• MDST 2000

    Introduction to Media Studies
     Rating

    3.24

     Difficulty

    2.97

     GPA

    3.40

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 2200

    Introduction to Film
     Rating

    4.67

     Difficulty

    1.67

     GPA

    3.83

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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%.

  • MDST 2305

    Podcasting, Radio and Sound Production
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.49

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 2690

    Sports Journalism
     Rating

    5.00

     Difficulty

    2.00

     GPA

    3.76

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 2700

    News Writing
     Rating

    3.52

     Difficulty

    3.29

     GPA

    3.41

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    Introductory course in news writing, emphasizing editorials, features, and reporting.

  • MDST 2710

    Screenwriting
     Rating

    4.67

     Difficulty

    1.00

     GPA

    3.89

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3000

    Theory and Criticism of Media
     Rating

    3.57

     Difficulty

    4.00

     GPA

    3.69

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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
     Rating

    2.95

     Difficulty

    3.00

     GPA

    3.48

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3105

    Latina/o Media Studies
     Rating

    4.50

     Difficulty

    2.50

     GPA

    3.64

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3111

    Food Media and Popular Culture
     Rating

    3.67

     Difficulty

    2.00

     GPA

    3.92

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 3230

    Basic Multimedia Reporting
     Rating

    2.00

     Difficulty

    4.67

     GPA

    3.82

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 3388

    Friday Night Lights
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3402

    War and the Media
     Rating

    2.83

     Difficulty

    3.75

     GPA

    3.52

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3409

    LGBTQ Issues in the Media
     Rating

    2.83

     Difficulty

    2.50

     GPA

    3.63

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3490

    Just Kiddin': Comedy & Humor Across Media
     Rating

    4.67

     Difficulty

    1.50

     GPA

    3.79

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 3501

    Special Topics in Directors and Auteurs
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.73

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 3504

    Topics in Global Media
     Rating

    4.44

     Difficulty

    2.50

     GPA

    3.70

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3505

    Special Topics in Diversity and Identity in Media
     Rating

    2.33

     Difficulty

    1.00

     GPA

    3.74

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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

  • MDST 3510

    Topics in Media Research
     Rating

    4.10

     Difficulty

    2.57

     GPA

    3.76

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3559

    New Course in Media Studies
     Rating

    4.18

     Difficulty

    3.00

     GPA

    3.57

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Media Studies.

  • MDST 3704

    Games and Play
     Rating

    2.33

     Difficulty

    3.33

     GPA

    3.40

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3720

    Social Media and Global South Societies
     Rating

    2.22

     Difficulty

    2.33

     GPA

    3.74

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3800

    Field Experience in Media Studies
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.95

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3912

    Adapting Media
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.30

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 3944

    Avenger, Victim, Outsider: Women in 1990s Cinema
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 4510

    Capstone Topics
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.83

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 4660

    Watching the Detectives
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.50

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 4960

    Advanced Independent Projects in Media Studies
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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

  • MDST 5559

    New Course in Media Studies
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 8000

    Media, Culture & Technology
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.92

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 8004

    Master's Thesis Development
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 8212

    Social Studies of Media and Technology
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    4.00

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 8600

    Media Studies Pedagogy
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 8991

    Introduction to Digital Humanities
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.

  • MDST 8998

    Non-Topical Research
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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 9000

    Colloquium
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2024

    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.