Part 1: The Explanation

So what is Media Studies you ask?  I’m hoping that by laying out, once and for all, what my major is I can finally help people understand that I am NOT just sitting around watching TV for my college major.  While that is true I watched Parks and Recreation for class once, it is not what I spend my entire day doing.

At its most basic definition, Media Studies is the academic study of culture and mass media.  So while this does include talking about and analyzing TV’s and Movies, this is not the only thing in the field.  We talk a lot about news media, social media, and evolving forms of “new” media.  Basically any form of communication in our rapidly evolving world is up for grabs.

But what is more important than any one media form is the academic part of the definition.  We are constantly grappling with what does media mean in our daily life?  How does media reflect what we value as a society?  How are political, economic, and historical systems affected by media?  How does the media reveal inequalities and gaps in social consciousness?  How can media be a force for change?  It is so much more about psychology and philosophy than people would expect.

In a world post-2016 election, I think is imperative to understand the role that media plays in our society.  We saw its massively powerful impact firsthand.  I want to study media because it seems to be a gap in our consciousness.  We spend large chunks of our day consuming media.  Since it is so integral to our daily life, I think that it really warrants further study to know how it is impacting us.

I have been asked before if my degree will be obsolete in 5 years because media is changing faster than academia can really keep up with.  But I don’t feel that is the case.  A Media Studies degree is giving me a valuable analytical toolkit.  As I prepare for a career in entertainment, I will be able to understand the current state of affairs and hopefully predict where the media world is going.

I am a huge media consumer myself.  To be a part of the conversation and to understand how this world that I love works will be invaluable going forward.  I never thought that I would be able to combine my passions for media and analytics in a degree but here you have it!  I just hope that I can continue to be an ambassador for the field and its value into my professional career.