Media Studies Major

Study the cultural, historical and political importance of media in one of the first undergraduate programs in the U.S. to combine theory, history and practice.

The Pomona Department’s contribution to the Intercollegiate Media Studies major focuses on theoretical and critical approaches to the study of the media in global perspective.

Thanks to the resources of the five Claremont Colleges that participate in the major, you can chose from more than 80 media studies courses covering a wide range of theoretical approaches and hands-on production experience in film and video as well as digital and electronic media.  

You will examine the histories, the technologies and social and cultural contexts of media forms and apply critical thinking, theory and practice across the disciplines, including history, politics, computer science, English and art history. 

In class with Professor Jennifer Friedlander
In class with Professor Jennifer Friedlander
In class with Professor Jennifer Friedlander
In class with Professor Jennifer Friedlander

What You’ll Study

    • Courses in media history and theory
    • One introductory production course
    • A concentration in one media form or critical studies
    • Senior exercise
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Choose from 82 media studies and core courses across The Claremont Colleges.

Creating at Pomona

Luke Meares

Documenting a Queer Rural Community

As a documentary photographer, Luke Meares '21 created a representation of queer rural community in Appalachia through digital photography

Kendall Packman ’22

Digital Empathy and Gendering Virtual Assistants

Kendall Packmanʉ۪22 explored how virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa are constructed in relation to gender roles so that humans can interface with them comfortably and naturally.

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Philycius Oey
Philycius Oey ’26

By majoring in media studies, you not only become a better media consumer, but a better storyteller: uncovering untold stories and questioning not your own deservedness in a space, but why you were never there in the first place.

Faculty & Teaching

Our Media Studies professors are innovative thinkers and practitioners exploring topics on popular culture, contemporary art controversies, experimental literature and film, and the relationship between media and politics. 

Professor Jennifer Friedlander

Media studies students enter a challenging space—a space that refuses them the comfort and ease of speaking behind the veneer of objective knowledge. In its place, we work together to erect a different system of inquiry, one in which apparently obvious and common-sense views become our object of scrutiny, not just in terms of their content, but also in terms of their form.