Curriculum in Media Studies

To complete the program, students take 15 core COMM hours from the list of required core classes and 14-28 elective courses within the College of Communications (COMM, ADV or JOUR courses). Further, the students are required to have one or two specializations OUTSIDE the College of at least 18 hours. This specialization counts towards the College requirement of 20 hours of general advanced courses. Overall, media studies students complete a total of 124 semester hours of course credit to graduate from the University of Illinois.

CORE:
3 hrs COMM 317: History of Communication
3 hrs COMM 320: Media and Popular Culture OR COMM 321: Film Culture
3 hrs COMM 331: Media and Democracy OR COMM 410: Media Ethics
3 hrs COMM 351: Social Aspects of Media
3 hrs COMM 264: Media, Money and Power

14-28 hrs -- Advertising (ADV), journalism (JOUR) or media studies (COMM) electives. ADV, COMM and JOUR courses numbered 198 and below count against the maximum 28 elective hours allowed but do not count toward the minimum 14 elective hours required

30-44 hrs -- Subtotal in College of Communications: ADV, COMM and JOUR courses numbered 198 and below count against the maximum 44 hours allowed but do not count toward the minimum 30 hours required

18 hrs -- At least 18 hours in one or two approved areas outside of the College of Communications, such as cinema studies, economics, history, literature, non-English languages, philosophy, political science, sociology, psychology, regional area studies, or sociology. A minimum of three courses or 9 hours is required in each area if two areas are used. A university-approved minor that requires at least 18 hours may substitute for this requirement. Courses may, if they qualify, also count against the requirement for advanced hours outside the college.



ELECTIVES:Communications elective courses include those with the rubrics ADV, COMM and JOUR. Any course with one of these single rubrics or with a cross listed rubric only within the College (i.e. COMM/JOUR 217; COMM/JOUR 218; COMM/JOUR 220; COMM/JOUR 231; COMM/JOUR 241) is considered a College of Communications course and counts only in the College with the following exception: COMM 101 and COMM 166 are considered general electives and not counted toward the required minimum of 30 hours of Communications College courses.

All other ADV, COMM or JOUR courses which are cross listed with departments outside the college count as College of Communications courses within the media studies curriculum. In some cases, if a student wishes to have such a course count as outside the college, the student should contact the Associate Dean of Students in the College of Communications Office to make a formal request.