Mass Communication Major, B.A. (Radio-TV-Film Concentration)

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Communication

Radio-TV-Film Concentration Program Information

Box 70667
Phone: (423) 439-7676
Web address: www.etsu.edu/cas/comm/rtvf/

The Radio-TV-Film (formerly Broadcasting) unit at East Tennessee State University prepares students for entry level jobs in the radio, television and film industry, and provides a foundation for future growth and career development in research, programming, writing, directing, producing, managing and ownership of the nation’s electronic and entertainment media.

In addition to the cultivation of artistic and practical skills, the program emphasizes history, law and ethics of electronic media and a broad knowledge of the social, economic, and cultural problems of the society it serves. ETSU Students receive hands-on experience by working in the division’s student operated radio and television stations, laboratories, and through approved internships.

To complete the B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Radio-TV-Film, a student must complete a total of 120 credit hours of course work. In addition to the University’s General Education requirements and the B.A. degree requirements, students must complete 39 hours in Radio-TV-Film. At least 72 hours of a student’s degree must be completed in non-mass communication courses (i.e., courses that do not begin with MCOM, ADVR, JOUR, PUBR or RTVF). Students must also complete a minor in a department of their choosing. A 2.0 grade point average must be obtained in the major, the minor, overall, and in all courses taken at ETSU in order to graduate. Prior to graduation, students must also complete a major field test in addition to the standard University exit examination.

Transfer students may transfer up to 12 hours from other institutions toward the completion of the B.A. in the Radio-TV-Film concentration. This means that at least 27 credits in the Radio-TV-Film concentration must be completed at ETSU.

For additional information about the Radio-TV-Film concentration, students should contact the Department of Communication (phone: 423-439-7676, email: communicationdept@etsu.edu). If you wish to seek advising about the Radio-TV-Film concentration, you should consult the How to Contact Your Advisor website. (www.etsu.edu/advisement/continuingstudents/default.aspx#Find).

General Program Information

To earn a degree from ETSU, there are specific course requirements put forth by ETSU, by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), by each college, and by each department. All students must meet the degree requirements at each of these levels. Please follow the format below:

University-level Degree and Graduation Requirements

• Degree and Graduation Requirements 
• Completion of a minimum of 120 credit hours is required.
• CSCI 1100  or the proficiency exam
• Proficiency Intensive Course Requirements
• Senior Exit Exam
• Additional Requirements for Transfer Students
• Second Bachelor Degrees
• Double Majors/Double Degrees

Total Credit Hours for Degree: 120

College of Arts and Sciences B.A. Degree Requirements

Students majoring in the College of Arts and Sciences must meet the following requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree. Some requirements must be taken in addition to the General Education Core, whereas others specify which courses from the General Education Core must be taken.

TBR General Education Requirements: 41 - 42 Credit Hours

Below you will see the categories and courses specified under TBR General Education Requirements. Note that certain courses are required for this degree, specific to this major. Thus, these courses will satisfy both a TBR General Education requirement AND a requirement of this major. (Other majors may require different General Education courses.) Where specific courses are required for this major, we only list those courses under the category. If there are no specific major requirements for a category, all course options appear.
 

Communication

9 credits, consisting of 6 credits of written composition and 3 credits of oral communication.

Written Composition

Complete both of the following: 

• ENGL 1010 - Critical Reading and Expository Writing (3 credits)
• ENGL 1020 - Critical Thinking and Argumentation (3 credits)

• Students required to complete learning support in writing must enroll in a learning support-designated section (L01-L99) of ENGL 1010  during their first 15 hours at ETSU (not including summer) unless they are also required to complete learning support in reading. Students needing learning support in both reading and writing should enroll in ENGL 1010-Lxx immediately upon completing learning support in reading. Additional information may be found on the University Advisement Center website www.etsu.edu/uac/learningsupport. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in ENGL 1010  and ENGL 1020 .

   

Oral Communication

Complete one of the following:

• SPCH 1300 - Introduction to Communication Studies (3 credits)
• SPCH 2300 - Public Speaking (3 credits)
• SPCH 2320 - Argumentation and Debate (3 credits)

• When one of the oral communication courses listed above is completed to meet the general education core requirement, that course will not count toward ETSU’s oral communication-intensive requirement. (See “Other Graduation Requirements.”) Any additional course from this list that is completed will count toward the oral communication-intensive requirement.

Humanities and Fine Arts

9 credits, consisting of 3 credits of literature, 3 credits of fine arts, and 3 credits of humanities electives.

Literature

Complete one of the following: 

• ENGL 2030 - Literary Heritage (3 credits)
• ENGL 2110 - American Literature I (3 credits)
• ENGL 2120 - American Literature II (3 credits)
• ENGL 2210 - British Literature I (3 credits)
• ENGL 2220 - British Literature II (3 credits)
• ENGL 2330 - World Literature (3 credits)
• ENGL 2430 - European Literature (3 credits)

Fine Arts

Complete one of the following:

• ARTH 2010 - Art History Survey I (3 credits)
• ARTH 2020 - Art History Survey II (3 credits)
• DANC 3500 - Dance as a Human Experience (3 credits)
• HUMT 2310 - Arts and Ideas I (3 credits)
• HUMT 2320 - Arts and Ideas II (3 credits)
• MUSC 1030 - Introduction to Music (3 credits)
• MUSC 1035 - History of Jazz (3 credits)
• THEA 1030 - Introduction to the Theatre (3 credits)

Humanities Electives

Complete one of the following:

• ENGL 3150 - Literature, Ethics, and Values (3 credits)
• ENGL 3280 - Mythology (3 credits)
• ENTC 3020 - Technology and Society (3 credits)
• HIST 1110 - World History and Civilization to 1500 (3 credits)
• HIST 1120 - World History and Civilizations Since 1500 (3 credits)
• PHIL 1030 - Introduction to Philosophy (3 credits)
• PHIL 2020 - Introduction to Ethics (3 credits)
• PHIL 2040 - Philosophy as Conversation (3 credits)
• PHIL 2640 - Science and the Modern World (3 credits)
• RELI 2210 - Introduction to the Study of World Religions (3 credits)

Social and Behavioral Sciences

6 credits, consisting of two of the following: 

• ANTH 1240 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3 credits)

•  

• ECON 1050 - Economics and Society (3 credits) or
• ECON 2210 - Principles of Macroeconomics (3 credits)

•  

• ECON 2220 - Principles of Microeconomics (3 credits)
• GEOG 1012 - Introduction to Cultural Geography (3 credits)
• HDAL 2310 - Developmental Psychology (3 credits)
• HDAL 2340 - Understanding Cultural Diversity (3 credits)
• PSCI 1110 - Political Life (3 credits)
• PSCI 1120 - Introduction to American Government (3 credits)
• PSYC 1310 - Introduction to Psychology (3 credits)
• SOCI 1020 - Introduction to Sociology (3 credits)
• SOCI 2020 - Social Problems (3 credits)
• SRVL 1020 - Introduction to Service-Learning in the Community (3 credits)
• WMST 2010 - Introduction to Women’s Studies (3 credits)

History

6 credits, consisting of both of the following:

• HIST 2010 - The United States to 1877 (3 credits)
• HIST 2020 - The United States since 1877 (3 credits)

• Note:  HIST 2030 History of Tennessee  (3 credits) may be substituted for 3 credits of United States History.

Natural Sciences

8 credits, consisting of two of the following (some require labs which are listed directly after the lecture):

(Note: Students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in the College of Arts and Sciences must select 8 credit hours in a SINGLE laboratory science. Please see listing in College of Arts and Sciences B.S. Degree Requirements for options.)

• ASTR 1010 - Astronomy I (4 credits)
• ASTR 1020 - Astronomy II (4 credits)
• ASTR 1035 - Life in the Universe (4 credits)

•  

• BIOL 1110 - Biology for Science Majors Lecture I (4 credits)
• BIOL 1111 - Biology for Science Majors Laboratory I (0 credit)
• BIOL 1120 - Biology for Science Majors Lecture II (4 credits)
• BIOL 1121 - Biology for Science Majors Laboratory II (0 credit)
• BIOL 1130 - Biology for Science Majors Lecture III (4 credits)

•  

• CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry Lecture I (4 credits)
• CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry Laboratory I (0 credit)
• CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry Lecture II (4 credits)
• CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry Laboratory II (0 credit)

•  

• GEOG 1110 - Earth Science: Weather and Climate (4 credits)
• GEOG 1120 - Earth Science: Landforms and Processes (4 credits)

•  

• GEOL 1040 - Exploring Geology Lecture (3 credits)
• GEOL 1041 - Exploring Geology Laboratory (1 credit)
• GEOL 1050 - Life through Time (3 credits)
• GEOL 1051 - Life through Time Laboratory (1 credit)

•  

• HSCI 2010 - Anatomy and Physiology I (4 credits)
• HSCI 2011 - Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory I (0 credit)
• HSCI 2020 - Anatomy and Physiology II (4 credits)
• HSCI 2021 - Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory II (0 credit)

•  

• PHYS 2010 - General Physics I-Noncalculus (3 credits)
• PHYS 2011 - General Physics Laboratory I-Noncalculus (1 credit)
• PHYS 2020 - General Physics II-Noncalculus (3 credits)
• PHYS 2021 - General Physics Laboratory II-Noncalculus (1 credit)

•  

• PHYS 2110 - Technical Physics I-Calculus Based (5 credits)
• PHYS 2120 - Technical Physics II-Calculus Based (5 credits)

• Open to non-science majors only:

• BIOL 1010 - Biology for Non-majors I (4 credits)
• BIOL 1011 - Biology for Non-majors Laboratory (0 credit)
• BIOL 1020 - Biology for Non-majors II (4 credits)
• BIOL 1021 - Biology for Non-majors Laboratory II (0 credit)
• BIOL 1310 - Concepts in Biology (4 credits)
• BIOL 1311 - Concepts in Biology Laboratory (0 credit)
• CHEM 1000 - Chemistry and Well-Being (4 credits)
• CHEM 1030 - Introduction to Chemistry Survey (4 credits)
• PHYS 1030 - Introduction to Physics Survey (4 credits)

Mathematics

Students will enroll in the appropriate general education math course during their first calendar year of enrollment at ETSU. Students required to complete learning support in mathematics must enroll in a learning support-designated section (L01-L99) of MATH 1530  during their first 15 hours at ETSU (not including summer) unless they are also required to complete learning support in reading or writing. Students needing learning support in reading or writing in addition to learning support in math should enroll in MATH 1530-Lxx immediately upon completing their other learning support requirements. Additional information may be found on the University Advisement Center website www.etsu.edu/uac/learningsupport/

Complete one of the following:

• MATH 1530 - Probability and Statistics – Noncalculus (3 credits)

• or

• MATH 1910 - Calculus I (4 credits)

Radio-TV-Film Concentration: 39 credit hours

• Required core courses: 12 credit hours

• MCOM 2100 - Media Writing (3 credits)
• MCOM 3070 - Mass Media and Society (3 credits)
• MCOM 4037 - Communications Law (3 credits)
• RTVF 3602 - Video-Film Techniques (3 credits)

• Required Radio-TV-Film courses: 18 credit hours

• RTVF 2600 - Introduction to Radio-TV-Film (3 credits)
• RTVF 2630 - Writing for Radio-TV-Film (3 credits)
• RTVF 3651 - Audio Production (3 credits)
• RTVF 3661 - TV1: Studio Performance and Production (3 credits)
• RTVF 4604 - Radio-TV-Film Laboratory (1 credit, May be repeated for credit.)

• (Take 3 times for a total of 3 credits)

• RTVF 4699 - Capstone in Radio-TV-Film (3 credits)

• Approved Electives: 9 credit hours

  Select three (3) courses from any non-required course from MCOM, ADVR, JOUR, PUBR, or RTVF in conjunction with your advisor as an elective.

Minor: 18-27 Credit Hours

All students seeking a B.A. in the Radio-TV-Film concentration must complete a minor. Consult with the department in which you intend to obtain a minor for requirements and advising.

Electives: 6-16 Credit Hours

Depending on the number of credits required for your minor and your general education requirements, you will need to take between 6 and 16 credit hours of your choosing to reach your 120 credit graduation requirement.

Additional Information

A course rotation is not yet available for this concentration. Please contact the Department of Communication for information about course offerings each academic year.

Teaching Program Information

There is currently no teacher program offered in conjunction with the Radio-TV-Film concentration.