The Cultural Studies (CS) major is the interdisciplinary liberal arts option at Columbia College Chicago. The CS major offers a variety of concentrations–Urban Studies, Media and Popular Culture Studies or Literary Studies. At 36 credit hours, the CS major is designed to work well in conjunction with a minor, or with a double major. For students who seek the superior thinking and communications skills afforded by the liberal arts, the CS major offers the opportunity to prepare for career opportunities in arts administration, non-profit management, teaching, community, and social services management, among others.

The Cultural Studies major can also prepare students for law school or graduate school in a variety of fields, including American studies, sociology, anthropology, women’s studies, and linguistics. Cultural Studies majors will have the opportunity to develop critical thinking, writing, reading, and speaking skills by analyzing the values, ideas, and belief systems that inform cultural products and everyday practices.

Cultural Studies majors will also have the opportunity to develop excellent skills for civic engagement by becoming adept at examining how race, ethnicity, gender, class, and nationality inform the power structures that undergird culture. In short, the CS major is designed to provide the broad preparation that empowers students to improvise and adapt in a rapidly changing job market, and to make conscious creative choices in their practice of citizenship and life-building.