for MDST students pursuing a DMP. This course blends a traditional internship experience with in-the-field research and allows students to have a critical understanding of the media organization in which they intern. Students who wish to pursue MDST 3801 must apply to the Director of the Program who oversees and supervises the course. MDST 3801 is available only to students who are part of the MDST DMP. | |
| MDST 3809 | New Media in New York (3) |
| Examines why New York City remains the center of global journalism. Course was offered January 2020, January 2017, January 2016, January 2015, January 2014, January 2013, January 2012 | |
| MDST 3811 | History of American Broadcast News (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course traces the development of national news broadcasting in the United States from the 1920s to the present. Course was offered Spring 2023 |
| MDST 3830 | History of Film I (3) |
| Analyzes the development of the silent film, 1895 to 1928; emphasizes the technical and thematic links between national schools of cinema art and the contributions of individual directors. Includes weekly film screenings. Course was offered Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| MDST 3840 | History of Film II (3) |
| Analyzes the development of film as an art and social force from World War II until the 1970s. Includes weekly film screenings. Pre-requisites: MDST 2200 or 3830, or instructor permission. | |
| MDST 3850 | History of Film III (3) |
| A history of narrative, documentary and experimental film, 1955-77. Developments in the aesthetics of film are examined in the context of socio-economic, political and cultural conditions specific to different historical moments. Includes weekly film screenings. Students should have completed DRAM/MDST 3830 and 3840 prior to requesting permission to enroll.
Prerequisite: Instructor Permission | |
| MDST 3883 | Superhero Media (3) |
| This course addresses the genre of the "superhero" across multiple media, looking at its roots in myth, its rise in print media and comics, its adaptation in television and film, and its current role as the driver of multi-billion-dollar transmedia franchises. This course addresses scholarly perspectives drawn from media industries research, transmedia storytelling, media representation, and other related media studies areas. Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2022 | |
| MDST 3900 | Specialized Field Experience in Media Studies (1 - 2) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course is reserved for Media Studies students interested in receiving credit for participation in student-led and UVA-affiliated enterprises that are media-related under the guidance of a faculty member or industry professional in the area of media studies. Students must put a proposal together for the project with a faculty sponsor, which must be approved by the add/drop deadlines. Restricted to Media Studies Majors. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016 |
| MDST 3903 | Media and Protest: The 1960s (3) |
| Explores the protest movements of the 1960s through the lens of media coverage in the mainstream press of the day -- newspapers, general interest newsmagazines, photojournalism, television, popular culture, as well as the Movement's own underground press. Purpose is to understand a fascinating and often misunderstood moment in American history but also to investigate what that period can tell us about our current moment of protest and activism. | |
| MDST 3912 | Adapting Media (3) |
| In this course, we will focus on media adaptation across multiple media (film, games, comics, books) from multiple critical, industrial, and creative perspectives. Students will engage with existing Media Studies scholarship on media adaptation, dive into adaptations first-hand through watching/reading/playing multiple media, and finally develop, individually and in groups, critical understandings of media adaptation through writing. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024 | |
| MDST 3944 | Avenger, Victim, Outsider: Women in 1990s Cinema (3) |
| This course examines some of the most important American films and cinematic innovations of the 1990s and combines some crucial cultural, political, and historical events (e.g. third-wave feminism, discourse of race and ethnicity in the wake of the Rodney King case) with the representation of women across different cinematic genres. Attention will be paid to the rise of female filmmakers such as Julie Dash, Jane Campion, and Kathryn Bigelow. | |
| MDST 4000 | Media Theory and Methods (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | An introduction to research methods in media studies. Intended as a foundation for thesis and project work for students in the DMP program. Covers subjects such as research design, ethics, people-based methods (ethnography, surveys, interviews) and textual analysis. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| MDST 4010 | Distinguished Majors Thesis Writing or Research Project (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Writing of a thesis or production or a project with appropriately researched documentation, under the supervision of the faculty DMP thesis readers or project supervisor. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2015 |
| MDST 4101 | Privacy & Surveillance (3) |
| Can we preserve dignity and privacy in the age of Facebook? This seminar will consider the history and current applications of technologies & cultures of surveillance. How & why did we get to the point where almost all of our activities leave a trace? What sorts of laws and policies do we need to protect our sense of personal integrity? Students will conduct two brief oral presentations (accompanied by a video) & produce a 20-page research paper. | |
| MDST 4102 | Qualitative Methods in Media Audience Research (3) |
| This course is designed to be a practical introduction to how to do audience research in the field of culturally-oriented communication study. The primary work students will be doing is to prepare research projects illustrating the in-depth application of one (or possibly multiple) methods of research employed in studying the cultural audience. Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| MDST 4105 | Media and Citizenship (3) |
| This course provides a critical perspective on the relationships of media to citizenship. It asks questions central to explaining the role of media in political and national life, including the following: What notions of national and political membership are forwarded by mainstream media? What media spaces are viable for the political agency of racial, sexual, and economic minorities and how do these spaces work? | |
| MDST 4106 | Media and the Kennedy Era (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course examines mass media 'network television, journalism, advertising, cinema' both during the Kennedy years and after to explore the impact, ideas, ideals, and iconography of this presidency. Prerequisites: MDST 2000 or permission of instructor Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011 |
| MDST 4107 | Feminism and the Public Sphere (3) |
| This class will examine the normative basis of the public sphere and critiques of its current structure and ask: What would a more inclusive vision of political participation and communication look like? In attempting to build an answer, we will examine a number of works on communication ethics, politics and media, with an emphasis on feminist and queer scholarship. Course was offered Fall 2013 | |
| MDST 4108 | Media, Drugs, and Violence in Latin America (3) |
| This course will give you a critical understanding of the complex relationships between social violence, drug cartels, media, and Latin American nations. Together we will wrestle with the way Mexican, Colombian, and Brazilian drug violence has impacted and shaped new artistic forms and media practices that confront or, complexly, support the violence. | |
| MDST 4110 | Gender Non-Conformity in Media Culture (3) |
| As one of the primary cultural drivers of common sense, shared values, and political ideology, media are certainly influential storytellers. This course creates space for considering media's role in articulating and fashioning the limits and possibilities of gender identity. We will pay particular attention to representations of gender non-conformity in popular culture such as female masculinity, male femininity, and transgender subjectivity. Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| MDST 4210 | Global Environmental Media (3) |
| From analysis of documentary, narrative film, animation, gaming, experimental video, and social media, the class will provide students with the tools to bridge the gap between media and scientific messages about environmental issues. Students will develop critical tools to understand the aesthetic, environmental and industrial characteristics of different media practices related to some of the most significant issues facing our world. | |
| MDST 4211 | Kungfu and Korean Dramas: Transnational Asian Media (3) |
| Film production between Asian and Euro-American companies is rapidly on the rise. The fundamental objective of the course is to cultivate a rigorous theoretical understanding of the media industries within a global Asian network. We will ask: What are the cultural, political and economic implications of transnational co-productions both for global and domestic film markets? | |
| MDST 4230 | Advanced Multimedia Reporting (3) |
| This course is for students strongly considering careers in news reporting, or news documentary production. We will focus on the higher level techniques involved in finding, reporting, videotaping and writing long-form memorable news stories. Experience in Basic Reporting, student journalism, or reporting internship required. | |
| MDST 4240 | Contemporary Brazilian Cinema (3) |
| This class provides a general overview of film production in Brazil since 1990. We will screen and discuss a variety of documentary and feature-length fiction films, paying special attention to their formal construction and respective portrayals of violence, race, class, and sexuality, particularly as they unfold in a context increasingly marked by globalization and neoliberalism. | |
| MDST 4251 | Histories of Games (3) |
| This course presents approaches to understanding multiple histories of games. Focusing on a central game series, franchise, or genre, students will engage with the history of game development, the impact of game play, and community practices around games. Students will engage with archival research, conducting individual research projects on game histories. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2020 | |
| MDST 4310 | Celebrity Studies (3) |
| This course explores celebrity, stardom, fame, and self-branding as it is produced, circulated, and consumed for and by people of color. Paying particular attention to how race and ethnicity intersect with the phenomenon of celebrity in the media, this highly student-driven class will investigate celebrities of color through both historical and analytical lenses. Course was offered Fall 2019, Spring 2018 | |
| MDST 4351 | Aural Histories: Edison to Auto-Tune (3) |
| This is a course about the role of technology and technological innovation in the production and consumption of 20th and 21st century music. We will begin with the invention of the phonograph and the birth of the recording industry and continue up through the present day. Course was offered Spring 2020 | |
| MDST 4380 | Violence & Media (3) |
| Violence in Media is a seminar in which we study different productions of the visual representation of violence in America. The course includes viewing films, looking at photographs, readings from social theory and philosophy, and writing a term paper. We raise questions around the ethics of creating and consuming representations of violence, both representations that show fictional violence, in movies, representations of real violence. Prerequisite: A minimum of two successfully completed 2000 level courses in Media Studies, Sociology, Philosophy or Politics, or comparable fields. | |
| MDST 4405 | Internet Policy and Regulation (3) |
| This course offers students a deep dive into the policies, regulations, and politics that govern internet access and availability, in the United States, in countries around the world, and at the supranational level. Together we will answer the question:what are the policies governing Internet access at home and abroad? | |
| MDST 4411 | Media Technologies and Free Speech (3) |
| Should computer code and hyperlinks be considered speech, protected by the First Amendment? Silent film? These are just some of the questions that new communication technologies have spurred for US speech law. We will explore how different media are treated under the First Amendment and discuss key legal issues associated with communications media, including censorship, corporate speech, and conflicts between copyright and free expression. Course was offered Spring 2018 | |
| MDST 4510 | Capstone Topics (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | A capstone seminar, this course offers students a supervised opportunity to pursue original research in media studies. Related to a theme selected by the instructor, the project will entail design of a research question, extensive collection and analysis of literature and data, and completion of a 15-20 page paper that provides new, critical insight or information on the subject examined. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020 |
| MDST 4559 | New Course in Media Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Media Studies. Course was offered Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, January 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 4660 | Watching the Detectives (3) |
| This course examines a number of American detective films and how the portrait of the hard-boiled private eye dramatizes concerns about class, race, gender relations, urbanization, the rationalization of experience, the limits of self-knowledge, the blurring of boundaries between bodies and machines, and the collapse of distinction between private life and public life. | |
| MDST 4670 | White Out: Screening White Supremacy (3) |
| The course will draw from multiple genres and time periods to present an overview of how cinematic projections of whiteness have served to reinforce white supremacy. Equally important, students will examine films that counter the medium's terrifying consecration and preservation of white privilege, films that hold up whiteness for critical inspection. | |
| MDST 4700 | Theory of New Media (3) |
| A seminar on the theoretical study of new and/or digital media. Topics such as digital representations of history, culture, race, gender, identity, and language; the nature of new media; technological changes in media; hypertext as medium; online community. Some close readings of new media objects. Short papers, class participation, and a final paper. Prerequisite: one course in Media Studies, English, or a related discipline. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| MDST 4701 | Media and Everyday Life (3) |
| This course turns a critical eye towards media's relationship to everyday life. It conceptualize media, such as cell phones, television, and YouTube for example, as central forces in representing, demarcating and franchising the ordinary. We will explore the construction of ordinariness in media as well as the ways in which audiences engage with media in daily life to achieve `taken for grantedness'. Prerequisite: MDST 2000 | |
| MDST 4703 | Technology and Media (3) |
| This class will explore various social, cultural, legal, and political issues that have arisen in recent years as a result of new communicative technologies. The two main technological changes that will concern us are the digitization of information and culture and the rise of networks within society and politics. | |
| MDST 4705 | Spanish Mass Media (3) |
| This is an introductory course to Spanish mass media. The course gives students a critical understandings of the roles mass media plays in Spanish society, culture, and politics. The emphasis of the course is on sociological approaches to media, in particular studies of how radio and television participate in the making and remaking of modern Spain. | |
| MDST 4712 | Gaming the World (3) |
| We will look at playful media (games, role play & other interactive experiences) not for how they entertain but for how they challenge social, economic & political systems in the world. We will address: Games for coping with trying times, for promoting systems thinking (including modeling, interrogating, & disrupting these systems), as well as world-building & "the civic imagination." No experience with games is necessary. Requisite: MDST 3704 or MDST 3712 OR instructor permission | |
| MDST 4803 | Computational Media (3) |
| Computers are universal media. Our intimacy with computers shapes how we think about our communities, histories, cultures, society, and ourselves. Learn to program these "thinking machines" as an act of philosophical inquiry and personal expression, challenging your beliefs about creativity, intelligence, randomness, and communication. Students with no previous experience are especially welcome! Course was offered Spring 2020, Spring 2018 | |
| MDST 4960 | Advanced Independent Projects in Media Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course is designed to allow students to pursue independent research and study of a topic that is not contained within the course offerings of Media Studies. This course will not fulfill the capstone requirement Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| MDST 4970 | Distinguished Majors Thesis Writing or Research Project (3) |
| Independent research, writing or production under the supervision of the faculty DMP thesis readers, toward the DMP thesis or project. Prerequisite: Acceptance to the Media Studies DMP. | |
| MDST 5501 | Advanced Special Topics in Media Studies (1 - 4) |
| This course will offer critical perspectives on selected contemporary issues related to new media. Topics may include media in industry, education, politics, culture, and socio-economics. This course is open to undergraduate and graduate students. | |
| MDST 5502 | Advanced Special Topics in Media Studies (1 - 4) |
| This course will offer critical perspectives on selected contemporary issues related to new media. Topics may include media in industry, education, politics, culture, and socio-economics. This course is open to undergraduate and graduate students and serves the purposes of establishing a "part II" for any courses taught in the Fall. | |
| MDST 5559 | New Course in Media Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Media Studies. If offered, topics will be listed on the course offerings page for the particular semester. Course was offered Fall 2024 |
| MDST 7000T | Non-UVa Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 24) |
| Place holder course for transfer credits. | |
| MDST 7351 | Aural Histories: Edison to Auto-Tune (3) |
| This is a course about the role of technology and technological innovation in the production and consumption of 20th and 21st century music. We will begin with the invention of the phonograph and the birth of the recording industry and continue up through the present day. Course was offered Spring 2020 | |
| MDST 7409 | Content Analysis (3) |
| Content analysis is a fundamental method, combining qualitative interpretation with quantitative data analysis. Content analysis enables individuals and teams to systematically transform a large corpus of media artifacts into a set of standardized observations suitable for exploratory data mining, statistical analysis, and critical inquiry. This course covers core concepts, practical applications, and ethical considerations of the method. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| MDST 7442 | Feminist Media and Cultural Studies (3) |
| Feminist Media and Cultural Studies focuses on contemporary theory, criticism and research in the field, with an orientation to critical race feminisms, trans and queer studies, and disability studies within feminist literatures and research. We examine questions of technology, social networks, gaming, surveillance, online oppressions, media activism, feminist making, and the role of emotion and affect in feminist media analysis, among others. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| MDST 7559 | New Course in Media Studies (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in the subject of Media Studies. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| MDST 7600 | Data and Democracy (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This graduate seminar will explore the ways that large-scale data collection, algorithmic processes, and artificial intelligence enhance or detract from the core values and practices of democracy. The course will cover the basics of data science, surveillance, algorithms, and artificial intelligence. |
| MDST 7701 | Media and Everyday Life (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Media and Everyday Life turns a critical eye towards media's relationship to the everyday. We will conceptualize media as central forces in re-presenting, demarcating and franchising the ordinary. This course is designed to examine how media is produced as ordinary and universally intelligible (production), how it represents the everyday (texts), and how audiences phenomenologically engage with media in everyday life (reception and use). Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2021 |
| MDST 7703 | Introduction to the Digital Liberal Arts (3) |
| An historical, critical, and practical introduction to technologies and ideas that are shaping teaching, research, publication, and collaboration across the liberal arts curriculum. Topics include hypertext, remediation, graphesis, ontology, and cultural analytics. Students study specifc cases and technologies, develop technology-mediated projects in a collaborative settings, and keep an online journal of their reflections on the material. | |
| MDST 7704 | Political Economy of Communication (3) |
| This survey course introduces students to the political economy of media. Central themes include political economy's historical development, its usefulness to the study of media & communications, & its contemporary applications in scholarly research. Students will be introduced to the power dynamics & institutional forces that impact media institutions, industries, ownership, cultural production, consumption & distribution in the US & elsewhere. | |
| MDST 7803 | Computational Media (3) |
| Computers are universal media. Our intimacy with computers shapes how we think about our communities, histories, cultures, society, and ourselves. Learn to program these "thinking machines" as an act of philosophical inquiry and personal expression, challenging your beliefs about creativity, intelligence, randomness, and communication. Students with no previous experience are especially welcome! | |
| MDST 8000 | Media, Culture & Technology (3) |
| This is a core course that surveys key texts in Media Studies. The course takes a historical approach to the development of the field, but also surveys the various developments in the social sciences, the humanities, and film studies relevant to the interdisciplinary study of media. | |
| MDST 8001 | Histories of Media Technologies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | In this course, students learn about the development of media technologies and infrastructures: how and why they were built, how they were shaped by regulation, and the social and political concerns driving both technological development and regulation. Students will read and assess primary and secondary literature, gaining an understanding of historiographical methods and employing those methods to produce original historical research. Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2020 |
| MDST 8003 | Methods of Media Research (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This class teaches students the logics, ethics, and techniques of qualitative research in media studies. |
| MDST 8004 | Master's Thesis Development (3) |
| Students meet as a cohort to translate their intellectual interests into a specific thesis project through iterative development, critique, and refinement of their research questions and proposed methods. Students will read and critique published work, gaining a sense of best practices in research design. This course is heavily reliant on peer feedback and collaboration. The culmination of this class is a thesis proposal. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| MDST 8005 | Master's Thesis Writing (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | In this course, students form a writing community to foster accountability and confidence in conducting, writing, and sharing original research. Instruction will address developing a regular writing habit, writing for different audiences, communicating in visual and multimedia formats, and the practices of placing work in academic journals, policy venues, or popular online and print publications. This course is heavily reliant on peer feedback. Course was offered Spring 2024 |
| MDST 8021 | Tutorial in Media Historiography (3) |
| This course explores specific methods of historical research for media texts and technologies, including multimedia archives, media archaeology, material media studies, and recreation and simulation methods of study. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| MDST 8212 | Social Studies of Media and Technology (3) |
| This seminar introduces graduate students to the Social Studies of Media and Technology (a sub-field of Science and Technology Studies (STS)) and its major ideas and texts. We will address how it differs from other fields and the advantages and limits of our unique interdisciplinary approach. | |
| MDST 8510 | Media, Culture and Politics: Perspectives from South Asia (3) |
| This advanced graduate seminar offers a critical introduction to media, culture and politics in postcolonial India. | |
| MDST 8559 | New Course in Media Studies (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in the subject of Media Studies. Course was offered Spring 2021, Fall 2011 | |
| MDST 8600 | Media Studies Pedagogy (3) |
| Focuses on strategies for teaching media (screenings, using media in class, production). Uses pedagogical strategies like backwards course design, universal design for learning, and enhancing diversity. Covers FERPA, Title IX, and other university policies. Assignments include designing, presenting, feedback on lesson plans, assignments, and syllabus design. | |
| MDST 8900 | Graduate Independent Study (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | A single semester of independent study under faculty supervision for MA or PhD students doing intensive research on a subject not covered in available courses. Requires approval by a Media Studies faculty member who has agreed to supervise a guided course of reading and research. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Spring 2020 |
| MDST 8991 | Introduction to Digital Humanities (3) |
| Introducing the history, theory, and methods of Digital Humanities. Students will learn the interdisciplinary origins of DH, debate contemporary issues, and explore opportunities at UVA. The course will cover a range of specializations including humanities computing and critical code studies, data visualization, mapping and spatial analyses, and digital archives and preservation. This course is a requirement for the Graduate Certificate in DH. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| MDST 8998 | Non-Topical Research (1 - 12) |
| This is a variable credit course that gives students the opportunity to do supervised or unsupervised research toward their degree. These hours fulfill enrollment credits but do not count toward graded credit requirements. | |
| MDST 8999 | Thesis Writing (3) |
| In this course, students form a writing community to foster accountability and confidence in conducting, writing, and sharing original research. Instruction will address developing a regular writing habit, writing for different audiences, communicating in visual and multimedia formats, and the practices of placing work in academic journals, policy venues, or popular online and print publications. This course is heavily reliant on peer feedback. | |
| MDST 9000 | Colloquium (1) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | The graduate colloquium builds an intellectual community and offers professionalization opportunities. Students learn the field, norms of scholarship, and the variety of research topics and approaches through presentations by faculty and visiting faculty. Advanced students will have the opportunity to present and hone research projects, course plans and lectures, and receive feedback on teaching and application materials, formal research talks, and interview practices. Course was offered Fall 2024 |