Provisional University Bulletin (2026-2027)

• Major (BA)

The interdisciplinary study of communication and media focuses on theories and practices of communication, encompassing various aspects of message creation, form and content, technologies and channels of delivery, reception and interpretation, and their larger impact on society and culture. The major provides students with a critical understanding of verbal and embodied interpersonal communication as well as the social and cultural context of mass and socially mediated communication.

Undergraduate work in Communication and Media Studies prepares students to pursue graduate studies or careers in an array of fields, including the arts and entertainment industries, marketing and public relations, and advocacy and policy work.

Students who major in Communication and Media Studies examine the wide range of communicative frameworks through which humans express and exchange ideas, emotions, opinions, and styles. Students combine an exploration of  the cultural, institutional, economic, and political aspects of these frameworks with training in various methods and technologies of communication, which may include language, performance, and print, visual, audio, filmic, broadcast, or social media.

A major in CMS helps students to see the complex relationships between our communicative practices and sociocultural and political contexts. In so doing, it better equips students to recognize when and how our communicative practices are being used to effect positive social change.

Knowledge

Students completing the Communication and Media Studies major will gain knowledge and understanding of:

• Major scholarly approaches to the analysis of interpersonal communication and mass and socially mediated communication, as well as communication by way of a range of additional mediating forms including text, embodied performance, television/film, music, and an array of digital platforms and venues.
• How institutional and political factors shape communication and media.
• How communication and media practices differ according to historical, geographic, and social contexts.
• How communication practices and technologies affect individuals, societies, political arrangements, and aesthetic forms.
• How communicative practices are shaped by and help to shape social roles and identities.

Skills

Students completing the Communication and Media Studies major will develop:

• Select communication skills from an array of options, including written, performance, visual, or digital skills, and/or select technical, creative, journalistic, or marketing skills utilized by communicators in professional settings.
• Research skills using methods in communication and media analysis selected from an array of disciplinary approaches.
• A capacity to employ critical thinking and analysis to communicative and media practices.

Social Justice

 

Upon Graduating

Students can neet with the Communication and Media Studies Undergraduate Advising Head to declare their major at any point prior to the beginning of their eighth semester. Students are encouraged to take ANTH 26a early in their undergraduate career. Beyond completing major requirements, CMS students are not required to follow a given track, but students desiring greater specialization may find it useful to consult the list of thematic clusters for guidance when selecting electives.

Laura Miller, Undergraduate Advising Head
Professor of Sociology

Cameron Anderson
Barbara and Malcolm L. Sherman Associate Professor of Theater Arts 

Bradford Garvey
Assistant Professor of Music and Ethnomusicology

Janet McIntosh
Professor of Anthropology 

Erin Vicente
Associate Professor of Practice, School of Business and Economics

Students must complete nine semester courses, which include the following:

A. ANTH 26a and SOC 146a.

B. At least one course drawn from the Application sub-area.

C. At least three courses drawn from the Critique & Analysis sub-area.

D. Three additional CMS electives.

E. Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the CMS major, students must:

• Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing any cross listed course with the WI designation.

• Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing any cross listed course with the OC designation.

• Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing any cross listed course with the DL designation.

F. All Brandeis courses used to fulfill the requirements of the CMS major must be taken for a letter grade (not pass/fail) and must be C- or above.

G. No more than two courses can be double-counted towards the FTIM major/minor or JOUR minor.

H. To write an optional senior honors thesis, a student must have a 3.5 overall GPA and a 3.75 GPA in their CMS major. Honors candidates are required to take CMS 99a and 99b (Senior Research) in addition to the nine CMS courses.

Students who desire greater specialization in an area of study are encouraged to consult the CMS major’s thematic clusters when planning their courses.