Dec 05, 2025  
2025-2026 Pitzer College Catalog 
    
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2025-2026 Pitzer College Catalog

Media Studies Major

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Media Studies

Media Studies is an intercollegiate major offered jointly by Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps Colleges, together forming Intercollegiate Media Studies (IMS).  Media Studies is an inherently interdisciplinary field that emphasizes the cultural and historical importance of media and focuses on the production, circulation, and reception of texts and representations, which are analyzed in terms of aesthetics, meanings, and uses.  IMS at the Claremont Colleges is one of the first undergraduate programs in the United States to combine theory, history, and practice, integrating critical studies and media production.

IMS provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, enabling our students to learn how to analyze diverse media forms and the power relations that undergird them, and to ethically express their knowledge through critical scholarship, community-engagement, and creative media practice.  The IMS major draws from anthropology, art history, cinema and film studies, communications, cultural studies, English, gender and feminist studies, performance studies, photography, postcolonial and transnational studies, queer studies, sound studies, and the visual arts.  The major prepares students for graduate work and careers in teaching, art, entertainment, digital media, and the non-profit sector.

IMS offers abundant opportunities for hands-on learning in the form of independent multi-modal research projects, off-campus internships throughout the Los Angeles region, as well as creative projects in the form of video art, documentary, photography and digital imaging, media installation and performance, web-based and interactive media, and community-based and activist media.  IMS combines the rich resources of the Claremont Colleges to support student research and production, namely the Mosbacher/Gartrell Center for Media Experimentation and Activism, which houses a professional standard post-production facility, classrooms, staff and faculty offices, an art gallery, a screening room, a video studio, an animation and special project studio, as well as other student work spaces.  Other resources include the Honnold Library media collection,Pomona College’s Brian Stonehill Media Studies Library, Scripps College’s Lang and Steele Media Labs, Harvey Mudd College’s gallery in the Shanahan Center and media art project space in Parsons Engineering Building, the media collection housed at Pitzer College’s Audio/Visual Services, and the intercollegiate alumni group Claremont Entertainment Media (CEM).

Pitzer Advisers: A. Acosta, E. Affuso, G. Lamb, J. Lerner, M-Y. Ma, R. Talmor. 

 

 

Major Requirements

The Media Studies major requires the completion of 12 courses: 3 introductory courses, 6 intermediate level courses, 2 advanced level courses, and a senior seminar. Students who choose to double major in Media Studies must complete the requirements for both majors, including any theses or honors requirements. Normally, no more than two courses can be counted to fulfill the requirements in both fields.

Course Requirements

Courses designated as fulfilling each requirement in the course list below are subject to change and other courses may be counted toward those requirements by petition to the IMS curriculum committee. For an up-to-date list of all approved courses, their designations and current course offerings, please see the IMS Website.

Introductory Courses (3)

Students take three introductory courses to introduce them to Media Studies theory and practice.  Two thirds of courses in this area must be completed before moving to intermediate level courses and all should be completed by end of junior year.

Intermediate Theory and Practice Courses (6)

Students take six intermediate level courses to broaden their knowledge and skills within Media Studies and related fields.  A minimum of three courses must come from the intermediate theory/practice courses listed in the catalog and IMS program materials, with at least one being a theory course.  A maximum of three crosslisted courses from outside the Media Studies intermediate theory/practice list is permitted. Students who study abroad can bring back two courses to the intermediate level with IMS approval. 

Theory Courses (minimum 1)
Practice Courses

Advanced Theory and Practice Courses (2)

Students will take two courses in advanced theory/practice to develop depth as well as breadth. These courses need to come from the advanced/theory practice course list in the catalog and IMS program materials.

Theory Courses
Practice Courses

Senior Seminar (1)

Students complete their capstone by enrolling in a topical seminar in the fall or spring of their senior year.

 

 

Media Studies Honors

A Pitzer student who wishes to graduate with honors in Media Studies must:
1. Achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.5 in the major.
2. Earn a grade of A in their capstone course.
3. Be nominated for honors by IMS faculty.

Media Studies Courses

Art

Critical Global Studies

Environmental Analysis

Media Studies

Other Courses

 

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