(Division of Humanities and the Arts)

Professor Gerardo Blumenkrantz, Chair • Department Office: SH 471 • Tel: 212-650-6424

General Information

The City College offers the following undergraduate degrees in Media and Communication Arts:

B.A. in Communications

B.F.A. in Film and Video

Programs and Objectives

Established in 1984, the Department of Media and Communication Arts combines history, theory, and critical analysis of the media with hands-on practical experience. This liberal-arts based, professionally-oriented department offers a broad education in media studies and writing and research in media studies with concentrations in the following:

Advertising and Public Relations (Ad/PR) (Major Concentration)

Film and Video Production (B.F.A.)

Journalism (Major Concentration; Minor)

Cinema Studies (Minor)

Requirements for all Majors

The following requirements apply to all students entering the College in the Fall 2009 semester or thereafter. Currently enrolled students are subject to the requirements in effect when they declared their major. Students reentering the college or transferring from other institutions with credits in the major should consult the appropriate Program Director for applicability of those courses to the current requirements.

A 2.5 GPA in the major is required for graduation. The GPA in the major is calculated from courses in the major based in the major department only, and that have been taken at City College or through ePermit, including all courses in excess of the minimum required for the degree. In addition, students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.5 and above to graduate with a degree from the Department of Media & Communication Arts.

Advisement

Upon enrolling as a major, each student is assigned a faculty advisor. For new majors and those who do not have an assigned advisor, see the appropriate Program Director.

Advertising and Public Relations

Professor Ed Keller, B.A. Program Director

SH 280; 212-650-5039

Film and Video Production

Professor Deirdre Fishel, B.F.A. Program Director

SH 473; 212-650-6558

Journalism

Porfessor Barbara Nevis Taylor, Journalism Program Director
SH 472; 212-650-7167

Cinema Studies

Professor Jerry Carlson, Cinema Stdies Program Director

Equipment & Facilities

Located in historic Shepard Hall, the Department of Media and Communication Arts provides a wide variety of equipment and facilities for film and video production, advertising and public relations, and journalism. Students enrolled in the appropriate courses have access to equipment and facilities that will support their education in the department as well as prepare them for industry standards when they graduate.
WHCR-FM (90.3)

Undergraduate students in the B.F.A. Film and Video program use digital standard and Hi-Definition video cameras. Location and studio lighting equipment are available as well as sound recording and audio equipment. Editing facilities consists of non-linear digital editing labs with Adobe Premiere editing software and Macintosh computer systems. In addition, the department has film and video projection theatres, two production studios, a "black box" theatre space, and a resource center.

The College’s low-power FM radio station, reaching all of upper Manhattan, serves the Harlem community especially and functions as a laboratory for Communications majors. The Department also has a sound booth dedicated especially to its course in Podcasting and Audio Journalism.

The Richard S. Cohen Resource Center

The Richard S. Cohen Resource Center is a comfortable setting for individual viewing of film and video, and reading and studying magazines, journals and newspapers.

The holdings include a few hundred VHS and DVD format films, a selection of film, advertising, PR and new media journals, political commentary magazines and the major metropolitan newspapers.

Computer Labs

Three labs with networked computers for word processing, data research, telecommunications, and simple desk-top publishing and advanced graphics design programs.

MCA Internships

Students who are declared Media and Communication Arts majors or declare the journalism or cinema studies minors may apply for internship credit if they meet the following qualifications: a total G.P.A. of 2.5 or above; completion of a minimum of 15 credits toward the major with a G.P.A. in the major of 2.5; completion of a minimum of 70 academic credits. Life experience or previous internship credit is not acceptable.

Students can earn one, two, or three credits per internship and may take two internships (three, with permission of the Internship Director) during their undergraduate training. The number of credits per internship is determined by the Internship Director, based on hours worked.

Internships usually require students to work on-site 8-20 hours per week for 15 weeks.

All internships must be approved by the Internship Director in advance.

Internships are available through the MCA Department and the College’s Career Services Center located in the North Academic Center. Students must apply through the Department and be approved before starting an internship. The number of credits earned is decided by the Director. Applications are available in SH 472A, the office of the Internship Director.

MCA Awards and Scholarships

Communications Alumni Award

For excellence in Media and Communication Arts.

Dow Jones Fellowship

For an outstanding student in Journalism.

L.L. Richard Guylay Class of 1934 Prize

For a member of the editorial staff who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to The Campus paper throughout the year.

Herman Lew Scholarship

For an outstanding student in the BFA in Film.

Irving Rosenthal Award

For an outstanding journalism student.

Joseph Vasquez Memorial Award

For excellence in graduate film or media arts.

Phyllis Berlowe Scholarship Award

For outstanding junior or senior majoring in Public Relations/Advertising specialties.

Art Stevens CCNY/PRSA-NY Scholarship Award

For an outstanding junior or senior majoring in Ad/PR specialties.

Helen Ostrowski Scholarship Award

For an outstanding international junior or senior majoring in Ad/PR.

Faculty

Gerardo Blumenkrantz, Assistant Professor and Chair
BFA, School of Visual Arts; MFA, School of Visual Art

Jerry Carlson, Professor
B.A., Williams College; A.M., Univ. of Chicago, Ph.D.

Campbell Dalglish, Associate Professor
B.A., Univ. of Colorado; B.F.A., Yale School of Drama

Deirdre Fishel, Professor
B.A., Brown University; M.F.A., Hunter College

Javier Garcia, Assistant Professor
B.A., The City College of New York; M.P.S., The City College of New York

Annie Howell, Distinguished Lecturer
B.A., Whitman College; M.F.A., Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.

Lynne Scott Jackson, Distinguished Lecturer
B.A., Howard Univ.

Edward Keller, Associate Professor
B.A., Columbia Univ., M.B.A.

Andrzej Krakowski, Professor
M.F.A. (Equiv.), Polish State Film School, American Film Institute; Ph.D.. Polish State Film School

Barbara Nevins Taylor, Distinguished Lecturer
B.A., The City College of New York

Babak Rassi, Associate Professor
B.A., George Mason Univ., M.F.A., Florida State Univ.

Boukary Sawadogo, Associate Professor
B.A., Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar;M.A., University of Northern Iowa; Ph.D., University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Antonio Tibaldi, Professor
B.A., Univ. of Florence; M.F.A., Film, CalArts

Andrea Weiss, Professor
B.A., State Univ. of New York at Binghamton; Ph.D. , Rutger’s Univ.

Lynn Appelbaum
Professor Emerita