Humanities and Media And Cultural Studies

Students choose their own Humanities and Cultural Studies advisor who should be closely involved in the focus section of the major plan. Your advisor will help you decide which of many available courses best serve your interests. Students take a progression of fourteen courses that integrate as well as differentiate the humanities and cultural studies approaches, beginning with introductory exposure to a range of critical views and culminating in a capstone seminar (HMCS 488).

The introductory course, Texts and Power: Foundations of Cultural Studies (HMCS110), covers the history of cultural analysis, broadly defined, from traditional to contemporary approaches, acquainting students with issues of continuing debate. Completion of or enrollment in 110 is required for admission into the major program. Students also establish a broad foundation of cultural knowledge by taking one course from ancient times to 1700 and one course from 1700 to the present, as well as two courses investigating relations of class, gender, nation, race, and sexuality and two courses in the theory and philosophy of culture at the 200-level or above. In addition, all students are required to complete a six-course focus, concentrating on one textual form, period, or theme. In the capstone seminar, students working on an independent project share their scholarship, integrating what they've learned in the program, emphasizing the discipline of their focus. The capstone experience involves close analysis of cultural artifacts that examine at a higher level issues first raised in the introductory course.

The six-course focus, united by a common theme, is the central part of the HMCS major and its name appears on the student's transcript. In the focus, students build on the introductory and foundation courses, combining a broad knowledge and a sophisticated set of analytical tools for an in-depth look at one aspect of culture. Courses may be drawn from any department in the college. Among the most regularly designated student concentrations have been ones in Film Studies and Media Studies. Other focus possibilities include Comparative Literature, Critical Theory, Postcolonial Studies, and Pre-Modern Cultures. We encourage students to think widely and creatively in designing these concentrations, assembling the focus with the help of their advisor, whose own courses might be a significant element. Focus areas may not significantly overlap already existing majors.

Film Studies Focus
This focus includes critical analysis and history of film, emphasizing characteristics that distinguish film as a medium. Questions of film's relation to culture and society are explored theoretically and through close analysis of film texts. Required for the focus are Film Analysis and Visual Culture (HMCS 128), one course in History of Film (HMCS 248 or 249), one course that relates film either to literature or to cultural theory, and three other courses, selected in consultation with the student's advisor.

Media Studies Focus
This focus includes critical analysis of media institutions and texts (advertising, new media, news, and television), emphasizing cultural and social implications. Courses include work in journalism and experimental and documentary video. Required for the focus are Media Institutions (HMCS 126), either Cultural Studies and the Media (HMCS 334) or Blackness in the Media (HMCS 354), one course that studies media outside the United States, and three other courses (no more than two in Film Studies), selected in consultation with the student's advisor.

Please note: Multiple types of focus plans are possible, as long as they are approved by an HMCS adviser.

Major Concentration Plan forms can be downloaded here. [This is a pdf]