In Comparative Media Studies, we investigate and engage in the world’s complex media environment. We research multiple media forms and technologies, from books, pamphlets, and silent films to social media, virtual reality, and globally-networked games. We study the emerging media practices of states, corporations, social movements, fan communities, and everyday people. Embracing MIT’s motto of mens et manus, we design and create media through practice-based research labs. We examine media within the contexts of varied cultures, societies and social structures, and we critique and design media to empower communities. Above all, we are committed to an ethically and critically engaged approach to the study and production of media.
Graduate Program Information Session
November 12, 3pm. Join us for this fall’s graduate program information session! (This time, it’s hosted virtually and registration is required.)
Research Themes
Our research groups, using a lab model, produce diverse projects. But collectively they work within themes of equity, critical design, and open collaboration.
Assistantships
Central to the graduate program experience is the research assistantship. It not only provides hands-on experience but helps cover the cost of the program itself.
Latest
Faculty opening: Assistant or Associate Professor, Media Studies, with focus on civic media
The application deadline is January 4, 2021, with a start date as early as July 1. Apply at academicjobsonline.org.
Video: Eric Gordon, “Towards a Meaningfully Inefficient Smart City”
Is there digital activism in China? What is it like to be an activist running a grassroots NGO in a land of censors?
Video: Jing Wang, “Walking Around Obstacles: Nonconfrontational Activists in Gray China”
Is there digital activism in China? What is it like to be an activist running a grassroots NGO in a land of censors?
