Curriculum
Statistics Prerequisite - Social Sciences Track Only
Completion of a statistics course (typically Stats 160) is required for admission into the Media Studies coterm program. The department may occasionally admit a coterm student who has not yet completed this requirement. Such students should plan to take statistics during their first quarter in the program, as this constitutes an important foundation for much of the Master's coursework. Whether taken before or after admission into the coterm program, units from the statistics course cannot be counted toward the 45 units in Communication and related areas required for the M.A. in Media Studies. Students may enroll for the statistics course for either a letter grade or credit.
Program Requirements
Journalism track students may begin the program only in Spring Quarter of their senior year during which time one elective course is taken towards the master's program and any remaining requirements for the undergraduate degree are completed. In the following academic year, Journalism track students follow the same curriculum as students in the Graduate Program in Journalism less one elective course.
Social Science track students need to satisfy the following four basic requirements:
1. Required Units and GPA: students must complete a minimum of 45 units in Communication and related areas, including items 2 and 3 below. Courses must be taken for a letter grade if offered. Courses in related areas outside the department must be approved by the student's advisor. A minimum of 36 units must be taken in the Communication department. No more than two courses (not including the statistics prerequisite) may be below the 200 level. To remain in good academic standing, students must maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better. Graduation requires a GPA of 3.0 or better.
2. Core Requirements: students must complete COMM 206, 208, and a statistics course. Typically, the statistics requirement is met with STATS 160. Other courses occasionally are approved as a substitute before the student is admitted to the program. The statistics course does not count toward the 45 units.
3. Six Media Studies Courses: students must complete a minimum of six additional Communication courses from the following list concerned with the study of media. Not all the listed courses are offered every year and the list may be updated from one year to the next. In addition to the core requirements and a minimum of six courses listed below, students may choose additional courses from the list and any related course approved by the student's advisor.
211. Media Technologies, People, and Society
212. Models of Democracy
216. Journalism Law
217. Digital Journalism
220. Digital Media in Society
225. Perspectives on American Journalism
231. Media Ethics and Responsibility
237. The Dialogue of Democracy
240. Digital Media Entrepreneurship
247. The Modern History and Future of Journalism
260. The Press and the Political Process
262. Campaigns, Voting, Media and Elections (formerly Analysis of Political Campaigns)
264.
The Psychology of Communication About Politics in America
266. Human Virtual Representation
268. Experimental Research in Advanced User Interfaces
269. Computers and Interfaces: Psychology and Design
272. Media Psychology
277. Specialized Writing and Reporting
282. Virtual Communities
325G. Comparative Studies of News
326. Advanced Topics in Human Virtual Representation
331G. Communication and Media Ethics
4. The Media Studies M.A. Project: students following the Social Sciences track enroll in COMM 290 to complete a project over two consecutive quarters that must be pre-approved and supervised by the advisor. The completed M.A. project must be submitted to the advisor no later than the last day of classes of the second consecutive quarter.
The Media Studies Project is an original project guided by the student’s advisor. For example, it can be a thorough literature review, a write-up of an empirical or qualitative study, or a description of a novel methodology developed by the student. Most importantly, the advisor must pre-approve the content and format of the thesis. The student must work on the project with the advisor for a minimum of two quarters. The length of the thesis will vary according to project type. For example, exhaustive literature searches are often longer in terms of page length than write-ups of experiments. However, the amount of time and effort the student contributes to both types of projects are roughly equivalent. In sum, there is no length requirement, but typically theses are at least thirty pages and rarely more than 100 pages.
Elective courses are chosen in consultation with an academic adviser. Required courses already taken during your undergraduate career do not need to be repeated, but the unit value must still be met to ensure a minimum of 45 units for the master's degree.
Approved Coterminal Courses From Affiliated Departments
Eligible as Elective Credit only - advisor approval required
African Studies
AFRICAST 248: Media, Art and Social Changes in AfricaComputer Science
CS105: Introduction to ProgramCS106A: Programming Methodology
CS147: Introduction to HCI
CS247A: Interaction Design Studio
CS377: Topics in Human Computer Interaction
Education
EDUC358X: Access to Knowledge and CommunicationFrench General
FrenGen192E: Women in French CinemaLaw
LAW478: IP Advanced TopicsPolitical Science
PolSci123: Politics and Public PolicyPsychology
Psych75: Cultural PsychologyPsych167: Seminar on Aggression
Psych180: Social Psychological Perspectives on Stereotyping and Prejudice
Public Policy
PublPol104: Economic Policy AnalysisPublPol194: Technology Policy
Science, Technology, and Society
STS201/ENGR 130: Science, Technology & Contemporary SocietySymbolic Systems
SymbSys210: Learning Facial Emotions