[Air-L] Info sessions: MA + PhD programs in Media Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder

[Nathan Schneider]

University of Colorado Boulder Media Studies Department

Recruiting Graduate Students for Fall 2025


The Media Studies Department at the University of Colorado Boulder is now accepting applications for our two graduate programs. We offer an innovative MA in Media and Public Engagement (MAPE) and a PhD in Media Studies that’s fully funded for four years. We would be grateful if you would circulate this announcement far and wide to any students or colleagues you think might be interested in pursuing work in the past, present, and future of the theory and practice of public scholarship and public engagement; media technology, society, and social change; global and international media studies; critical theories of media and communication; media, religion, and culture.


Interested applicants are strongly encouraged first to see if their work aligns with our faculty<https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/people/media-studies> and then to read more on MAPE’s program requirements<https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/mape-handbook> as well as the PhD requirements.<https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/sites/default/files/attached-files/mdstphdhandbookaugust2024_final.pdf> Prospective applicants can also sign up to join us for one of two info sessions in October:


10/8, 5pm: https://cuboulder.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0cAK7GxdAgcv6VU

10/16, 10am: https://cuboulder.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8wyhhmhv59WqnYi

International Student Applications Due December 1, 2024

Domestic Student Applications Due January 15, 2025


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Our master’s program in Media and Public Engagement (MAPE) is a 2-year interdisciplinary program that spans traditional boundaries between theory and practice, offers a critical study of the history, institutions, economics and social implications of the media, nationally and globally, combined with a practice-based media training geared toward civic engagement and community building. In addition to completing courses in media theory and other fields of interest, students learn how to create thoughtful and engaging projects using a variety of media practices including documentary film, multimedia websites, interactive video installations and other online tools. In their two years in the program, MAPE students will collaborate with faculty, community leaders, nonprofit organizations and socially engaged corporations to devise innovative pathways to the study, commentary and presentation of social issues. The MAPE prepares students for a variety of professions, both at the national and international level, in government, media, cultural organizations and the nonprofit sector, as well as for pursuing further study in a PhD. Students are also encouraged to participate in the labs and centers listed below.


The MDST PhD is unique in how it excels at delivering specialized research and curriculum while also collaborating with other units on campus to help doctoral students customize their program of study to their specific interests. Students and faculty involved in the program may draw heavily on cultural theory and critical theory to better understand interactions among the major components of the past and present of media. Our work is also often interdisciplinary (as we draw on social, economic, political, historical, legal/policy/regulatory and international perspectives). As our faculty are both scholars and artists, our work is also often hands-on, utilizing the resources of the journal Cultural Studies<https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rcus20>, Center for Media, Religion, and Culture<https://www.colorado.edu/cmrc/>, the Media Economies Design Lab<https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab>, and the Media Archaeology Lab<http://mediaarchaeologylab.com/>. Students graduate from our program with broad knowledge of the intellectual history of media studies as an important field of research: its origins; its perennial questions and controversies; its evolution in response to technological, political, economic and cultural change; the full range of methods it employs, both humanistic and social scientific; and a demonstrated capacity to design and execute original and significant research about media and their historical and contemporary power and importance. Our goal is to help students become intellectual leaders, nationally and internationally, in the area(s) of research specialization they choose, and to help them cultivate an interest in generating public awareness about their scholarship. As such, an important part of doctoral students’ education is their participation in the department’s research and teaching missions through their assignments as teaching assistants, research assistants, and instructors.



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Nathan Schneider (he/him)
Assistant Professor, Media Studies
University of Colorado Boulder
https://nathanschneider.info