The University of British Columbia

Degree Requirements for students entering the program in 2023/24 or later

You are reading the 2022/23 Academic Calendar. The 2021/22 version remains in effect until 31 August 2022 and is available here

All students in the Bachelor of Media Studies must complete the following degree requirements¹:

• Writing and Research Requirement
• Upper-level Requirement¹
• Arts Credit Minimum Requirement¹

¹For additional information, see Credit Requirements and Regulations.

Writing and Research Requirement

The Writing and Research requirement has two components:

Writing Component

In their first year of study, direct-entry students are required to complete one course chosen from: ASTU 100 or ASTU 101 (Coordinated Arts Program), ENGL 100, or WRDS 150. Students transferring into the program should ensure that they have met the Writing Component via one of these courses no later than the end of their first Winter Session as a BMS student. This component must be satisfied prior to the student attaining Year 3 standing.

Students who do not satisfy the above requirement due to a lack of attempts may have their registration restricted until the Writing Component is complete. Students who fail the Writing Component twice will have their maximum registration credit load reduced until the requirement is successfully completed. See Continuation Requirements.

Research Component

In order to contribute to the development of knowledge in Media Studies, students must also complete a research-intensive experience. Normally completed in their fourth or final year of study, BMS students will satisfy this requirement with MDIA 450.

B.M.S. Core Program Requirements

All students in the Bachelor of Media Studies program must complete the following requirements:

First-Year Core Courses: 9 credits

In addition to the Writing Component course, which also constitutes a core requirement, first-year students are required to take the following 9 credits in their first year of study:

• MDIA 150¹(3) Media Communities
• Two courses² chosen from: ARTH 101, CPSC 100, CRWR 206, CRWR 208, FIPR 101, FIST 100, INFO 100, JRNL 100, MDIA 100, VISA 110

¹MDIA 150 registration is restricted to Year 1 B.M.S. students.

²Transfer students who do not meet registration restrictions for MDIA 150 must instead complete three courses (9 credits) from this list. This option is not open to direct-entry students.

Media Studies Core Courses: 18 credits

• MDIA 290 (3) Collaborative Methods
• MDIA 300 (3) Critical Approaches to Media Studies
• MDIA 350 (3) Media Environments
• MDIA 450 (6) Advanced Media Projects
• MDIA 490 (3) Emerging Media Practitioners

B.M.S. Disciplinary Core Courses: 21 credits

• ARTH 227
• CRWR 312
• ENGL 232
• FIST 340
• GERM 207
• INFO 250
• JRNL 200

B.M.S. Focus Areas: 21 credits

Students are required to take:

• 15 credits from one of three Focus Areas (Data, Visual or Narrative)¹; and
• 6 credits total chosen from the other Focus Areas

¹For more information on Focus Area selection, please see the Bachelor of Media Studies website.

Data Focus Area courses:

• One of CPSC 103, CPSC 110
• CPSC 344
• INFO 200
• INFO 419
• INFO 456

Visual Focus Area courses:

• ARTH 480
• FIPR 133
• FIST 240
• THFL/VISA 312
• VISA 241

Narrative Focus Area courses:

• CRWR 213
• One of CRWR 302, CRWR 308, CRWR 310
• ENGL 332
• JRNL 201
• JRNL 440