Minors
The Department of Radio-Television-Film offers the following minors for undergraduate students under the 2018–2020 and future catalogs:
- Minor in Media Studies
- Minor in Media and Entertainment Industries.
Detailed information about each minor, as well as application instructions, can be found in the tabs below.
Prior to applying, students are encouraged to meet with an academic advisor in their own majors and discuss with their primary major advisor how minors fit into degree plans.
The following are University-wide rules regarding minors:
- The minor must be completed in conjunction with an undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin.
- Minors must include a minimum of six hours of upper-division coursework.
- A student may not earn a minor in the same field of study as his or her major.
- At least nine of the hours required for the minor must include coursework not used to satisfy the requirements of the student’s major; this includes courses in non-major departments that are cross-listed with courses offered within the student’s major department. However, courses in the minor may fulfill other degree requirements such as general education requirements or required elective hours.
- Transcript recognition is awarded at the time of undergraduate degree completion.
Media Studies Minor
With the Media Studies minor, students will gain the analytical tools necessary for critical analysis of film, television, and digital media forms within the broader intellectual framework of the humanities and social sciences. Students in the minor will have the opportunity to examine film, broadcasting, games, and mobile media in a range of historical, sociocultural, creative, and industrial contexts. Courses cover diverse topics including global, regional, and national perspectives on the media; authorship, genre, and ideology; representations of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class; and digital media culture, technologies, policies, and design. As a complement to a major area of study, a minor in media studies can offer deep insight into how media and society interact, and prepare students for a range of careers.
Admission
This program is open to all students under the 2018–2020 catalog who are not majoring in Radio-Television-Film and have a 2.5 cumulative grade point average.
Acceptance into the minor does not come with preference or guarantee of a seat in any RTF course.
Application Steps
- Step 1: Apply for the Media Studies minor here: Media Studies Minor
- Step 2: Select “RTF Radio-Television-Film" in the drop-down menu, and then "Media Studies.”
- Step 3: Begin taking your minor courses. (You do not have to be accepted to the Media Studies minor to take the courses, and any courses taken before applying will be applied once the application is complete.)
Requirements/Rules
The minor requires fifteen hours of coursework, with at least six hours being upper-division and at least nine hours completed in residence.
All courses must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is only offered on a credit/no credit basis. Only courses with a C- or better will be counted toward the minor.
Students must fulfill the following requirements*:
1. Three hours from the following (offered every fall and spring semester):
- RTF 306 – Introduction to World Cinema History
- RTF 307 – Media and Society
- RTF 308– Development of Film and Media
2. Six hours from the following:
- RTF 321C – History of American Television (fall semester)
- RTF 321D – Film History to 1960 (fall semester)
- RTF 322D – Film History 1960 to Present (spring semester)
- RTF 323C – Screening Race (fall semester)
- RTF 324C – Introduction to Global Media (fall semester)
- RTF 326C – Technological Culture (fall semester)
- RTF 328C – Gender and Media Culture (spring semester)
3. Six hours from the following list:
Under specific circumstances, the faculty committee may approve course substitutions for minor course requirements. Students who believe their situation to be of a compelling nature must submit a petition for course substitutions in advance. Petitions will not be reviewed during registration or add/drop periods.
*NOTES:
- Some courses may be restricted to only RTF majors at various points of the registration access period.
- Not all courses are offered each semester.
- Most courses are offered at least once within a three-year period.
If after full review of minor requirements you still have questions, please contact your academic advisor or email moodyminors@austin.utexas.edu
Media and Entertainment Industries Minor
The minor in Media and Entertainment Industries will provide undergraduates with an understanding of how the media and entertainment industries operate. Students will survey the histories, structures, and contemporary work practices of the media and entertainment industries. They will learn about the activities of media organizations and how media professionals navigate a rapidly changing industrial environment. The minor is designed to prepare students for careers within and related to a range of media and entertainment industries and professions including film, television, social and mobile media, and gaming, among other possibilities. Students will be exposed to a range of employment opportunities in both the private and public sectors at a time when the media landscape is undergoing rapid transformations both nationally and internationally. The Media and Entertainment Industries minor allows students from a range of majors across UT Austin to interact in class, engage in experiential learning, enhance their employment qualifications, and generally prepare them to be leaders in these dynamically evolving industries. The minor also allows enough flexibility for students to customize their study to focus on areas of the media and entertainment industries of great interest to them.
Admission
This program is open to all students under the 2018–2020 catalog who are not majoring in Radio-Television-Film and have a 2.5 cumulative grade point average.
Acceptance into the minor does not come with preference or guarantee of a seat in any RTF course.
Application Steps
- Step 1: Apply for the Media and Entertainment Industries minor here: Media and Entertainment Industries Minor Application
- Step 2: Select “RTF Radio-Television-Film" in the drop-down menu, and then ”Media and Entertainment Industries.”
- Step 3: Begin taking your minor courses. (You do not have to be accepted to the Media and Entertainment Industries minor to take the courses, and any courses taken before applying will be applied once the application is complete.)
Requirements/Rules
The minor requires fifteen hours of coursework, with at least nine hours being upper-division and at least nine hours completed in residence.
All courses must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is only offered on a credit/no credit basis. Only courses with a C- or better will be counted toward the minor. Courses that appear in multiple lists may only be counted once. If a student chooses to take a 6-hour internship course, only three of the hours may count toward the minor. Six hours of non-internship UTLA coursework may be counted toward the minor. Students must petition the internship coordinator in advance if they wish to substitute another internship course number in place of RTF 330N.
Students must fulfill the following requirements*:
1. Three hours from the following:
- RTF 303C - Introduction to Media & Entertainment Industries
- RTF 347P - The Business of Hollywood
2. Three hours from the following courses:
- RTF 303C - Introduction to Media & Entertainment Industries
- RTF 330N - Internship in Media Industries
- RTF 347P - The Business of Hollywood
- RTF 350L - Semester in Los Angeles Internship (UTLA)
- RTF 650L - Semester in Los Angeles Internship (UTLA)
- RTF 367K - Producing Film and Television
3. Nine hours from the following:
- RTF 303C - Introduction to Media & Entertainment Industries
- RTF 306 - Introduction to World Cinema History
- RTF 308 - Development of Film and Media
- RTF 321C - History of American Television
- RTF 331K Transmedia Storytelling
- RTF 331P - Digital Media Platforms or Platforms and Digital Culture
- RTF 331P - Internet Cultures
- RTF 331P - The Video Game Industry
- RTF 335 - Contemporary Television Criticism
- RTF 342 - Digital Mainland China and Taiwan
- RTF 342S - Global Hollywood
- RTF 345 - British Film and Television
- RTF 347C - How Hollywood Works (Entertainment Industry: The Big Picture) (UTLA)
- RTF 347C - Introduction to the Music Business
- RTF 347P - The Business of Hollywood
- RTF 348 - Telling & Selling the Story (UTLA)
- RTF 348 - Inside the Music Industry (UTLA)
- RTF 348 - New Media & Emerging Entertainment (UTLA)
- RTF 359 - Asian American Media Cultures
- RTF 365 - Media Industries and Entrepreneurship
- RTF 367K - Producing Film and Television
- RTF 377H - Media & Popular Culture
Under specific circumstances, the faculty committee may approve course substitutions for minor course requirements. Students who believe their situation to be of a compelling nature must submit a petition for course substitutions in advance. Petitions will not be reviewed during registration or add/drop periods.
*NOTES:
- Some courses may be restricted to only RTF majors at various points of the registration access period.
- Not all courses are offered each semester.
- Most courses are offered at least once within a three-year period.
If after full review of minor requirements you still have questions, please contact your academic advisor or email moodyminors@austin.utexas.edu
