I'm writing this to inform those in the JMU community to describe what the hell a "SMAD major" is, and why we are one of the most underrated majors on campus. For those of you who don't know, "SMAD" stands for School of Media Arts and Design…
This is a whole academic department; our concentrations are intricate and vary, meaning that we all don't carry Nikons around 24/7 and stay up at all hours designing logos on our Apple computers (though, to be fair, probably 95 percent of us are team Apple).
Personally, I am an IACC: "Integrated Advertising and Corporate Communication" major, meaning I take classes on everything from Mass Communication Law to Creativity in Advertising to Media Politics. We are the future Don Drapers of the mega-advertising industry and the future creative problem solvers for the corporations of today, equipped with extensive knowledge of modern technologies.
There are many other concentrations under SMAD including:
DVC: which stands for Digital Video and Cinema (these guys learn how to shoot, produce and make films, which is no easy task. They have creative talent pumping through their bloodstreams and are trained on digital media accordingly).
Journalism: (hello future ESPN journalists, and one of the most creative majors that I know). Try creating and producing a broadcast show or writing an interesting article pulled from your ass in half a day. These people can.
Converged Media: these are some of the smartest and intellectual people that I have come across. These guys code and design websites from scratch. If you know anything about HTML and CSS coding, then you know it's another language. Not to mention, they master it and design kick-ass graphics for corporations, websites, etc.
We are stereotyped as hipsters that watch movies in class and draw pictures for homework, and I cannot tell you how far away from the truth that is. Our classes emphasize collaboration and innovation. We are trained to work well with others and work well under pressure. Why do you think our SMAD labs are JAC Card accessible 24/7?
Our work is detail-oriented, and our work ethic sets us apart from being anything but a merely "artistic" major. Trust me, I know some of the stereotypes are true (we are often glued to our technology, cameras, etc.) because our studies emphasize, critique, and analyze how and why media arts is so prevalent and influential in today's society.
Describing what a SMAD major is to others can be challenging, and often becomes misunderstood because what we study is complicated and can be hard for others to comprehend. Please know I write this only to defend and explain the SMAD major, not to criticize or undermine any other ones. But I think it was time to put some well deserved recognition out there for the smaddies.
