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 institution our mission 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.
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