Courses

Film Studies majors are generally united by a love of the movies. Yet Film Studies classes involve more than just watching films. In addition to teaching students important skills in film analysis and production, faculty in the Film Studies program teach courses that encourage students to develop a general cultural literacy, or the ability to better interpret and critically “read” the increasingly visual way in which we are asked to understand the world. Courses in production then allow students to apply that newfound literacy and contribute their own stories to our diverse culture.

Few courses are limited strictly to readings of film. Instead, students assess a range of images and the visual language of mainstream media, news coverage, and the Internet. Often these visual texts are then analyzed in relation to other works to elaborate the circumstances of a given film’s production and reception. Journalism, theory, history, sociology, philosophy, and literature might be assigned to broaden a film’s meaning by developing its cultural and historical context.

Typically, students view and read this content outside of class, coming together in the classroom for discussions on the artistic, technical and thematic elements that make the film what it is. Classes are kept small so that students have ample opportunity to try out their own ideas and contribute to the ideas of others. Discussions are richer because Film Studies faculty hail from departments across campus, bringing their own academic perspectives, be they historic, cultural or linguistic, to the classroom. Production classes provide students with the opportunity to get behind the lens and put analysis into practice. In addition, visiting scholars and filmmakers present students with the opportunity to learn from the faculty at other institutions and practitioners working in the field.

Film Studies majors choose their courses from a variety of different departments and programs around the University, such as Art and Art History, Classical Studies, English, Journalism, Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies, Languages, Literatures and Cultures, and Music. The range of courses available provides students the opportunity to construct a program of study that matches their particular interests.

Courses in other departments that count for the Film Studies major/minor are Course groupings. Please reference the Film Studies Course Pathway and Checklist.

The following courses are specific to the Film Studies Program:

Film Studies