We offer courses that teach valuable skills, from video production to journalism writing to advertising to web site design. But there are no departments or programs specifically designed to prepare students for specific media-oriented careers at UVM. We do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. We have found that a broad education coupled to internships and similar professional experiences can prepare people for successful and rewarding careers.

Students sometimes ask, "Why aren't there career-oriented majors in the media field at UVM? Shouldn't there be some?" Most of us here prefer a liberal arts oriented approach, where students major in one or another area of intellectual pursuit coupled to internships and on-the-job experience. We think that, to be a good journalist, public relations expert, filmmaker, or even web site designer, above all you need to learn how to think, read, write, and make sense of the larger world with subtlety and effectiveness. Technical skills, while important and useful, are secondary, and relatively easily learned through a course or two coupled to internships. (It's worth mentioning that some prominent journalists have argued that journalism schools do their fields a disservice, and that aspiring media professionals are better off with liberal arts majors.) If you are a student contemplating a career in a media related field, in any case, the single most important thing you can do to pursue that goal is to do an internship or two while you are still an undergraduate. Many of the faculty in this area can advise you on practical ways to do an internship.

UVM, in sum, offers students a chance to develop a sophisticated understanding of the forms, institutions, history and social and cultural significance of communication media as a whole. We encourage students to look at issues in media and communication from broad ethical, aesthetic, political, and social perspectives; this we feel, offers students a useful preparation for careers in the media that is sometimes quite effective.