A week before spring 2024 registration, I did what most 5C students do: I frantically scoured HyperSchedule.io for classes to create various possibilities for an ideal schedule. I ached to get into the media studies classes I had missed out on as a result of bad registration times in the past. As a junior, the process was sure to go a lot more smoothly this time, right?
Wrong. The one production course that aligned best with my interests in media studies, Introduction to Video Art, already had over 50 PERMs. My heart sank.
To clarify, a production course provides students with hands-on training and instruction from experienced faculty in various aspects of media studies. Media theory and history classes provide students with an in-depth study of the history of one particular medium or grapple with an overview of the major schools of academic thought that have influenced the field of media studies.
The mission statement for the Intercollegiate Media Studies Department (IMS) states that one of their main goals is to connect production and theory to enhance students’ media creations. However, the registration battle I keep losing makes this mission statement, and my journey to complete this major, an insurmountable challenge.
I support this department’s mission statement wholeheartedly, but living up to it is harder than it should be. There are only five introduction to production courses offered for all 5C students and they each cover extremely different areas in media. Three of them are classified as art classes (Foundations of 2D Design, Introduction to Digital Art and Intro B/W Darkroom Photo) and they stray somewhat far from my personal focus on television and film. The last two offered are two sections of Introduction to Video Art and I have yet to get an approved PERM. Especially after three consecutive semesters of attempts.
With the introductory production course as a prerequisite for intermediate courses, yet another barrier lies right beyond the first. Although there are other captivating production course offerings, such as Cinematography and Intermediate Media Projects, intro to production courses act as a prerequisite for the rest.
So, until I find a way to squeeze myself into one of the two sections of Introduction to Video Art, the intermediate production courses will persist as a distant fantasy.
I know what you’re probably thinking: I chose to be at a liberal arts college, so why am I complaining? I have thoroughly enjoyed the seven theory and history classes I have taken in the media studies department, but I have not had the opportunity to acquire the hard skills that accompany the history and theory I have learned. The hard skills in media studies are what will broaden a media studies student’s career options in the field. With more knowledge on how to perform essential tasks in the realm of media, the more clarity they will gain on what career path they want to pursue following their degree.
The primary problem: There is an unbalanced ratio of theory and history classes to production classes.
It’s crucial for IMS to acknowledge that the addition of more production courses does not alter the liberal arts focus. I am not asking for a more professional approach to the media studies major, but rather more opportunities to learn how to connect my understanding of media theory and history to physical achievements and tasks in media studies.
And because this problem stems from registration difficulties, all I’m really asking for is more intro production classes.
I am not alone in my desire for more hard skills acquisition opportunities. With Claremont’s proximity to Los Angeles, one of the biggest media hotbeds in the world, one would expect the resources of IMS to be superb. Still, other students in the media studies department have echoed my desire for more production course sections. Students in some other departments are sounding the hard skills alarm, too: Many English majors are eager for more journalism class offerings so they too can apply their writing skills to a tangible practice.
After hearing about my peers’ schedules, it’s clear that hands-on classes are not just an upperclassman privilege. I know my time will come to take a production course, but I can’t help but feel behind as a second-semester junior who has not gained many hard skills in media studies. It’s time for this liberal arts college to support its liberal arts students.
The addition of more introductory production courses would accomplish this by allowing students to take the classes they need sooner. IMS, and all 5C majors, should consider these beneficial ripple effects — and please accept my Introduction to Video Art PERM.
Tess McHugh PO ’25 is from Denver, Colorado. She loves watching Succession, spending time with her twin sister, and eating Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Facebook Comments