Media studies minor relevant today
To the Editors,
While we were happy to read Huizi Yu’s report on the new minor in cinema and media studies published on Oct. 26, Ruby Pan’s comment that the minor “seems useless in the real world” was an unfortunate conclusion to the piece. While there are certainly many careers (director, critic, media executive, historian and designer, to name a few) that relate directly to media studies as a field of study, the program is most urgently relevant for our broader experience as citizens. In an era in which many people spend more time looking at screens than live human faces, and in which a reality TV star is a major-party candidate for president, the need for deep critical thinking about media has never been more pressing. We invite Ruby to visit our courses and reconsider her ideas about the kinds of skills and knowledge that are useful in today’s world.
Gordon Hughes, Associate Professor of Art History
Lida Oukaderova, Assistant Professor of Art History
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