Cornell University Registrar

Program Description

Media are the technological means through which societies are reflected, tested, challenged, and transformed. The Media Studies minor presents undergraduates with the opportunity for interdisciplinary engagement with diverse modes of communication, from the hieroglyph to the algorithm, encompassing the myriad digital, textual, visual, aural, tactile technologies, forms, and practices by which information circulates amongst a now digitally-networked global population.

The Media Studies minor comprises the foundational class GERST 2703 Thinking Media, which introduces students to a wide range of critical, historical, and theoretical approaches to media; one class that satisfies the Making Media requirement; three other classes chosen from the offerings listed each semester on the Media Studies Undergraduate Minor website; and the one-credit PMA 2000 Media Studies Minor Colloquium. Classes that satisfy requirements for the undergraduate minor are offered in departments across the College of Arts & Sciences, and in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), and Computing and Information Science (CIS).

The Media Studies minor is open to students enrolled in any college at Cornell. 

Department of Performing and Media Arts Minors

The Department of Performing and Media Arts offers four minors. In addition, the Department administers the interdisciplinary Media Studies minor. The minors are open to all undergraduate students in the university, including those outside the College of Arts and Sciences. 

Academic Standards

Grade Requirements

Each course must be completed with a grade of C or better to count toward the minor, unless otherwise stated.

Minor Declaration Information

Minor must be declared before week three of the final semester of enrollment at Cornell. Students should declare as early as possible to gain the appropriate advising to fulfill the minor.

Students should complete the undergraduate minor application form, including a short statement outlining their motivations for pursuing the minor, prospective pathway through it, and their future plans. Students will meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies to certify completion of the minor.

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Sabine Haenni

Program Information

Minimum Credits for Minor: 15

Minor Requirements

Foundational Course

GERST 2703 Thinking Media. This class introduces students to a wide range of critical, historical, and theoretical approaches to media. It rotates through departments, is led by a primary instructor, and features guest lectures from faculty across the University.

Making Media (One Course)

A list of courses that meet the Making Media requirement can be found on the Media Studies website. A sampling of these courses includes:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ANTHR 3110	Documentary Production I	4
ART 2601	Photography: Introduction to Photography	4
COMM 3050	Stories that Matter: Writing for the Public	3
CS 3152	Introduction to Computer Game Architecture	4
MUSIC 2701	Music and Digital Gameplay	3
PMA 3680	Sound Design	4

 Media Studies Minor Colloquium

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
PMA 2000	Media Studies Minor Colloquium 1	1

¹

To be taken in the same semester as the Making Media required course.

Media Studies (Three Courses)

Courses in this category must be at the 2000-level or above. Two of these courses must originate outside of the student's major department. A list of courses that meet the Media Studies requirement can be found on the Media Studies website. A sampling of these courses includes:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
AAS 4040	Fictions of Dictatorship	4
AMST 4603	Black Speculative Fiction	4
ARKEO 2812	Hieroglyphs to HTML: History of Writing	3
CLASS 2641	The Technology of Ancient Rome	3
COML 2235	New Visions in African Cinema	3
ENGL 3615	Podcast, Radio, Gramophone: Literary Technologies of Sound	3
INFO 4260	Computing On Earth: Planetary Dimensions and Consequence of Computing	3
PMA 2660	Television	3

Note: First-year Writing Seminars do not count for the minor.