MCMA moving forward with curriculum reform

The College of Mass Communication and Media Arts voted Wednesday to eliminate its core curriculum and move forward with more integrated and flexible entry-level courses. Faculty applauded as Associate Dean Gary Kolb announced the results to approve the proposed curriculum core classes.

"This is the beginning of a wonderful possibility," said MCMA Dean Manjunath Pendakur. "I am deeply grateful for all the work that went behind developing these proposals." Pendakur said the college will begin developing the curriculum in the fall, with the core classes first on the agenda.

The core classes could be offered without changes to the rest of the curriculum, Kolb said. He said the college hopes to have the classes offered by the fall semester in 2006 or 2007 but does not want to rush things without having the resources first. "The classes will not be implemented until faculty and resources are available," Kolb said.

The move to rework the curriculum began in 2002 when the college administrators released a proposal to restructure the entire college. The faculty voted down that proposal and another one in 2003, but they did agree in May 2004 that the college's curriculum needed to be revamped. The main focus of the curriculum change has been on improving the college core classes, which currently are MCMA 201 and MCMA 202. Many students complain they do not learn anything in these two core classes.

Roger Darrigrand, a senior from Massachusetts studying cinema and photography, said it is a good idea to give students more options. "It's helpful for someone who is coming in and not knowing what they want to do," Darrigrand said. "They're a complete waste of my time." Kolb said the two classes would be replaced with four classes from each of the individual specialty areas - news, media arts practice, media analysis and media industries - and students would be required to pick two of them.

MCMA curriculum leaders developed four specialty groups in September to focus on those specific areas within the college. The four groups drafted proposed changes to the curriculum, which were finished in February. By implementing the new core courses, all students will also be required to take a writing course.

Though the classes are still developing, the groups have outlined the basic idea behind the classes. The news industry class will help students take a deeper look at how the news business works. The media arts practice class will teach a more in-depth look at the media through different elements such as light, color and sound. The media industries class will examine the economic impact of the media on cultures and societies worldwide, and the media analysis class will look deeper into the impact of the media on individuals and society.

Kolb said he is happy to see the process moving forward. "This is a good step to take," Kolb said. "We're looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel."