The Department of Critical Media Practices addresses the how and why of creative practices in the 21st century.
Pursuing a Media Production degree from the Department of Critical Media Practices means creating and thinking about media in completely new and innovative ways.
You will also learn critical perspectives so that you can place media practices within a broad cultural and historical continuum of innovation. We are educating future media artists and creators, which means developing professional production skills in a constructive and collaborative environment.
Students can focus in three primary concentration areas (or they can build their own):
- Documentary Media
- Performance Media
- Sound Practices
Within these focus areas, there are a wide range of different topics, skills and experiences students gain, including working with:
- Digital Photography
- Videography
- Location Sound
- Video Editing
- Electronic Music
- Web Design
- Creative Coding
- Media Installation
- Sound Design
- Digital Cinematography
- Scripting
- Projection Design
- Virtual Reality
- Physical Computing
- Augmented Reality
- A/V Signal Processing
- Media Controller
- and much more…
Undergraduate Opportunities
Our bachelor’s degree prepares you for a career as an innovative media creator for the 21st century.
In small classes, you’ll explore a wide range of production topics and gain skills to help you take your creative work further, as well as to think about creativity as a way to communicate complex ideas. Class topics include creating nonfiction multimedia projects, production for small screens, public performance, interactive media and web media.
Our production workshops and media labs offer hands-on experience with a variety of media tools, including hybrid workflows, large-scale video production projects, and open-source programming. Off campus, Boulder’s creative community, which includes many award-winning filmmakers and artists, provides opportunities to intern and network with experts.
Media Production Minor
Students majoring in any discipline may pursue a minor in Media Production in the Department of Critical Media Practices. The minor is 19 credit hours, with three required media production courses that combine theory with technical skill in order to prepare students for upper division study.
Graduate Programs
We offer several graduate programs that serve students with a variety of goals.
Interdisciplinary Documentary Media Practices (MFA)
This is a terminal, three-year degree for students seeking an immersive experience in documentary media practices. The program’s Documentary Lab provides experience in all phases of production and fosters an environment of investigation and collaboration.
Emergent Technologies and Media Art Practices (PhD)
This is a practice-directed program of scholarly research into new media practices, theories and innovations in art and technology. You will both experiment with, and research, the media and artistic practices you study.
Graduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Documentary Media Practices
This certificate is open to any student pursuing a graduate degree in any department at CU-Boulder. The program aims to meaningfully integrate documentary practices within your primary research and creative process. You will develop both analytical and production skills across a wide range of platforms, practices and technologies while simultaneously placing them within the broader perspective of culture and history.
