The graduate program in Media and Cultural Studies (MCS) is an interdisciplinary framework for studying the relations between media and culture in the complex and changing context of contemporary societies. It aims to relate contemporary theory and criticism to mass mediated communications and culture and focuses on issues such as mass culture, popular culture, visual culture, commodification of culture, globalization, gender and subculture, media economics, media power, influence and effects, new communication technologies, normative, legal and ethical issues in media, visual representation.
The MCS graduate program draws its main disciplinary resources and academic strengths from METU's departments of History, Political science and Public Administration, Philosophy and Sociology. Students benefit from METU's tradition of academic Excellency through shared teaching across a number of optional courses alongside MCS courses. The courses offered by METU's Graduate School of Informatics and METU's Audiovisual Systems Research and Production Center (GISAM) and its technical facilities at broadcast level are additional assets for MCS.
The interdisciplinary approach enables students to choose courses both from the participating and other departments and structure their studies and specialize according to a wide range of interests.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND CURRICULUM
Admission procedure will be implemented according to the Academic Rules and Regulations Concerning Graduate Studies of METU .
The program is designed for students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and, hence, is expected to attract students from a variety of departments. All students enrolled in the program will take three required courses, which aim to equip students with the basic knowledge to grasp theoretical, historical and institutional aspects of the field. Students of the "thesis option" will chose three and the students of "non-thesis option" will chose four "core courses". The remaining courses will be free electives.
As indicated, the MCS Program offers both thesis and non-thesis options. In the former, students are required to complete seven credit-courses and a Prothesis Seminar as well as write a conventional M.S. Thesis or present an audio or audiovisual project and write a dissertation of 10000-12000 words. In the non-thesis option, students are required to take ten credit courses and complete a term project. Upon the successful completion of the requirements of either program, a M.S. degree in MCS will be conferred.