Department of Media, Film, and Journalism Studies Records

According to the documentation on file, the Department of Radio, Television and later Film was developed within the School of Communications in 1947, previously the Department of Oratory created in 1894. Developed by R. Russell Porter and others, the radio and television program was adopted to adapt to the growing demands for training in these new medias. It provided its students practical and functional training for successful careers in communications media as well as workshops and clinics in its early days. Yet, as demand grew, so too did the program providing four-year and later gradute degrees in all areas of radio, television and film. The department had a long history of close relations with campus and local radio and television stations providing students the practical applications of their newly learned skills. During the 1960s there were several initiatives by Porter and later department chair Harold A. Mendelsohn to develop educational and social service programing from television media. In 1966 the department was combined with the fledgling Department of Journalism to create the Department of Mass-Communications. The Department of Mass Communications changed its name to the Department of Media, Film, and Journalism Studies in 2010.