For students joining IMA in Fall 2022 and beyond, our new program structure affects the categorization of courses on this site.
Classes listed in the “IMA Major Electives” categories refer to the old IMA program structure. If you’re under the new IMA program structure, these courses count as general IMA Electives for you. Your program structure is noted on your academic advising spreadsheet.
Students on the new program structure can search the Interchange for courses. If you’re looking for “IMA Major Distribution” courses, you'll find them listed here:
MCC Research Inquiry Seminars, taken early in the major, expose students to the department’s culture of scholarly inquiry. Course topics reflect faculty research interests, offering students a chance to explore emerging issues in the field of media studies.
Seminar for students who have been approved by the department to pursue honors in the major. Extended primary research in Communication Studies, focusing on the development and sharing of individual research projects. Students will enroll concurrently in two points of independent study under the director of a faculty honors sponsor, as outlined in departmental guidelines.
In this workshop-based course, students will become well versed in contemporary debates on social media and its impact on self and society, share their own experiences and observations in this area, design an original research project (using methods such as discourse analysis, virtual ethnography, and interviewing), and write a long-form analysis paper.
This course introduces students to key concepts in history of media and communication, and to the stakes of historical inquiry. Rather than tracing a necessarily selective historical arc from alphabet to Internet or from cave painting to coding, the course is organized around an exploration of case studies in context.