Director:
Julie Dobrow, Child Development
Associate director:
Susan Eisenhauer, Communications and Media Studies
Core faculty:
Professor Lee Edelman,
English
Professor Vida Johnson, German, Russian, and Asian Languages and
Literatures
Professor Joseph Litvak, English
Professor
Christiane Zehl Romero,
German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures
Professor Fred Rothbaum,
Child Development
Professor
Laurence Senelick,
Drama and Dance
Professor Martin Sherwin, History
Professor
Judith Wechsler,
Art
and Art History
Associate Professor
Downing Cless,
Drama and Dance
Associate Professor
Alva
Couch,
Computer Science
Associate Professor James Ennis, Sociology
Associate Professor Calvin Gidney III, Child Development
Associate Professor James Glaser, Political Science
Associate Professor Barbara Grossman, Drama and Dance
Associate Professor
David Guss,
Sociology and Anthropology
Associate Professor Deborah Pacini Hernandez, Sociology and
Anthropology
Associate Professor
Hosea Hirata,
German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literatures
Associate Professor Charles Inouye, German, Russian, and Asian
Languages and Literatures
Associate Professor Brigitte Lane, Romance Languages
Associate Professor
David Locke,
Music
Associate Professor Karen Panetta, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Associate Professor Joel Rosenberg, German, Russian, and Asian
Languages and Literatures
Associate Professor Xueping Zhong, German, Russian, and Asian
Languages and Literatures
Assistant Professor Nancy Bauer,
Philosophy
Assistant Professor
Marina Bers,
Child Development
Assistant Professor Sarah Sobieraj, Sociology
Senior Lecturer Jeanne Dillon, American Studies
Lecturer
Nan
Levinson,
English
Communications and Media Studies is an interdisciplinary program that educates students about mass media and communications. In our contemporary world, the omnipresence of mass communications demands a basic understanding of its workings and effects by every citizen. The mission of the Communications and Media Studies program is to provide students with the necessary critical tools to participate actively and knowledgeably as informed world citizens and to give them a background in media literacy to make them more careful and critical consumers and producers of media. This program is designed to aid all students in acquiring this knowledge, while also providing interested students with the opportunity to make communications and media studies a major part of their academic career at Tufts.
Each semester the program offers courses of its own through the Experimental College and lists all media-related courses available in the College of Liberal Arts, the School of Engineering, the Museum School, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The program also offers three interdisciplinary minors: Mass Communications and Media Studies, Film Studies, and Multimedia Arts. It also registers, supervises, and grants credit for internships in all fields of communications and mass media. Special events and lectures are organized annually and are open to the entire university community.
For more information, contact the program office in 13 Miner Hall, 617-627-2007,
cms@tufts.edu.
Interdisciplinary Minor in Mass Communications and Media Studies
Students pursuing the interdisciplinary minor in Mass Communications and Media
Studies must take Media and Society (Sociology 40) and four courses
from the program's approved elective courses list. In addition, during their
senior year CMS students must either complete a senior project (Experimental
College 194C) or take an additional media course from the CMS list (the CMS
course option).
The four elective courses mentioned above must be from at least three departments, and they must include at least one course in the disciplinary area of social sciences and at least one course in the disciplinary area of humanities and the arts. Except with the written consent of the director, only one of the four electives may be a media practice course or credited internship where students learn skills in media production (e.g., photography, journalism, video, film, multimedia, graphic design, advertising copy). With the exception of the internship (Experimental College 99C) and the senior colloquium (Experimental College 190C), all courses taken for the MCMS minor must be taken for a letter grade. In accordance with Tufts policies, students cannot double count a course for fulfillment of a foundation requirement and for the MCMS minor, and they may use a maximum of two credits from the minor to count also toward a major, another minor, or distribution requirements.
The senior project (Experimental College 194C) is a substantial work, which can include the use of one or more forms of media (e.g., print, film, video, recorded sound, live performance, CD-ROM). The project may take the form of either a more traditional written thesis or an audiovisual project with a written component. The focus of the work will be a critical exploration of mass communications in the past, present, and/or future. Either one-half credit or one credit will be given, at the discretion of the faculty advisers. Students doing a project must take the CMS senior colloquium (Experimental College 190C), a half-year, one-half credit, pass-fail course that assists them in developing their senior projects through group study and analysis of each student's work in progress.
The CMS course option to the senior project is an additional CMS-approved media-related course taken in the senior year. Students completing the course option must submit a paper (minimum 15 pages) focusing on a media- or film-related topic written in conjunction with that course. The paper must be approved, advised, and graded by the course instructor. Students pursuing this option must also get approval from the CMS director.
Students are strongly encouraged to take at least one media-related internship.
Interdisciplinary Minor in Film Studies
Students pursuing the interdisciplinary minor in Film Studies must take
Introduction to Film Studies (ILVS/Drama 50) and four film-related courses from
the program's approved elective courses list. In addition, during their senior
year CMS students must either complete a senior project or take an additional
film-related course from the CMS list (the course option).
The four elective courses must be from at least three departments. Except with the written consent of the CMS director, only one of the four electives may be a film practice course or credited internship where students learn skills in film production or practice. With the exception of the internship (Experimental College 99C), all classes taken for the film studies minor must be taken for a letter grade. In accordance with Tufts policies, students cannot double count a course for fulfillment of a foundation requirement and for the film studies minor, and they may use a maximum of two credits from the minor to count also toward a major, another minor, or distribution requirements.
The senior project (Experimental College 194C) is a substantial work which may take the form of either a more traditional written thesis or a practice-based project (e.g., screenplay, film, video) with a written component. Either one-half or one credit will be given at the discretion of the faculty advisers. Students doing a project must also take the CMS senior colloquium (Experimental College 190C), a half-year, one-half credit, pass-fail course that assists them in developing their senior projects through group study and analyses of each student's work in progress.
The CMS course option to the senior project is an additional CMS-approved film-related course taken in the senior year. Students completing the course option must submit a paper (minimum 15 pages) focusing on a film-related topic written in conjunction with that course. The paper must be approved, advised, and graded by the course instructor. Students pursuing this option must also get prior approval from the CMS director.
Students are strongly encouraged to take at least one film-related internship.
Interdisciplinary Minor in Multimedia Arts
The multimedia arts program provides a framework for the analysis of and
practical training in emerging digital media. The minor includes--and often
mixes--work in animation, filmmaking, photography, music, text, drawing,
collage, graphic design, software development, Web site construction, user
interface strategies, and human factors theory. Through coursework and
collaboration on the part of students in liberal arts and students in technical
disciplines, the minor aims to foster the development of a body of shared
knowledge and ideas and, in so doing, to break down barriers that have
traditionally hindered such cross-fertilization.
The interdisciplinary minor in multimedia arts requires a minimum of five courses within the guidelines noted below. Students pursuing the minor must take the Communications and Media Studies senior colloquium and complete a senior project. Prior to that, they need two multimedia practice courses (selected from the program's approved courses list) which introduce students to the tools, methods, and theories current in the field, and two electives selected from courses offered by the supporting departments--Art and Art History, Drama and Dance, Music, Electrical and Computer Engineering--or those listed and approved by the program (e.g., Experimental College courses). Except for the senior colloquium, all courses taken as part of the multimedia arts minor must be taken for a letter grade and may not be used toward fulfillment of the foundation requirement. (See Interdisciplinary Minor Program for details.)
For
specific information about the policies governing requirements and electives,
visit
www.excollege.tufts.edu/mma.
Communications Internship Program
The internship program grants academic credit for internships in communications
(Experimental College 99C). Students can arrange to work at newspapers,
magazines, film companies, advertising and public relations firms, television
stations, radio stations, and publishing houses. Interns are required to work a
minimum of 150 hours (approximately 12 to 15 hours each week), complete a
writing requirement, and meet regularly with the faculty adviser. Contact CMS
Associate Director Susan Eisenhauer (susan.eisenhauer@tufts.edu)
for eligibility and course requirements.
For more detailed information, please visit the website http://ase.tufts.edu/cms.
To view Course Descriptions, please go to: http://webcenter.studentservices.tufts.edu/courses/main.asp.