UCR Media and Cultural Studies

09/01/2026

Swipe through for highlights from Barcelona! ⬅️🇪🇸

For the 4th consecutive year, Professor Randol Contreras has led students through his FLEAP titled “Drugs and Crime in Barcelona: Media and Cultural studies in Spain”, which focuses on comparing the crime policies of the United States and Spain

FLEAP stands for Faculty Led Education Abroad Programs, and our UCR professors lead these programs during the summer for 2 to 5 weeks ☀️

Note: FLEAPS are open to everyone! Including non-UCR students. Summer 2027 FLEAPs will be posted this fall, so if you have ever been interested in studying abroad with MCS, keep a look out for that!

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08/31/2026

Here it comes (again)! ⭐️

First day of fall quarter is coming up soon, but there’s still time to add a Media and Cultural Studies course to your schedule. These lower-division courses still have seats open, and they are all great starts to your journey with MCS.

Continuing students will be able to register starting on September 8th!

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08/06/2026

07/24/2026

The Phoenix of Gaza XR continues its journey around the world!
Last week, we had the honor of bringing our virtual reality experience to The University of Tokyo, where students from the U.S. and Japan came together to witness, reflect, and connect with the realities of life in Gaza.
This screening was part of the summer media internship program, uniting students from UC Riverside and The University of Tokyo for hands-on documentary training with
Our hope is that this shared experience helps build the future that these students envision, where technology is used to amplify the truth and help put an end to injustices worldwide.
We would like to extend our gratitude to Professor Hidenori Watanve and everyone at The University of Tokyo, as well as our co-founder Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb, Professor Setsu Shigematsu, and everyone who made this exchange possible.

06/16/2026

“End-of-the-quarter” interview and short film by Juliette Cruz, a 2nd year undergraduate student here at UCR 🎥

Juliette shares her story as a filmmaker, her influences and what inspired her to create her film, “Break”.

In MCS 009 “Music in Movies”, she learned about the process of creating a film score and collaborated with PhD mathematics student and tenor saxophonist, Seth Berman.

Together they recorded an arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” for her final project, “Break”, a short film about the struggle of finding balance between school and social life.

Enjoy and have a safe, restful summer vacation! ☀️

06/13/2026

Wishing all of our wonderful graduates the best on your future endeavors and looking forward to seeing what you all do next! 🎓🎉

Hope to stay in touch with our MCS alumni! If there are ever any projects you would like us to support, please reach out and send it to us. We are happy to continue supporting you however we can 😊

💌 Message us here or email us at [email protected]

06/11/2026

Congratulations again to our MCS Award winners as well as all of our wonderful graduates from the Class of 2026 🏆🎓👏

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to our MCS grad ceremony yesterday to celebrate! 🎉

🌟our MCS Award winners 🌟
Best Paper - Crystal Salazar Hernandez
Best Poster - Caitlyn Campbell, Theo Ruiz, Megan Southern, and Michael Shattuck
Best Pitch Deck and Sizzle Reel - Phillip Chung
Best Short Film - Elias Martigon

06/01/2026

✨SUBMISSIONS DUE TONIGHT!! 🎥🏆✨

Calling all student filmmakers and creatives! MCS invites all undergraduate students that have been enrolled in MCS courses to submit student-made films and posters for our Best Short Film, Best Pitch Deck and Sizzle Reel and Best Poster awards that will be announced at the MCS Graduation Ceremony on June 9th🎓

Swipe through for more information on how to submit your film! ⬅️

📩 Please send your poster submissions to Prof. John Jennings ([email protected]) and film submissions to Prof. Ruhi Khan ([email protected])

05/28/2026

05/28/2026

✨CONGRATS CLASS OF 2026 🎓🎉✨

On Tuesday, June 9th from 11:30AM to 2:30 PM at UCR Campus in INTS 1113, we would like to warmly invite you and your loved ones to come celebrate our MCS graduates with us at our MCS Graduation Ceremony 👩‍🎓🧑‍🎓🏆

Awards will be presented for the film and poster submissions from our students and food and refreshments will be provided 😊