2014-15 Pomona College Catalog

Dec 24, 2024

2014-15 Pomona College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG] Use the dropdown above to select the current 2024-25 catalog.

Media Studies Major

Requirements for the Major in Media Studies

The Media Studies Major requires the completion of 11 courses, with a concentration in film/video, digital/electronic media or critical studies.

Courses required for the major are listed below. Courses designated as fulfilling each requirement in the course list below are subject to change and other courses may be counted toward those requirements by petition to the IMS curriculum committee. For an up-to-date list of all approved courses, their designations and current course offerings, please see the IMS Website (http://www.pitzer.edu/ims).

The Pass/No Credit option is allowed only by petition to the department chair. With rare exceptions, two P/NC courses are allowed for the major; for the minor, only one P/NC course is allowed.

Study abroad and non-Claremont Colleges courses require prior approval.

1. One introductory critical/theoretical course [I]
2. One introductory production course [P]
3. One course in media history [MH]
4. One course in media theory [T]
5. The senior seminar
6-11. Each student will also complete one of the following six-course concentrations.

Film/video One intermediate or advanced film/video production class [IP] One additional course in media history Four track-appropriate electives, drawn from the list of approved courses
Digital/electronic media One intermediate or advanced digital production course One course in 20th or 21st century art history, such as:
	ARHI 181 PZ - Modern Into Contemporary ARHI 184 PO - Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism: A Social History of North American Art ARHI 185 SC - History of Photography ARHI 185T - Art and Time
	Four track-appropriate electives, drawn from the list of approved courses
Critical studies One additional course in media theory. One of the two required media theory courses must be in the MS 147-149 series. One additional course in media history Four track-appropriate electives, drawn from the list of approved courses
	Critical Studies/Film Studies Option
		Students desiring an emphasis in film studies should follow the critical studies track, tailoring their major by selecting the following courses:
		1. MS 050 PO /LIT 130 CM - Introduction to Film 2. MS 082 PZ /ART 148 SC /MS 182 HM - Introduction to Video Art 3. One course in the MS 147-149 series 4. One course in film theory, such as ARHI 141B PO - Africana Cinema: Through the Documentary Lens ; LIT 103 HM - Third Cinema ; LIT 138 CM - Film and Mass Culture ; LIT 139 CM - Film Theory ; MS 046 PZ - Feminist Documentary ; MS 072 PZ - Women and Film ; MS 074 PZ - Sound Theory, Sound Practice ; MS 076 PZ - Gender and Genre ; MS 110 PZ - Media and Sexuality ; or MS 197 PZ - Media Praxis 5. LIT 131 CM - Film History I (1925-1965) 6. LIT 132 CM - Film History II (1965-Present) 7. MS 190 JT - Senior Seminar 8-11. Four approved film-oriented electives drawn from the list of approved courses

Senior Exercise

The senior exercise consists of a topical senior seminar jointly taught during the fall semester by faculty from each of the concentrations. This seminar asks students to bring together the various aspects of their courses of study, producing an appropriate culminating seminar project that demonstrates their command of the fields and the forms of critical and creative practice they have studied.

During this seminar, all senior media studies majors are given the option to develop a proposal for a second-semester honors Senior Thesis or Project. These proposals are reviewed by the media studies faculty and selected students go on to complete an independent project under the supervision of two members of the media studies faculty or appropriate affiliated faculty members from The Claremont Colleges. The Senior Project course counts toward the four electives required for the major.