Media Studies

Examines foundational and contemporary developments in media and cultural theory.

This seminar introduces graduate students to the Social Studies of Media and Technology (a sub-field of Science and Technology Studies (STS)) and its major ideas and texts. We will address how it differs from other fields and the advantages and limits of our unique interdisciplinary approach.

This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in the subject of Media Studies.

Focuses on strategies for teaching media (screenings, using media in class, production). Uses pedagogical strategies like backwards course design, universal design for learning, and enhancing diversity. Covers FERPA, Title IX, and other university policies. Assignments include designing, presenting, feedback on lesson plans, assignments, and syllabus design.

The course aims to help students reach a core requirement of the degree, a publishable work. Students will workshop and improve a course paper, performing additional research, analysis and research design as necessary. This class also includes significant discussion of the practice of writing and the process of scholarly publication, journal selection, article submission, revising, resubmitting, and learning from rejection notices.

A single semester of independent study under faculty supervision for MA or PhD students doing intensive research on a subject not covered in available courses. Requires approval by a Media Studies faculty member who has agreed to supervise a guided course of reading and research.

Students meet as a cohort to translate their intellectual interests into a specific thesis project through iterative development, critique, and refinement of their research questions and proposed methods. Students will read and critique published work, gaining a sense of best practices in research design. This course is heavily reliant on peer feedback and collaboration. The culmination of this class is a thesis proposal.

Introducing the history, theory, and methods of Digital Humanities. Students will learn the interdisciplinary origins of DH, debate contemporary issues, and explore opportunities at UVA. The course will cover a range of specializations including humanities computing and critical code studies, data visualization, mapping and spatial analyses, and digital archives and preservation. This course is a requirement for the Graduate Certificate in DH.

This is a variable credit course that gives students the opportunity to do supervised or unsupervised research toward their degree. These hours fulfill enrollment credits but do not count toward graded credit requirements.

In this course, students form a writing community to foster accountability and confidence in conducting, writing, and sharing original research. Instruction will address developing a regular writing habit, writing for different audiences, communicating in visual and multimedia formats, and the practices of placing work in academic journals, policy venues, or popular online and print publications. This course is heavily reliant on peer feedback.

The graduate colloquium builds an intellectual community and offers professionalization opportunities. Students learn the field, norms of scholarship, and the variety of research topics and approaches through presentations by faculty and visiting faculty. Advanced students will have the opportunity to present and hone research projects, course plans and lectures, and receive feedback on teaching and application materials, formal research talks, and interview practices.