Critical Media Studies Concentration
Students in this concentration will analyze media such as film, television, radio, popular music, magazines, newspapers, and the internet. A critical approach teaches students not to be passive consumers of media, but rather active agents who engage with media in terms of their social and political significance. Students will acquire a deeper understanding of media industries, learning how films, television shows, online material, and other media content is produced. Students also will learn the role of media companies in the global economic system as well as how these institutions shape media culture. In addition, students in this concentration learn how different audiences make meaning out of media texts. Critical media studies classes focus on the latest digital communication technologies as well as previous media forms to provide students with a thorough understanding of communication in the past, present and future.

The Creative Media Concentration
The Creative Media concentration is located within the Communication Arts program at a liberal arts college, MMC, which emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of creative work. This concentration focuses on developing a variety of media, creative practices, research techniques, and theoretical frameworks to enable students to complete creative projects that are thought provoking and socially and politically aware. In our introductory course (Sense and Medium) students gain hands-on experience with digital filmmaking, sound art, and digital media. Students may then apply to enter the Creative Media concentration and, upon acceptance, begin taking courses in beginning, intermediate and advanced production techniques in these areas. Our intermediate level courses are designed by theme and give students in-depth knowledge in the history, theory and practice of specific media forms (ie. game creation, avant-garde filmmaking, web video activism, etc.) In their Senior year at MMC, Creative Media students engage in a year long thesis capstone wherein they develop a project of significance with a public exhibition.

The Strategic and Relational Concentration
The Strategic and Relational communication concentration prepares students to be successful, effective, and professional in their business and personal lives. Strategic and relational communication occurs at the interpersonal, small group, organizational, and rhetorical levels. In this concentration, students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of topics relevant to their personal and professional lives, such as issues of public relations and advertising, advocacy, culture, decision-making, leadership, message design, public address, relationship maintenance, and stereotypes. Students who complete this concentration will be well-equipped to navigate a breadth of personal and professional relationships and contexts by having gained skills related to strategic and relational communication.