Media Communications

New and social media have developed so rapidly that a user’s awareness of the brief timespan from emergence to widespread adoption is either largely missing or simply unnecessary. Students, teachers, and scholars equally benefit when they reflect upon the fact that specific technologies of use (such as social media) in fact do have a point before which they did not exist. As a student of the field of media communication it is important to accept that we shall all remain multifaceted novices of digital media. Media exist in order to converge. Occurrences of media convergence suggest further changes, adaptions, and evolution of media technologies.

Prosumer behavior, or the tendency to consume new media content as well as produce similar content, reflects the nature of participatory digital culture. This is as true with competitive e-commerce sites as well as with the most mundane internet memes: the ease by which new content is generated suggests not only the obvious need for the technology but also the need to do more with it than is currently available. Similar to the generative capacity of language, the limitations to what individuals can achieve with new media technologies are restricted only by connectivity, willingness to learn from mistakes, and one’s imagination.

The Media Communications degree offered in Vienna enables students to explore the ways humans use media and technology to express themselves in simple as well as complex ways. Soon after beginning the program, students learn to interpret media messages, communicate effectively in a range of diverse contexts, and demonstrate creative problem solving, and exhibit professional knowledge and skills making them a valuable asset to marketing firms and organizations. A Media Communications degree offers a balanced education that emphasizes critical thinking, communication skills, and technical acumen.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates with a degree in Media Communication have many career options, including media production, market research, public relations, web content writing, animation, scriptwriting, video game writing, corporate communication, social media, community outreach, and perhaps most importantly, jobs that don’t yet exist.

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 128 credit hours consisting of the following:

48 Required credit hours in the major
30 GCP credit hours
50 Elective credit hours
Portfolio Review (non-credit)

EPMD 1000 Introduction to Media Production (3 hours)
MEDC 1010 Introduction to Mass Communications (3 hours)
MEDC 1050 Introduction to Media Writing (3 hours) or JOUR 1030 Fundamentals of Reporting (3 hours)
SPCM 1280 Interpersonal Communications (3 hours)
MEDC 1630 Media Literacy (3 hours)
MEDC 2200 Ethics in the Media (3 hours)
MEDC 2800 Cultural Diversity in the Media (3 hours) or MEDC 3260 International Communications (3 hours)
MEDC 3190 Introduction to Media Research (3 hours)
MEDC 4100 The Law and the Media (3 hours)
MEDC 4620 Senior Overview/Thesis* (6 hours)
MEDC 4950 Professional Media Practicum (Internship) ** (3 hours)

*Webster Vienna Private University students must select the thesis option.
**Students enrolled in an internship program must earn a grade of no less than B. The internship is optional but strongly recommended.

In addition, students will choose a 15-credit concentration in any one of the disciplines in the School of Communications (ADVT, ANIM, AUDI, FLST, FTVP, GAME, INTM, JOUR, MEDC, PBRL, PHOT, SCPT, SPCM, SPTC) or in courses that are required for majors in the School of Communications (such as BUSN 1200, INTL 2030, MNGT 3500, and MNGT 3510). At least 9 of those credits must be in a single area, and of those 9 credits 6 must be at the 3000 or 4000 Level.