Media and Communications majors typically take the following courses in the fall semester of their first year:
First-Year Experience Learning Community Courses
We will register you in these courses.
- Philosophy (PHIL 201)
- English Composition (ENG 101) OR Theology (TRS 201)
Why am I taking these classes? Honors students take equivalent honors courses.
Major and Elective Courses
You will need to choose and register for these courses.
- Intro to Media Studies (MDIA 201)
- A foreign language (see below)
- A liberal arts foundations course; a course toward a minor, certificate, or other focus area; or a free elective
Language placement
Your major requires you to complete the study of a foreign language through the intermediate level. Catholic University teaches the following languages that satisfy this requirement: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. If you are interested in learning a language not listed here, consult with your advisor.
If you have previously studied a foreign language and are interested in continuing with that same language, or if you can demonstrate fluency in a foreign language, you should complete the language placement exam.
About Your First Semester Courses
The Department of Media and Communication Studies provides a humanities-centered education in media literacy as part of an intellectual and moral foundation for students who will become lifelong interpreters, users and makers of mediated texts. Media literacy entails the ability to communicate effectively and to act in critical and informed ways within a world increasingly mediated, shaped and filtered by proliferating modes and channels of communication. Media literates of the present century cannot be satisfied merely to describe media forms and analyze media texts — though these skills are crucial. They must also be empowered with a thoughtful, ethical sense of their own roles within today's global systems as well as within their local communities.
MDIA 201 (Fall) and MDIA 202 (Spring) lay the groundwork for further study. MDIA 201 provides an introduction to techniques of critical media analysis i.e. how to think about the concept of mediation. It provides an initial set of tools to allow more in-depth analyses of media texts. In the Spring, Freshmen take MDIA 202 Media and History, which addresses mediation in context. That is, it explores how different media were understood during different historical epochs and how media interact with the society in which they operate. Each of these courses stresses critical reading and writing as a basis for the more sophisticated media analysis and media production that follow in subsequent years.
You will need to take a foreign language course each semester until you have satisfied the Arts and Sciences intermediate level requirement.
For your fifth course, you can choose what you like. You can take a liberal arts elective or a free elective course in a subject of your interest. Or, you may wish to begin study in a secondary subject area, perhaps for a minor or certificate.
To learn more about the Media and Communications major, consult the Media and Communications Department’s website.
Know which courses you want? Get registered.