Film Studies
How does film use image and sound to tell a story? What kinds of stories do we seek out in cinema, and how do those stories reflect—or anticipate—the larger cultural and political world in which they are made? Should movies reflect reality, or is their purpose something else entirely? A consideration of film means thinking about this medium as entertainment, art, societal artifact, and a rapidly changing technology.
Overview
The film studies minor is housed in the English program, which emphasizes similar tools for critical and narrative analysis, though students do not have to be English majors in order to pursue the minor. Movies are a part of everyone’s life, and film students at º£½ÇÂÛ̳ study them as art, as societal artifact, as entertainment, and as a rapidly changing technology.
The minor focuses on the study of film rather than its production, though occasional classes in filmmaking are also available, and students can get involved in various broadcasting groups on campus. The film studies minor provides a basic foundation for those considering graduate school in film or a career in production, and can enhance students’ studies in related areas like creative writing, drama, English, foreign languages, history, and psychology, among others.
Curriculum
The film studies minor consists of five courses — two are required and three can be chosen from an approved list. Introduction to Film and Film Theory are required and explore film history, basic film study vocabulary, relationship of art and life, notions of authority and resistance, the attractions of genre, film in the digital era, film criticism and theory, audience reception, gender and psychoanalytic theory, and post colonialism. The remaining three courses can be chosen from a list of courses approved for the minor each term. Offerings have included Screenwriting, Film Adaptation, Global Cinema, Introduction to Documentary Film Production, African Film, The U.S.-Mexico Border on Film, and Silence and Sound in Film.
