• Art History & Visual Arts
• Media Arts & Culture

Media Arts & Culture

Occidental’s Media Arts & Culture (MAC) program integrates the study of film, media, and cultural theory with digital production, helping students to develop critical and creative skills for engaging an increasingly participatory media culture.

Founded by renowned avant-garde filmmaker Chick Strand and digital scholar/producer Marsha Kinder, our program has a rich history of creative experimentation, community-based and social engagement, and interdisciplinary study from a local and global perspective. We continue to foster such legacies by encouraging students to think outside the box, while working in relation to real-world issues, cultures, and histories.

Our close proximity to the Los Angeles media industry means that MAC students are able to take advantage of invaluable internships and networking opportunities, while cultivating their own work within a close-knit and well-rounded liberal arts environment. Our students study and create a wide range of visual and aural media, including fiction, documentary, and experimental work; they push media making beyond the screen into installation, public, and mobile spaces; and they learn new tools for digital scholarship, from podcasts and video blogs to GIS applications. Students also receive support and guidance in traveling, studying, and filming abroad, as well as in accessing Los Angeles as a shooting location, historical archive of film history, and invaluable repository of compelling stories and subjects.

MAC offers three major tracks: Critical Studies, Production, and Screenwriting. As one of three programs in the Art History and Visual Arts Department, it also offers curricular tie-ins with the Art History and Studio Arts programs, linking the still comparatively young histories of film, electronic, and digital media to the aesthetic, historical, and cultural traditions of other visual practices, including painting, sculpture, and photography.

The MAC program at Occidental is distinctive for its integration of media theory and practice as part of an interdisciplinary liberal arts education, fostering graduates who are technically savvy, critically engaged, and culturally informed. Our alumni continue to pursue interests cultivated in our program within the film and media industries, as well as a variety of other fields. Explore our site and discover why we were named one of the select “2011 Small Colleges and Universities Strong in Film/Television” by Fiske Guide to Colleges 2011.