Bachelor of Arts in Media and Visual Culture Studies
University of Redlands
Key Information
Campus location
Redlands, USA
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
4 years
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
USD 53,716 *
Application deadline
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Earliest start date
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* Fall, Spring, and May terms
Scholarships
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Introduction
Created in 2011, Media and Visual Culture Studies bring together faculty from across the campus who teach and research topics such as media theory, gender, and power in media, television, visual anthropology, and cultural representation. As in many programs at liberal arts colleges, students in MVC will learn from a range of faculty with different backgrounds, getting a broad, liberal education while also deepening their understanding of media and culture. The majority of classes in the major have a primarily critical focus: students are asked to engage in the analysis of media including radio, television, photography, sound recordings, film, and digital artifacts while learning both media literacy and visual competency, the core skills of majors.
MVC has worked to create a distinctive learning environment for students. Students have access not only to faculty from across the campus who specialize in media analysis but also to internship opportunities on campus at the radio station and in marketing. They can work in broadcast and publication contexts through live-streaming of sports events and writing and editing for the school newspaper. Students have various opportunities, in the classroom and beyond, to gain practical skills in media production that they can then use to enter our Redlands Film Festival. Students at Redlands are geographically well-placed to attend workshops put on by professionals in the media industry, get internships at radio and television stations and in film production companies and studios, and volunteer at global events including the Palm Springs International Film Festival. A vibrant campus environment awaits students interested in media, and students in MVC can be leaders on campus and in surrounding communities.
Program Learning Outcomes
By the time of graduation, Media and Visual Culture Studies majors will, at an appropriate level of sophistication, have demonstrated their ability to:
- Interpret and produce media texts in light of the foundational skills of formal visual/aural analysis; applied in conjunction with theoretical perspectives;
- Reflect on media and visual culture by comparing and interrelating texts in terms of both content and the contexts of production and consumption;
- Analyze the ways in which relations of power are represented and mediated, using a range of interpretive methods and theories; and,
- Devise and execute significant research or creative project, including a substantial piece of writing, which builds on earlier work undertaken in the major.
General Education Requirements
General Education is a broad description of the curriculum that embodies our commitment to a liberal arts education at the University of Redlands. Our general education conveys the range of fields of study, ways of thinking, and practices of scholarship and creativity that enable students to graduate as critical thinkers capable of innovatively and collaboratively adapting to challenges that come their way in the future.
Our general education is comprised of a Liberal Arts Inquiry (LAI) or Liberal Arts Foundation (LAF) curriculum.
- Entering first-year students and transfer students arriving with fewer than 32 credits in Fall 2018 will follow the LAI curriculum.
- All transfer and returning students with 32 credits or more (i.e., sophomores, juniors, and seniors) in Fall 2018 will follow the LAF curriculum.
Curriculum
Degree Programs
The Major
All students in the Media and Visual Culture Studies major share core courses, but beyond this have considerable scope to shape the major around and explore their interests, building and developing critical and practical skills that will prepare them for the workplace or further education. We encourage students to pursue relevant internships either during the summer or the academic year and may award up to twelve units of degree credit in the major for these. After taking Introduction to MVC in their freshman or sophomore year, students learn to write in various media-related genres (blog, review, film analysis, etc.) and to develop their abilities as researchers---an area regarded by external reviewers as a particular strength of the MVC program. Before the end of their junior year, students must take one writing-intensive class (usually MVC 261), and in the fall of their senior year, they undertake capstone research (in MVC 495). This is a directed project on a particular topic chosen by the student, usually resulting in a thesis (though projects incorporating production or internships may be approved).
As well as these core classes, all students are required to take a course that is focused on media production---e.g. screenwriting, photography, digital filmmaking, or graphic design---and two courses in the history or theory of media cultures---ranging from Screen Genres to Theories of Popular Culture and from U.S. History on Film to Film and Literature. Other classes in the major are electives.
Minor
The minor consists of 24 credits, including the following required elements:
- MVC 101 Introduction to Media and Visual Culture Studies (4)
- Two courses in the history and theory of media cultures
- Electives
Students may shape the minor to enhance their major program and can do so in consultation with their advisor in the major. To ensure a properly interdisciplinary focus in the major, students should select electives in at least two departments or programs.
Courses
Courses I. Core (8 credits)
All majors complete
- MVC 101 Introduction to Media and Visual Culture Studies (4), usually before the junior year.
- MVC 261 Critical Approaches to Media (Topics) (4), not later than spring of the junior year.
II. History and Theory of Media Cultures (any 2 courses from the following list, or others approved by the MVC faculty)
Relevant courses include:
- MVC 111 Introduction to the Art of Film (4)
- MVC 211 Screen Genres (4)
- MVC 213 Sports, Media & Culture (4)
- MVC 395 Media Theories (4)
- ARTH 228 After the Modern (4)
- ARTH 324 Gender & Sexuality in Renaissance Art (4)
- ARTH 328 The Modern City, Modernist Art, and Postmodern Film (4)
- AST 211 Contemporary Chinese Film (4)
- ENGL 114 War in Literature and Film (4)
- ENGL 250 Theories of Popular Culture (4)
- ENGL 311 Film and Literature (4)
- HIST 223 Anxiety, Race, and Empire (4)
- HIST 229 U.S. History on Film (4)
- HIST 273 Cyberculture and the Networked Society in the Information Age (4)
- HIST 324 Cold War America (4)
- HIST 328 Gender, Media, and U.S. Culture (4)
- REST 232 Representing Race and Identity in Film (4)
- SOAN 206 Popular Culture (4)
- SOAN 347 Visual Ethnography (3)
- WGS 249 Women Filmmakers (4)
- WGS 341 Gender and Nation (4)
III. Production (1 course from the following list, or others approved by the MVC faculty)
Relevant courses include:
- MVC 202 Visual Storytelling (4)
- MVC 203 Screenwriting (4)
- ART 235 Introduction to Photography (4)
- ART 252 Introduction to Graphic Design (4)
- CS 103 Introduction to Multimedia (4)
- CS 223 Game Programming and Artificial Intelligence (4)
IV. Capstone (4 credits)
All majors complete MVC 495 Senior Seminar (4) in the fall of the senior year.
V. Electives
The remaining 6 courses required to make up the 44 credits/11 classes in the major are electives drawn from the list of available courses under the MVC alpha or approved cross lists. Students may shape their course of study in light of available offerings and their own interests, in consultation with their advisor and the director.
Departmental Honors
A two-semester departmental honors program is available for exceptionally motivated students with unusually strong attainment. A GPA in the major of 3.5 is a minimum requirement for being invited to pursue honors. Current details of the honors process are available from the MVC faculty or the MVC program office (HOL 203).
Program Outcome
Application Checklist - First-Year Student
- The Common Application, including the personal essay and University of Redlands member questions
- $50 application fee
- Official transcripts from all secondary schools attended
- One letter of recommendation from guidance/college counselor and/or the Common Application Secondary school report
- One letter of recommendation from a teacher who can speak to your academic ability
- Students whose native language is not English, cannot apply test-optional and may meet English proficiency by providing one of the following scores:
- 550 SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
- 21 ACT English and Reading Sections
- TOEFL minimum 80iBT/550 paper based
- IELTS minimum 6.5
- iTEP minimum 3.9
- Duolingo English Test (DET) minimum 105
- Graduation from a secondary school in which the primary language of instruction is English
- Certificate of Finances and proof of financial support
English Language Requirements
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