Media and Society
"Media studies" refers to the examination of visual, aural, and textual information and entertainment that is reproduced and transmitted to mass audiences using a series of complex and changing technologies. HWS was among the first liberal arts colleges in the country to offer a major in Media Studies in 1996. From its inception, the Media and Society Program has fostered a sustained, sophisticated, and comprehensive analysis of the media’s pervasive cultural influence from a variety of perspectives and guided by two fundamental goals:
- To engage students in the critical analysis of the influences of mass media from both the socio-political and cultural/artistic perspectives.
- To stimulate students to express their creative imaginations through self-expression in writing and the visual arts.