Media Studies: An Investigation and Examination of Selected Media Studies on What Constitutes a Media Studies Program in Higher Education

The 21st century is rapidly becoming the age of new and oftentimes confusing innovations in media, so much so that it is frequently referred to as the "new media" (Beach, 2007). It has become evident that we live in an era with extremely complex, and rapidly changing media scenes. Media studies now appears in major institutions of higher education as a regular post-graduate study, either for a master's, EdD, PhD, or other doctoral work. Despite the acceptance of media studies by respected institutions of higher education, the curriculum and what is offered in a media studies program seems to be inconsistent. This inconsistency and the variety of media studies offerings could be a positive or negative force, due to the lack of common ground. Additionally, media studies teachers also seem to face many challenges to justify the inclusion of media studies in the curriculum (Buckingham, 2005). The purpose of this research was an investigation and examination of three media studies programs and colleges/universities, as to what constitutes a good media studies program in higher education. More extensive research in the future will be well served by examining all university/college programs. The attempt here is not a justification of curriculums and their benefits, but to examine and describe some of the differences and similarities. In my research on media studies three interrelated areas seemed to be of particular note by scholars of media studies, which I have broadly divided into three interrelated areas: (1) The critique of artistic styles and aesthetic forms; (2) The study of the production process (e.g., technologies and markets); and (3) The sociological analysis (of ideological effects, reception and consumption, ethic, culture, etc.) (Gillespie, 2005, p. 22). The intent of this research was to see if these three interrelated subjects are within the contents of the study at the universities as part of a curriculum of media studies. This then begs the question for my research: How do the targeted universities incorporate the essentials necessary for a good media studies program in higher education? Review of archival data along with phone interviews revealed that each school of media study claimed to be different and more progressive than others. However, review of the curriculum demonstrated that in fact they all followed the same procedure and taught basically the same courses. Additionally, there is a significant commonality in patterns of course design to cover the artistic styles, the production process, and sociological/ideological effects of the knowledge acquired by the alumni. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]