Visual and Media Studies (AB)

Program Code: U-VIS-AB
Degree Designation: Bachelor of Arts
Department: Art & Art History Department
Website: aahvs.duke.edu/undergraduate/majors/visual-media-studies

Program Summary

Visual & Media Studies concerns all aspects of the production, circulation, and reception of visual images in culture, science, and society. Studies in visual culture engage you in the analysis of the effectiveness of the signs and symbols that give meaning to images, providing access to how visual meaning is socially, politically, and culturally constructed and received.

Visual Studies enable you to interpret the representations that shape the visual constructs of a particular society, to consider how systems of visual code differ from culture to culture, and the think through how the symbolic constructions of life organize how one sees, understands, and participates in natural and social environments. Most importantly, establishing a clear connection between the theory and the practice of visuality is the foundation of Visual & Media Studies.

Go to Programs by Department to view all related programs.

Academic Requirements

At least 13 units total to complete the major. At least 34 units total to earn a degree.

• Required Courses (3 units)

  • VMS 220D

  • VMS 327S

  • VMS 499, or an approved seminar 400-level and above

• Electives (10 units)

  • Must include at least 2 media history or art history courses

  • Must include at least 2 arts practice and/or digital media production courses 200-level and above

  • Must include at least 3 core VMS courses taught by department faculty

  • May include up to 3 crosslisted courses in another department

The visual and media studies major requires thirteen courses, at least eight of which must be at the 200 level or above. Courses required for the major include VMS 202D (Introduction to Visual Culture), VMS 327S (Theories of Visual and Media Studies), and the capstone course VMS 499S (Visual and Media Studies Capstone) or an approved upper-level seminar, as well as ten additional courses to be divided as follows: two courses in visual and media history or art history; two courses in visual and media practice; three visual and media studies electives taught by faculty in AAHVS; and three previously approved crosslisted courses in another department.

The requirements and prerequisites for the major can be satisfied by courses taken at other institutions or abroad, but no more than two courses taken away from Duke may count toward the major. Further courses are available for credit at North Carolina State University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Concentration in Cinematic Arts

The concentration allows students deep engagement and mentoring in a range of approaches within the cinematic arts; from film/video production and digital imaging to the myriad ways in which time-based media can become an element of mixed media works and installation art; building on our distinctive strengths in film production and studies on campus. The concentration enables students to extend and focus their study within multiple fields of practice, film history, and theory.

• Required Courses (2 units)

  • VMS 202D, or CINE 201

  • CINE 499S

• Visual and Media Theory (1 unit)

  • CINE 203S

  • CINE 204S

  • VMS 327S

• Cinematic Arts Practice (4 units)

  • A comprehensive list of courses is available to students in the degree audit system.

• Film Studies (2 units)

  • A comprehensive list of courses is available to students in the degree audit system.

• Electives (4 units)

  • Any 4 ARTHIST, ARTSVIS, CINE, or VMS courses 100-level and above