CMS Program - Prospective Students

You have grown up in a world of nearly wall-to-wall media. Social networking, texting, email are second nature to you. You’re surrounded by ads of all sorts. Viral marketing usually begins on YouTube. The news cycle runs 24/7/365. Music is personalized and downloaded, tv and film are often viewed on the smaller screens of your computer. But what does this all mean, and how does it affect the fabric of your life? What do you need to learn and to do to make sure that you understand and can best utilize the communications technologies of the 21st century?

Through the Communications & Media Studies Program (CMS) at Tufts University, students develop the critical scholarship, ethical contexts, and technical understanding they need to become responsible users – and producers – of media. We believe that it’s critically important for all of us to become media literate: that is, to develop an understanding of the historical, social, political, economic and cultural significance of film, print and electronic media, so that we can become more careful and critical consumers of it.

CMS offers an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the role of media in the U.S. and globally. We stress ways to get involved, and how to make a difference.

Our focus isn't on the technical production of film, video and text. As a liberal arts insitution our mision is to help you understand what those art and media forms mean, why they are important, and how you can learn from them and use them more powerfully. What makes us different from programs you’ll see at other colleges and universities is our focus on media literacy through liberal arts. Though you can pick up the same knowledge and a lot of the same skills that you could at other programs, our focus is to push beyond what most communications programs do. We prepare you for whatever comes after Tufts – whether that is a career in media, graduate school or something else – by offering you an excellent liberal arts education, plenty of “hands-on” opportunities through our production courses and vibrant internship program, and many exciting on-campus events.

“The CMS program is unique. It really supports students and encourages them to challenge themselves and use the media to actively contribute to their education at Tufts. The CMS program puts a special spin on media studies and really encourages students to consider media literacy and the role that media has in society. I think everyone at Tufts should take at least one CMS class during their time here; this is an important focus of the way the world is in the 21st century and CMS helps to prepare you for it.”

“The media is a powerful force in our world; studying various forms of media (film, tv, music – anything!) can provide greater insight into a lot of the mechanisms that move our society. In an increasingly globalized world, communication is maybe the most important thing you could study. The CMS program will help prepare you for the global community of the 21st century.”

“For a student majoring in a fairly specific field such as biology, physics or chemistry, the CMS minor provides a glimpse into a wide variety of other areas…It is definitely a minor that opens your eyes to a wide variety of other topics and allows you to propel your own learning within one of those topics.”

“I’ve always felt like an interdisciplinary poster child. CMS was the perfect opportunity to bring together things I was learning that otherwise might not have been brought together in a traditional department.”

The CMS program is inherently interdisciplinary. While we offer some of our own classes, the great majority of classes that count toward the CMS minors are housed in other departments, 23 of them in all. You can take media classes through the English department, Drama & Dance, Child Development, Sociology…even such unlikely departments as Biology, Astronomy, and Physics!

We do not offer a major in communications studies at Tufts. But we guarantee that you’ll be able to take many courses to fulfill your interests, and that you’ll graduate being more than prepared for any career to which you aspire. (And, by the way, all of our alums and contacts in different media industries actually tell us that the best possible preparation you can have for a career in their fields is a solid liberal arts experience, some practical experience, and excellent writing skills.)

Students take a total of 6 courses to count toward one of the three CMS minors. It is possible to “double count” some classes toward your major and your minor. There’s no one major that CMS students do – you name it, then successfully pair it with CMS.

“CMS was a terrific experience…Apart from the fact that many of the classes feature practical assignments, CMS offers internships and an opportunity to create a project in any area of interest. In other words, CMS offers a lot of practical experience as well as a solid academic base, and encourages students to draw them together. For me as an international student, this was very useful.”

“My CMS experience was defined by the interdisciplinary manner in which it combined with my majors. By being able to tailor my minor to my personal and professional interests, I feel as though my experience will ground my future career plans in substantive understanding and background.”

A unique feature of CMS is our partnership with the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Together, we offer the Media and Public Service Program (MPS).

MPS gives students the tools and the ability to marry their interests in media with their desire to make a difference. We offer a series of courses, internships, and on-campus events that focus on ways that media use and production can be used to make us more civically engaged and socially conscious. For more information on MPS, please check out the Tisch College website: activecitizen@tufts.edu/mps

“I think that my minor in CMS didn’t only enhance my Tufts education but it helped define my Tufts education.”

The majority of our students complete the MCMS minor. It’s an umbrella that covers everything from television to social networking, advertising to the music industry – and everything in between.

As an MCMS minor, you can choose among many courses from throughout the university. Just a few of the courses that help to fulfill the minor requirement are: Hollywood and the Red Scare (History); History of Rock and Roll (Music); Screenwriting (Drama & Dance); Children and Mass Media (Child Development); Latino Music, Migration and Identity (Anthropology); Hitchcock (English). And there are many, many others.

“CMS is a great opportunity to explore your own individual interests within the world of media. The scope is so wide that you get an enormous range of choices and topics to choose from.”

“CMS essentially gives students the opportunity to create their own academic program because students can pick from a range of interdisciplinary classes that appeal to them…and the senior project was the highlight of the program because it allowed me to apply everything I learned, explore different career paths and combine all of my interests.”

If you’re interested in screenwriting, film production, directing, or what makes a film “classic,” you can minor in Film Studies. Like the MCMS minor, the FS minor draws students from across the university who share a passion for film. We offer a broad range of interdisciplinary courses, from Visual Anthropology (Anthropology) to International Women Directors (Drama) to The Jewish Experience on Film (Jewish Studies) and Making Movies (Experimental College).

As a FS student, you will develop an appreciation for the aesthetics and theory of filmmaking, and learn about the film industry as it changes. You can also gain hands-on experience in film production and writing classes, as well as with internships that focus on film production and multimedia.

“I directed a short documentary for my senior project and it was a large part of the reason I got into film school…I learned that I really could make movies for a living. If I could make a documentary all by myself, I could only imagine what I could do with a whole crew behind me!”

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 website construction, user interface strategies, and human factors theory.

Through coursework and collaboration on the part of our student in the liberal arts and students in technical disciplines such as computer science or engineering, the minor aims to foster the development of a body of shared knowledge and ideas. In doing so, we break down barriers that have traditionally hindered such cross-fertilization.

The MMA minor develops skills relevant to many of today’s careers: project design and implementation, creativity and critical thinking, media and computer literacy, oral and written communication, as well as teamwork and leadership.

“As a multimedia arts minor, I cherished the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a range of creative disciplines. From 3-D modeling to digital photography and web design, there was always an exciting course to take. The senior project allowed me to apply all of these skills into one major piece of work, which was an incredibly rewarding and satisfying experience.”

CMS offers you the invaluable opportunity to develop practical skills and learn about the mass media industries through our vibrant internship program. We run our program year-round – both semesters and over the summer. You can pursue for-credit and not-for-credit internships across the U.S. and around the world.

Internships offer not only an inside look at the media industry, but they also help you gain valuable work experience, make professional contacts, improve your communication skills, learn to think strategically, and network with Tufts alumni and others working in the media professions. Many of our alums maintain close ties with CMS and regularly offer internships and career advice to our students.

Among recent internship sites: ABC News Political Unit (Washington, D.C), WBUR (NPR affiliate) in Boston, Bona Fide Productions (Los Angeles), The Late Show with David Letterman (New York), The Boston Globe, Young and Rubicam Advertising (New York), Paramount Studios (Los Angeles), NBC Sports 2008 Olympics (Beijing), USA Today (DC), New England Patriots Marketing Office (Boston), ABC’s The View (New York), Vogue Magazine (New York), and CNN Pentagon Unit (DC).

“CMS does a phenomenal job making students aware of internship opportunities across the country and putting students in touch with alumni for career advice and job listings.”

“My CMS senior project is both a tangible product of my time at Tufts, as well as something I can take on job interviews!”

“The most significant part of my CMS experience was the combination of broad background classes, a supportive staff and internships which came together to allow me to understand the communications field and pave my own path to discovering what I want in a career. The opportunity to make my own film was a unique experience I will always treasure, and one that prepared me well for going into my chosen field.”

With any of our minors, you can pull together your coursework and experiences in a CMS Senior Project – an original, in-depth exploration of a substantive area of media studies. This capstone experience offers you unusual opportunities to conduct original research and develop hands-on creative projects. Projects can range from scholarly theses to films, marketing campaigns to websites, screenplays to media literacy programs.

Many students tell us that the CMS Senior Project was the thing that made their senior year. Some even tell us that it was the thing that made their Tufts experience. In any case, we know that for everyone who does one, the CMS Senior Project is a powerful experience, and no matter what they end up doing after Tufts, it’s a good launching pad.

A small sampling of some of our recent CMS Senior Projects:

Fried Ham Radio: An Online Community for Young Public Radio Listeners and Producers (radio program and website)
Goodnight Neverland (screenplay)
Grow a Show (website and marketing campaign for new online tv show)
The Shrinking Ceiling (television documentary)
Manner Magazine: The Making of a Gay Magazine (magazine)
New Media in the 2008 Presidential Campaign (analysis and social networking sites)
The Future of Music: Creation and Distribution in a Digital World (thesis)
Persistence of Tunnel Vision (feature film)
Japanese Art and Modern Multimedia (multimedia presentation)
Si, Nos Importa! Students Take Action in Local Latino Communities (media and public service magazine articles)
’Mass’ Media Literacy: An Integrated Approach to Media Literacy Education (campaign)
Assembly Required: One Peace at a Time (documentary film)

“The CMS minor helped me discover what I am truly passionate about and provided me with the resources and support to pursue my interest. Seeing a little idea of mine transformed into a senior thesis – something I thought I would never have the capacity to do – has been one of my most rewarding experiences at Tufts.”

- Rachelle Goh, A07, Graduate Student, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism

Each semester CMS sponsors a wide variety of on-campus events. These include our annual Career Networking Night; film screenings; brownbag lunches with alums in different media fields; and large events like our Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism that draws internationally respected professionals together to talk about the legacy of Edward R. Murrow and reflect on contemporary issues in the field.

“The annual Edward R. Murrow Forum is outstanding. How many other times do you get to hear panels of celebrity journalists come to your college and have such stimulating discussion?”

“There are an amazing number of interesting events going on, from film screenings to lectures to a lineup of really impressive alums in all media fields coming to talk about what they do…I wanted to go to everything but I just didn’t have the time!”

One of the best aspects of CMS is its community. Though one of the largest undergraduate programs at Tufts, we do everything we can to bring together our students, faculty and staff. Don’t take our word for it – see what some of our recent graduates have said:

“I absolutely loved every single CMS class that I have taken. The program is very tight knit and provides an incredible network of support.”

“The dedication of the CMS staff in helping and guiding students made my overall Tufts experience special. The fact that their doors were always open…really made my college experience feel complete. I never felt like I was ‘just another student.’”

“Participating in the CMS program…has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me. The faculty are so dedicated, passionate and nurturing to students’ ideas and dreams; they will do anything to help their students.”

“CMS helps its students from every angle possible – with internships, career advice, networking, a hands-on staff, great courses, and more. I don’t know of any other department quite like it.”

- Jennifer Brier, A08, WCVB-TV (Boston ABC affiliate)

We’re happy to hear from you and answer your questions! We can arrange for you to come sit in on a CMS class when you visit Tufts. It’s also usually possible to have an individual meeting with the CMS Director, and to speak with current CMS students. Just let us know.

For additional questions, or to set up an on-campus meeting, contact CMS Director Julie Dobrow: julie.dobrow@tufts.edu; (617) 627-4744

Every year we ask our seniors to take a few minutes to reflect on their CMS experiences. Here’s what some recent graduates had to say:

“My CMS minor was a vital part of my Tufts education. I am leaving with a solid understanding of the mass media, a mastery of interpersonal skills, and tons of hands-on media-related internship experience. I know that no matter what field I enter after graduation I will use everything I have learned through my CMS minor.”

“My CMS minor inspired me to pursue a career in communication…Choosing to participate in this program was the single best decision I made at Tufts.”

“All of the CMS faculty with whom I worked were knowledgeable, encouraging and caring; the CMS experience is a highly personalized one and you get a lot of individual attention and nurturing. Minoring in CMS has been an invaluable component of my time at Tufts.”

“The CMS experience is just that, an experience. It is so much more than the classes you take. It’s the people you meet, the jobs you hold, and the events you attend…I’ve met studio heads, Oscar winners, the inventor of the Xbox…This is the right program for anyone who learns by doing and has an active interest in finding their voice, however they communicate.”

“CMS is certainly what I’ll remember most about my four years here. I really enjoyed the opportunities afforded to me through internships and the CMS project. They have allowed me to clearly define a career path in a way neither of my majors did.”

- Marissa Forman, A08 , Google

As part of her summer internship at ABC NewsOne, Elysse Weisman (A09) joined other interns in the Disney VoluntEARS clean-up event in New York City.

Join the CMS program at Tufts University and become an active participant in the communications revolution!

For more information: Communications and Media Studies Tufts University 95 Talbot Ave. Medford, MA 02155 Phone: 617-627-2007 Fax: 617-627-3449 email: cms@tufts.edu CMS Director Julie Dobrow 617-627-4744 julie.dobrow@tufts.edu CMS Associate Director Susan Eisenhauer 617-627-2007 susan.eisenhauer@tufts.edu