Important: DIGI Classes Are Now MEDI - Please See Information Below
As of May 2025 all courses that formerly had the prefix DIGI have been renamed MEDI.
No Classes have been Cancelled.
The timetable has been updated to reflect this, but if you have inadvertently enrolled in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026 DIGI classes you may receive a message saying you have been unenrolled or that the course is ending. The new "MEDI" courses are identical to the previous "DIGI" courses, it is a course-code change only.
To remedy this, look for the same number with the prefix MEDI and enroll in it instead. The VIU calendar online (and this website) are in the process of being overhauled to reflect the new names and reduced requirements for our Major in Digital Media Studies and Minor in Media Studies, the two degrees this department offers.
Anyone who declared a Minor in Digital Media will now receive a Minor in Media Studies. All previous credits will count toward this degree.
For more information, please contact the Chair of the department, Joy Gugeler, at joy.gugeler@viu.ca
New Minor and Major (BA) requirements
The new Minor in Media Studies (formerly Digital Media and Media Studies Minor) and the Major in Digital Media Studies are now easier for you to attain. The credits required for both have been reduced to bring them in line with best practices in the sector. Also, the former "MEDI 265 - Introduction to Game Studies" is now an additional 100-level offering as "MEDI 165 Introduction to Game Studies". The Program Outline in the Calendar has not yet been completely updated.
Requirements as of June 2025
Minor in Media Studies – 8 courses, of which 4 are upper level = 24 credits
- MEDI 100
- MEDI 110 (formerly DIGI 110)
- + two 100 or 200-level MEDI electives
- MEDI 310
- + three 300 or 400-level MEDI electives
Major in Digital Media Studies – 16 courses, of which 10 are upper level = 48 credits
- MEDI 100
- MEDI 110 (formerly DIGI 110)
- one of the following: INTR 100, MEDI 111, MEDI 113, MEDI 115, MEDI 165, MEDI 202, MEDI 215
- one of the following: MEDI 200, MEDI 205, MEDI 230 (formerly DIGI 230)
- two of the following: MEDI 220 (formerly DIGI 220), MEDI 221 (formerly DIGI 221), MEDI 260 (formerly DIGI 260), MEDI 270 (formerly DIGI 270), MEDI 280 (formerly DIGI 280)
- MEDI 300
- MEDI 302
- MEDI 310
- MEDI 496 (formerly MEDI 495 and DIGI 496)
- + six 300 or 400-level MEDI electives
Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 Offerings
Fall 2025
- Online Asynchronous MEDI 220 - Web Production 1 - Robin Davies (formerly DIGI 220)
- Online Asynchronous MEDI 165 - Introduction to Game Studies - Karen Skardzius (formerly DIGI 265)
Monday
- 8:30-11:30 MEDI 110 - Introduction to Media Production - Richard Boyce (formerly DIGI 110)
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 402 - Technology and Identity - Joy Gugeler
- 2:30-5:30 MEDI 280 - Video Production 1 - Richard Boyce (formerly DIGI 280)
Tuesday
- 8:30-11:30 MEDI 315 - Music, Culture and Technology - Robin Davies
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 200 - Media, Audience, and Society - Deb Pentecost
- 2:30-5:30 MEDI 311 - Film About Media - Deb Pentecost
Wednesday
- 8:30-11:30 MEDI 100 - Introduction to Media Studies and Communication - Deb Pentecost
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 230 - Social Media - Joy Gugeler (formerly DIGI 230)
- 11:30-2:30 INTR 100 - Popular Culture and University Writing - Karen Skardzius - 6 credits
- 2:30-5:30 MEDI 301 - Studies in Global Media - Deb Pentecost
Thursday
- 8:30-11:30 MEDI 270 - Audio Production 1 - Robin Davies (formerly DIGI 270)
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 110 - Introduction to Media Production - Robin Davies (formerly DIGI 110)
Friday
- 10:00-1:00 MEDI 110 - Introduction to Media Production - Richard Boyce (formerly DIGI 110)
- 1:00-4:00 MEDI 310 - Media Literacy - Karen Skardzius
Spring 2026
- Online Asynchronous MEDI 165 - Introduction to Game Studies - Karen Skardzius (formerly DIGI 265)
Monday
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 110 - Introduction to Media Production - Richard Boyce (formerly DIGI 110)
- 2:30-5:30 MEDI 366 - Foundations of Game Design - Karen Skardzius (formerly DIGI 366)
Tuesday
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 110 - Introduction to Media Production - Richard Boyce (formerly DIGI 110)
Wednesday
- 8:30-11:30 MEDI 380 - Video Production 2 - Richard Boyce (formerly DIGI 380)
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 302 - Making the News - Joy Gugeler
- 2:30-5:30 MEDI 300 - Research Methods - Karen Skardzius
Thursday
- 11:30-2:30 MEDI 205 - Promotion, Persuasion, Propaganda - Deb Pentecost
- 2:30-5:30 MEDI 100 - Introduction to Media Studies and Communication - Karen Skardzius
- 5:30-8:30 MEDI 495 - Senior Media Studies Project - Deb Pentecost (formerly DIGI 496)
Friday
- 1:00-4:00 MEDI 401 - Public Relations, Advocacy, and the Media - Deb Pentecost
Welcome to Media Studies at VIU
Media Studies teaches students hands-on media-making skills for video, audio, and Web as well as critical theory and analysis to understand the media context they are entering and what their media will mean within it. As prosumers -- both producers and consumers of media --we are fascinated by story and have our own to tell. This requires thoughtful research, writing, design, multimedia production, and distribution.
Media Studies at VIU balances a critical analysis of past, present, and future media formats with the technical, creative, and professional skills needed for today's evolving media industries. The 4-year degree puts equal emphasis on understanding how media makes meaning and how you can make media that is meaningful to you and your audience across platforms: from film and video to music and audio for radio, podcast, or Web or games. Our experiences of these media in our homes and businesses equip us to design media that engages, empowers, disrupts, and informs.
Our degree stresses both a critical understanding of the economic, social, historical, and contextual landscape in which media is operating and the hard skills required for hands-on careers and entrepreneurism in the field. These components are equally essential and mutually reinforcing.