Claremont, Calif. (September 28, 2006) – Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Associate Professor of English and Media Studies at Pomona College & Chair of the Intercollegiate Media Studies (IMS) Steering Committee, and Tracy Biga MacLean, Academic Director of IMS, are pleased to announce an IMS major. The new major, which takes effect immediately, requires the completion of 11 courses, with a concentration in Film/Video, Digital/Electronic Media, or Critical Studies. The IMS major replaces the previous options for students to major in this field, including the Pitzer Media Studies major and the Pomona Media Studies major. Any student of the five undergraduate Claremont Colleges may now elect to major in Media Studies; and the program will no longer be considered off-campus to those not enrolled at either Pitzer or Pomona. Current students will not be required to conform to the new requirements, although underclassmen will be encouraged to adopt the new program. In Fall 2007, IMS will inaugurate a new capstone experience in the form of an IMS Senior Seminar that will be required for all media studies majors and team-taught by three faculty members, one representing each of the three tracks.
Intercollegiate Media Studies was established in 2004 to formalize relationships between media studies faculty and courses at the 5Cs, and to facilitate planning, organization and programming, information and resource sharing. Its academic office and production center, both housed on the Pitzer campus, serve students from all five Claremont Colleges. Academic Director Tracy Biga MacLean has been with the program since its inception, as has Eddie Gonzalez, Assistant Director of the Production Center. Kelly Sears, Director of the Production Center, was hired in July 2006. IMS is supported by faculty members from many disciplines across the campuses. Core faculty members include: Alex Juhasz (Pitzer Media Studies), Nancy Macko (Scripps Art), James Morrison (Claremont McKenna Literature), Rachel Mayeri (Harvey Mudd College Media Studies), Ming-Yuen S. Ma (Pitzer Media Studies), Jennifer Friedlander (Pomona Art History), T. Kim-Trang Tran (Scripps Art), Jesse Lerner (Pitzer Media Studies), Frances Pohl (Pomona Art History), John Peavoy (Scripps English), Ken Gonzales-Day (Scripps Art), and Sheila Pinkel (Pomona Art).
For more information about the new major, please contact www.pitzer.edu/ims | [email protected].
