The Department of English & Media Arts is the creative heart and soul of the RMU experience! Enhance your skills as a professional in writing or visual media for your career.
The Department of English & Media Arts provides students a liberal arts education with a strong professional focus, preparing them to succeed in a wide variety of career fields. The department is committed to creating a vibrant and supportive scholarly and creative community that welcomes all students and encourages them to reach and to surpass their educational, professional, and personal goals. We offer small classes with personal attention from professors who are practicing artists, award-winning scholars, and media professionals with diverse global experiences.
Courses for the English program focus on literature, language, rhetoric, philosophy, and professional and creative writing. We train English students to research, assimilate, analyze, and synthesize information; to appreciate a wide variety of perspectives; and to define and solve complex problems. Courses for the Media Arts program emphasize the importance of professional competency in the selected field, media literacy and the development of critical thinking and media-making. Students in the media arts are prepared for professional careers as creative thinkers and problem-solvers.
Welcome from Department Head
Welcome to the English & Media Arts Department! My name is Dr. Heather Pinson, and I’m excited to show you our departmental offerings. We offer majors in English, Graphic Design, UX/UI, and Cinema and Photography as well as opportunities for law school.
The English program prepares students for productive, engaged lives in a global environment by developing their abilities to produce and analyze texts in a variety of media. Students learn to creatively, critically, and ethically evaluate information as it is presented in different cultural and intercultural contexts. Faculty members assist students in charting pathways to professional careers through research, publishing, and editing opportunities, creating strong resumes prior to graduation which is why our English program has a proven track record of preparing students for careers such as publishing, management, education, technical writing, editing, advertising, public relations, and digital content creation or graduate school or law school. Students in this area may be eligible for the pre-law advisory program. The BA in English, allows interested students to complete a double-major concurrently or complete professional certifications that support their career goals. We celebrate student presentations and publications through RUNE, our student-led creative writing magazine; Literature Out Loud, our RMU radio podcast; and our Creepy Conference, a regional conference of the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta the international English honor society.
Media Arts students are provided with ample opportunities for engaged learning, focusing on a multidisciplinary approach to the use of tools and technologies. The program’s interdisciplinary curriculum provides students with practical skills, knowledge, and application in cinema, television, photography, drawing, design, and user experience as well as a comprehensive industry training. The degree program also offers students the option of completing academic minors, certificates, or elective courses that complement their interests and goals. Facilities in our Wheatley Center include a lighting studio, camera equipment, analog darkroom, large format digital printing lab, a variety of digital tools for still and moving image making, as well as a wood shop and metal shop, and a Media Arts Gallery to display student work. The Academic Media Center is fully equipped with a Television studio, Radio and Podcast studio, Sentry Newsroom, high definition video and audio equipment, and editing stations to produce news, sports, and entertainment. We also offer opportunities to work in Media technology, Converged media, and Animation and VR. Each year students also have an opportunity to engage with the year’s Visiting Documentary Filmmaker-in-Residence housed in the Snee-Reinhardt Media Arts House as well as with other visiting professionals, artists and scholars.
- Scholarships, Professional Opportunities & Student Organizations
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National scholarships for students in media studies
Scholarships listed through RMU
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Academic Media Center Work-study and scholarship opportunities
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Professional Writing and English Studies Scholarships
Student clubs and organizations
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Pittsburgh Film Students
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RMU eSports
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RUNE, the Robert Morris University Literary Magazine
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Literature Out Loud, an RMU Radio podcast
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Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honors Society
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Creepy Conference, a regional conference of the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society
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- Centers and Special Programs
- Meet the Faculty
- News and Events
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News and Events for the School of Informatics, Humanities and Social Sciences
- Our Graduates Work at
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Our graduates are award-winning artists exhibited and recognized internationally; authored films, books, television content, works of photography, books, and many other media and art work; international educators (Korea and Japan); domestic educators (Colorado College, CCAC, RMU, Duquesne, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, PA Cyber Charter School, Mount Lebanon Public School, Kennedy Catholic High School); accepted to graduate schools and law school (Iowa State Univ, Trinity University in Dublin, University of Purdue, Ohio University, University of Pittsburgh); and hired in the following:
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American Eagle Outfitters Bayer
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Bradley Brown Design
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Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
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Carter’s/Osh Kosh B’Gosh
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CGI Client Global Insights
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Comedy Central
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Comma Girl II Inc
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Condé Nast Traveler
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The Church Online
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Dick’s Sporting Goods
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FedEx Ground
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Fivestars
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Harley Davidson
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Heritage Valley Health Care System
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Highmark
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History Channel
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Industry Weapon
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KDKA
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Knickerbocker
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Levi's
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Lexus
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Microsoft
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Netflix
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Nike
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Noble Denim
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Paramount Network
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PBS
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Pittsburgh Action Against Rape
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Pittsburgh Penguins
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Pittsburgh Pirates
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Pittsburgh Steelers
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PNC
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PocketExpert
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Nova Chemicals
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RCA Records
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RMU
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Showtime
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Sony
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Tailored Marketing
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Thermo Fisher Scientific
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Treatspace, Inc.
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Tiffany & Co.
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Urban Outfitters
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UPMC
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Wall-to-Wall Studios
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Viacom
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VICE
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WPXI
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WTAE
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WTXL
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WQED
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- Internships Obtained by our Students
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- Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation
- American Eagle Outfitters
- Apple Box Studios
- Animal Studio
- AMPD Group
- Armstrong Cable
- Argentine Productions
- Artist’s Image ResourceAcosta Sales and Marketing Co.
- Carnegie Science Center
- CBS Radio
- Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
- Covalent
- Dick’s Sporting Goods
- Engauge
- ESPN Radio
- Event Design North
- The Fitting Group
- Fox Broadcasting
- Fox Sports Television
- FSN Pittsburgh
- Fox Sports
- Giant Eagle
- Giant Ideas
- Green Building Alliance
- Heritage Valley Health System
- Hifade
- International Images
- Innovations
- Island Def Jam-Universal Music Group
- The Late Show with David Letterman
- Latrobe Art Center
- Jack Horner Communications
- Javo Studios
- KDKA-TV
- Maya Design
- Media Café
- Mind Over Media
- New Perspective Communications
- NFL Films
- Oceans Campus
- Pittsburgh Action Against Rape
- Pittsburgh Community Access TV(PCTV21)
- Pittsburgh Film Office
- Pittsburgh Magazine
- PMI
- Pittsburgh Musical Theatre
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium
- Production Masters Inc.
- Roberts Communications
- RMU Athletics
- RMU Student Life
- Skinny Tie Media
- Spindle Publishing
- Source One Technologies
- Suzanne DeLaurentis Productions
- Sweetwater
- Trends to Traditions
- Wall-to-Wall Studios
- WDTV/Withers Broadcasting
- WPXI-TV
- WQED Multimedia
- WTAE-TV
- Meet Our Alumni
Steven Sims, Class of 2006
VP of WOW Presents Plus, World of Wonder
My time at Robert Morris was some of the best years of my life. I had great relationships with all of my professors and built friendships and networks that will last a lifetime. The opportunities that RMU provided helped me grow into the successful television executive and producer that I am today.
Photo by Gage McCall
Alexa Headley, Class of 2018
Creative Designer | Associate Consultant
Getting to be a part of the Media Arts community at RMU was very helpful in my growth as a designer and person. I got the opportunity to collaborate, learn, observe and do life with the people in this program. When I graduated from RMU, I not only took the skills and tools I learned but the relationships that helped me grow.
- Advisory Board
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- Contact
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Heather Pinson, Ph.D.
Department Head of Arts and Humanities
School of Informatics, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Robert Morris University
pinson@rmu.edu
Wheatley 208