Film studies is an interdisciplinary minor offered by four departments:
English, History, Journalism, and Communication Studies and Theatre Arts.
Film Studies examines
film as an art form, as an industry and as the most popular and most influential
communication medium of the twentieth century.
Film Studies provides an inter-disciplinary approach to visual literacy as it introduces students
to film history, theory, criticism, and production.
What can you do with a minor in Film Studies?
For history students, films on historical topics offer visual understandings
of past events and eras. Film study also provides a means to explore how filmed
interpretations are reflections of the times in which the films were made and
the filmmakers who created them, and also the degree to which influential films
create public memories. Students can learn to recognize revisionist history
and to compare the conventions and aims of the historical documentary and the
feature film.
For students of literature and drama, film adaptations of short stories, novels,
and plays provide opportunity for comparative analysis of written and visual
texts and the means to understand how the narrative conventions of both mediums
create meaning. Recurring themes in film remakes offer students a way to explore
how literary themes are imitated, updated, or challenged. With film fast becoming
the literature of our age, film studies offers students a step into the future
of literary studies.
For students interested in writing film criticism and film reviews, film study
places films in the context of film history and provides the opportunity to
examine films in terms of types, genres, and techniques. Students can study
theories of representation and explore how camera placement, lighting, editing,
sound, and music create meaning and invite specific viewer response.
For students interested in cultural change, films offer periodic snapshots
of changing ideas about such topics as gender roles, the family, the law, violence,
war, sexual relations, and romantic love. Films are a source for exploring conflict
between cultures, and students can trace changes in how women and ethnic minorities
have been represented and are choosing to re-present themselves.
For students interested in filmmaking, film study provides the opportunity
to write screenplays and to create and edit films and videos. Students can learn
the history and conventions of documentary, narrative, and experimental films
and can explore the varying styles of individual American and international
writers, directors, cinematographers, and editors.
For students preparing to teach, film study provides the opportunity to examine
age and subject appropriate films and to explore various teaching methods. Students
can also apply commonly practiced film methodologies to create goal-oriented
lesson plans for classroom use.
