What is Media Studies?

Media studies explores how stories are made, shared, and understood. It combines the study of film, television, journalism, digital media, and visual culture with hands-on production and critical analysis. Students investigate how media represents communities, influences public opinion, builds identity, and reflects global, social, and political realities.

At its core, media studies teaches you to both decode and create media. You learn how images, narratives, and technologies work, and how to use them to communicate clearly, think critically, and respond creatively to the world around you.

Why study Media Studies?

Media shapes nearly everything in modern life. Studying it gives you powerful tools to understand the messages you encounter and to craft messages of your own that inform, persuade, entertain, and inspire.

As a media studies major, you build a creative and analytical toolkit that includes how to write for different audiences, record and edit video, tell nonfiction stories, produce radio and podcasts, develop visual narratives, and analyze media through cultural and global perspectives. These skills prepare you for careers in film, journalism, advertising, public relations, digital media, nonprofit communication, arts management, and other fields where strong communication and storytelling lead to opportunity.

Why study Media Studies at Beloit College?

Beloit College’s media studies program is intentionally hands-on and interdisciplinary. From your first semester, you gain access to real production spaces including Beloit College’s TV studio (BATV) and the campus radio station (WBCR). Additionally you will have access to the Media Lab, recording studio, Maker Lab, and entrepreneurship spaces at the Center for Entrepreneurship. You learn directly through doing — directing short films, producing audio stories, editing video, developing media criticism, and writing about music, sports, film, and culture.

Students also build professional skills through internships on campus and in major media markets. Many spend a semester in Chicago or Washington, D.C., or study abroad at international universities where they earn credit toward the major. Beloit College’s small classes and close mentorship mean faculty know your work, support your creative goals, and help you develop a portfolio that stands out.