History of our Media Arts Department

The Media Arts program at Butler University has been a part of Jordan College for more than 65 years. The first "radio" major graduated in 1944 laying the cornerstone for what would become one of the largest and most well respected departments on the Butler campus. In the 1960's the department was the nationally recognized pioneer of internships in broadcasting-now emulated by virtually all schools. The "Radio" department evolved into "Radio/Television" in the 1970's, "Telecommunication Arts" in the '90's and finally to "Media Arts" in 2004. Each name change represented the department's commitment to professional education and to grow with the times. Each name change was a result of the embracing of new media and cutting edge teaching by the program. The department responded to the developing needs of the profession through the years by adding new courses and degrees in television, multi-track audio recording, and most recently, digital design and multimedia. Our graduates from each decade read like a "Who's Who" in broadcasting, video and audio production, film, advertising, the music industry and digital design. Media Arts remains a forward-looking discipline, built on the strong foundation of a long and distinguished history.