Undergraduate Media Studies

Are you a student seeking hands-on classes with creative projects? Are you looking to develop technical and aesthetic skills to benefit your personal and professional goals or to help you stand out in a job search? Do you want to build expertise in digital photography, web design, audio mixing, video editing, and storytelling using industry-level tools, like Adobe CC? 

Make/Create Media, Photo Credit Theresa Redmond

The Media Studies Minor

The Reich College of Education is home to a campus-wide Media Studies Minor with courses located in the new College of Education building on App State's campus in Boone, North Carolina. Our building is equipped with a Mac-based Media Lab where enrolled Media Studies students can access software like Adobe CC (Premiere, Lightroom, Photoshop, etc.) and borrow equipment like digital SLR cameras, video cameras, mics/audio recorders, lighting kits, and more! We even have a Green Screen Production Studio!

The Media Studies Minor is available to all undergraduate students. You can opt to complete the full minor, or simply take one or two classes. The minor is structured to prepare students with the technical, aesthetic, and critical skills to leverage a range of media (visual, auditory, multimedia) across many genres (documentary, fiction, narrative) for use in professional careers and for personal creativity and enjoyment. The Minor offers flexible and adaptable skills sets and pairs well with any major. Again, you don't have to complete the full minor– any student is welcome to enroll in any of our media courses as electives in order to try out the classes or add a creative dimension to your study.

Add the Media Studies Minor today!

Some sample topics your classes may cover include:

  • storytelling
  • popular culture studies
  • audio production
  • collaborative video editing
  • media representations and identity
  • digital and media literacy
  • 360 video
  • digital photography
  • motion graphics
  • participation and privacy in the digital age

Required Courses (6 Hours)


  • MTL 4810 - Introduction to Sight and Sound (3)
  • MTL 4830 - Media Literacy (3)

Electives (9 Hours)


Select from the Following

  • MTL 2010 - Narrative, New Media, and Gaming (3)
  • MTL 4552 - Visual Effects and Motion Graphics (3)
  • MTL 4740 - Photography and Digital Imaging (3)
  • MTL 4770 - Intermediate Photography and Digital Imaging (3)
  • MTL 4825 - Non-fiction Film and Video (3)
  • MTL 4835 - Media: Image, Influence, and Identity (3)
  • MTL 4840 - Video Production and Story (3)
  • MTL 4860 - Audio Documentary Production (3)

Total Required (15 Hours)