The CMS Minor

• 24 credits required to complete the minor
• 12 of the 24 credits must be taken at Washington College
• No more than 8 credits can count toward the CMS minor and also count toward another major or minor

• 2 core courses
• 4 elective courses

This course introduces core issues in communication and media studies, ranging from theories and models of communication, the relationship between media and society, and history/technology/trends in newspapers, radio, television, film, electronic and digital technologies, & advertising. Key problems and paradigms are explored through materials drawn from academic scholarship, popular press, and multimedia.

Theory may seem like a scary word, but theory helps us to make sense of our world. Theories shape how we understand reality, relationships, and the media around us, and helps us to create media of our own. Theory tells us more about how we communicate, aids in holistic comprehension of our media landscape, and prepares us for lives consciously lived. This course exposes students to the major theories of communication and media studies, their application to the academic and professional inquiry in the field, and their importance in everyday life. The course also teaches students to write in and across the field, and prepares them for upper level critical, analytical, and theoretical based communication and media studies thinking and research.  Prerequisite: CMS 101 or permission from the professor.

Any 4-credit course listed in CMS counts towards the minor, including special topics courses. 

If you have completed 1 or 2-credit internships or practica in CMS that total 4 or more credits,  these can be added together to count in place of one of your elective courses.

In addition to courses in CMS, students can take the following courses: 

• ANT 105/ Introduction to Anthropology

• ANT 215/ Sex, Gender & Culture

• ANT 305/ Culture, Power & The Human Experience

• ART 231/ Creative Process

• ART 251/ Visual and Critical Thinking

• ART 291/ Introduction to Video + New Media

• ART 320/ Twentieth Century Art
• ART 324/ Photography’s First Century

• ART 330/ Video Intensive

• ART 335/ New Media Intensive

• ART 340/ Photography Intensive

• ART 425/ Women Artists and Feminist Art History

• BUS 111/ Principles of Marketing

• BUS 223/ Marketing Research

• BUS 224/ Digital Marketing

• BUS 234/ Intro to Nonprofit Management

• BUS 302/ Organizational Behavior

• BUS 323/ Consumer Behavior

• BUS 351/ Advertising

• BUS 375/ Arts Administration

• CSI 104/ Intro to Game Design

• ENG 103/ Intro to Creative Writing

• ENG 201/ The Art of Rhetoric

• ENG 209/ Introduction to American Literature I

• ENG 210/ Introduction to American Literature II

• ENG 213/ Intro to African American Literature & Culture I

• ENG 214/ Intro to African American Literature & Culture II  

• MUS 104/ Intro to World Music & Ethnomusicology

• MUS 106/ Rock, Pop & American Culture

• MUS 332/ Music Production & Recording

• SOC 101/ Introduction to Sociology

• SOC 213/ Sociology of Gender

• SOC 221/ Social Inequalities

• SOC 262/ Self and Society

• SOC 306/ Research Methods in Sociology

• THE 101/ Drama, Stage, and Society I

• THE 102/ Drama, Stage, and Society II

• THE 211/ Introduction to Acting

• THE 221/ Introduction to Directing

• THE 231/ Theatre Technology

• THE 241/ Introduction to Theatrical Design

• THE 351/ Playwriting

Each semester, a number of additional courses count as minor electives. Please contact the program director for additional information or to seek prior approval for additional courses not listed.