Comprehensive Requirement

Students will satisfy this requirement by selecting the appropriate Senior Seminar sequence. Note that MAC Senior Comprehensives is a year-long process:

• Critical Media Focus (6 units total): The MAC 490 Senior Seminar in Critical Media is a 4-unit fall course in which students develop their senior comprehensives project. In the spring of senior year, students will enroll in a 2-unit MAC 493 Directed Research course in order to meet completion assessment benchmarks and prepare for public presentation of the project.Students pursuing the Critical Media focus can produce projects that take a range of forms including research papers, websites, video essays, or other hybrid forms of research creation. Projects are often either a 25-page essay or a 7-10-minute video essay and 5-page video statement.
• Media Production Focus (8 units total): The MAC 491 Senior Seminar in Media Production is a 4-unit fall course. In the spring of senior year, students will enroll in a 2-unit MAC 493 Directed Research course in order to meet completion assessment benchmarks and prepare for public exhibition of the project. Media Production Focus students must also complete MAC 492 Advanced Editing in order to be prepared for senior comprehensives postproduction, which can be taken during or in advance of spring senior year. Students pursuing the Media Production focus produce 7-10-minute mediavideo works across a range of fictional, experimental, interactive, expanded, installation, animated, performative, or documentary-based forms or write a feature-length screenplay with an associated lookbook and pitch video or TV pilot with an associated series treatment and pitch video. Please note prerequisite coursework for each comprehensive track in the major requirements above.

Student comprehensives projects will be assessed in late March/early April by the primary faculty advisor and will be given a “Pass" or “Fail" designation that is provided to the Registrar as indication of whether or not the College Comprehensives Requirement has been fulfilled. See the Senior Comps Page of the MAC Department Website for more detailed information on Pass/Fail assessment measures. A designation of “Pass with Distinction" may occasionally be granted to projects that departmental faculty agree surpass the standard expectations for senior comprehensives.