Graduate Certificate in Media Studies

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The Graduate Certificate in Media Studies is designed for graduate students in other Departments at the University of Virginia. The Graduate Certificate affords students an additional professional qualification in the area of Media Studies that could be of use to some students as they apply for professional academic positions. The certificate program also provides a more structured and expanded setting for the intellectual contact and exchange that we have with departments and graduate students around Grounds.

This graduate certificate is not meant as an independent qualification but as one which complements the teaching of existing programs. Only students enrolled in an existing degree program in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences may pursue the certificate. Students who withdraw from the University without completing their graduate degree will not be eligible for the certificate. All course work for the certificate must be completed at the University of Virginia; transfer credit will not be given for courses taken at other institutions.

Prerequisites

Students must have taken one course in critical methodologies for humanities students, or one course in social science methodologies for social science students. The list of eligible methodology courses is chosen in by the Media Studies faculty and is available from the graduate director of Media Studies.

Requirements

1. MDST 8000 Graduate Seminar in Media Studies

This is a core course that surveys key texts in Media Studies. The course takes a historical approach to the development of the field but also surveys the various developments in the social sciences, the humanities, and film studies relevant to the interdisciplinary study of media.

2. Two additional graduate-level media-based courses with a comparative, interdisciplinary, or theoretical focus, 6 credits.

These courses are taught mainly by Media Studies faculty and offered by the Media Studies Department. Some of these will be cross-listed with students’ home departments, some offered exclusively by Media Studies, and some offered only by other departments participating in the certificate program. The list of eligible courses is determined by the Media Studies faculty and is available from the graduate director of Media Studies.

3. Concluding written examination.

Students are expected to complete a written paper that addresses foundational theoretical, substantive, and methodological issues in the field of Media Studies, but is tailored to their particular area of specialization and interest. This essay will be the result of ongoing consultation between the student and the students’ certificate advisor, and will be based on a reading list of their joint choosing. The essay will be assessed by the students’ committee. The committee will consist of the students’ certificate advisor and one other Media Studies faculty member.