Research and Teaching Areas

Globally recognized faculty in Media Studies dive deep into critical and contextual approaches to the study of media objects, industries, and culture in a broad array of subfields. Graduate and undergraduate students learn theories, media history, and the ability to think critically about various media in today's society. Faculty experts in Media Studies continuously conduct significant research, publish and teach in their specific field of expertise.

Analyze interactive and emergent media texts and platforms, participatory digital cultures, social media, and algorithmic culture.

Courses in this area examine the histories, social impacts, and cultural dynamics associated with digital and emergent media technologies and platforms. Courses engage interactive and participatory media texts and cultures, social media, streaming, social justice movements, and also explore ethical issues surrounding copyright and fair use, artificial intelligence, privacy, and free speech.

Learn more about faculty with expertise in this area:

Lalitha Gopalan
Madhavi Mallapragada
Alisa Perren
Suzanne Scott

Study media texts, audiences, industries, and cultures from transnational, national, regional and diasporic perspectives.

Courses in this area focus on historical and contemporary perspectives on the globalization of media such as film, television, digital and social media. Courses survey global media and world cinemas as well as focusing on specific regional contexts (including Latin America, East Asia, and South Asia) and national and diasporic media around the world.

Learn more about faculty with expertise in this area:

Lalitha Gopalan
Noah Isenberg
Shanti Kumar

Examine the sociohistorical contexts of film and media and engage in aesthetic and critical analysis.

Courses in this area examine film, television, radio, gaming and digital media across the globe, emphasizing the importance of historical context, aesthetic analysis, and critical theory. A wide range of courses survey the historical contexts of media in relation to topics such as identity, region, audiences, genre, industry, stardom, and storytelling.

Learn more about faculty with expertise in this area:

Mary Beltran
Charles Ramirez Berg
Mirasol Enriquez
Caroline Frick 
Kathryn Fuller Seeley
Lalitha Gopalan 
Noah Isenberg 
Curran Nault
Adrien Sebro

Explore media's impact on culture and identity through interdisciplinary courses that examine the politics of representation through gender, race, sexuality, citizenship, and more. 

Courses in this area investigate the influence of media on identity, culture, and society through interdisciplinary courses that consider how gender, race, sexuality, and other identities circulate across multiple mediums. Specialize in areas such as Latina/o film, fandom, South Asian media, sports media, global gender/sexuality, and others. 

Learn more about faculty with expertise in this area:

Mary Beltran
Charles Ramirez Berg
Mirasol Enriquez
Madhavi Mallapragada
Jennifer McClearen
Curran Nault
Suzanne Scott
Adrien Sebro

Engage topics relating to creative labor, production, distribution, infrastructures, regulation, and exhibition.

Courses in this area inform students about the histories, structures, and creative practices of the media industries from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives, as well as a variety of local, regional, and global contexts. Topics such as creative labor, production, distribution, infrastructures, regulation, and exhibition are examined in a variety of media industry sectors including film, television, radio, gaming, and digital media.

Learn more about faculty with expertise in this area:

Caroline Frick 
Kathryn Fuller Seeley
Shanti Kumar
Jennifer McClearen
Alisa Perren