Graduate Media Studies
The University of Virginia’s graduate programs in Media Studies offer rigorous, interdisciplinary training that examines how media technologies, industries, texts, and audiences shape modern life and global systems of power. At the M.A. level, the Media, Culture & Technology program provides advanced study in media history, communication technologies, and research methods, equipping students with analytical and methodological skills to investigate contemporary media issues and to pursue careers in fields such as media policy, analysis, research, or production, as well as further graduate study.
The Ph.D. in Media Studies prepares students for academic careers through deep engagement in critical media studies, drawing on communication, cultural studies, film studies, political economy, sociology, and science and technology studies. The program emphasizes examining media in relation to power, equity, global circulation, and technological change, while fostering original research, professional development, and teaching experience under close faculty mentorship.
Together, UVA’s M.A. and Ph.D. programs cultivate scholars and professionals who understand media as dynamic cultural, political, and technological forces—and who are prepared to contribute transformative research and informed leadership across academic and public spheres.
What Can I Do With This Degree?
- Media policy analyst or consultant
- Media research specialist in government, advocacy, or industry settings
- Journalist, media writer, or communications professional
- Marketing, audience analytics, or strategic media advisor
- Academic researcher or university‑level media studies professor (Ph.D.)
- Media technology or digital culture analyst
- Film, media, or cultural critic
- Instructor or curriculum developer in media literacy and communication
- Public policy researcher examining media infrastructures, equity, or regulation
- Media production, content strategy, or creative development roles
- Histories of media and communication technologies
- Critical media studies, including media texts, audiences, industries, and infrastructures
- Media theory and the cultural, political, and social impact of media systems
- Research methods in media studies, including qualitative, historical, and computational approaches,
- Political economy of communication and media policy analysis
- Global and transnational media circulation and cultural flows
- Studies of race, gender, sexuality, and disability in relation to media and power
- Science and technology studies as they intersect with media cultures and infrastructures