Major

The major in Film Studies offers an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the study of moving images. Above all, the major offers an integrated approach to the development of critical skills for film analysis and hands-on practical skills for production. Majors learn how to make sense of films by making them, and learn how to make films by learning how to think critically about them. Through a wide range of courses and activities, offered by core faculty in Film Studies and faculty from multiple disciplines, students will gain an understanding of the history and theory of film as well as an appreciation of cinema as a medium for the expression of ideas and culture. The course of study culminates in the two-semester capstone sequence, during which seniors develop and present both a research paper that demonstrates their critical and analytical skills and a creative project that reflects their mastery of film production techniques.

Film Studies is an excellent field for those who wish to pursue careers in film, television, radio, online media, or other arts; who wish to pursue graduate studies in the humanities or the arts; or who wish to pursue other careers that require creativity, intelligence and adaptability, and the ability to think, write, and collaborate effectively about moving images and texts in general.

The Film Studies major consists of a minimum of ten courses, including:

  • An introductory film criticism course: FI 200 Elements of Film
  • An introductory film production course: FI 210A Introduction to Filmmaking
  • A film history course: FI 224G Intro to Filmmaking or AM 210H American Cinema
  • An intermediate film production course: FI 301 Documentary Filmmaking or FI 302 Narrative Filmmaking
  • Two (2) film criticism electives (with one at the 300 or 400 level): Film history, genre/auteur/topics, internship, or interdisciplinary film critcism courses not taken to saisfy the requirements above (see list below)
  • Two (2) film production electives (with one at the 300 or 400 level): intermediate and upper-level film production, internship, and interdisciplinary film production courses not taken to satisfy the requirements above
  • FI 498 Methods and Issues in Film Studies or HU 498 Humanities Colloquium
  • FI 410 Film Production Seminar

Film Criticism elective options include:

  • FI 204A The Horror Film
  • FI 206H Film Genres
  • FI 224G International Cinema
  • FI 230H Film & Identity
  • FI 304E Film, Media and the Environment
  • FI 306H Theories of Film
  • FI 308H Hitchcock: Master of Suspense
  • FI 310H Major Directors
  • AM 210H American Cinema
  • AM 319E Environmental Film Colloquium
  • CL 261H Greek Tragedy in Modern Film and Literature
  • CL 262H Ancient Comedy in Modern Film and Literature
  • CN 228G Chinese Martial Arts in Literature and Film
  • CN 266G East Meets West: Chinese Cinema
  • FR 250/FR 450 French Cinema
  • FR 307H Literature and Film in Postwar France
  • HU 101H Writing About Movies
  • HU 370H Humanities Internship
  • HU 388 Humanities Symposium
  • IT 306H Italian Film and Literature
  • JA 231E Japan Cinema: Images of Nature
  • LI 244H Drama: Screen & Stage
  • LI 253H Adaptation: Literature & Film
  • LI 314G Caribbean Literature and Film
  • LI 348H Literature and Film After Auschwitz
  • PL 246H Philosophy and Film
  • RE 324H Topics in Religion and Cinema
  • RE 345H Jesus in Ancient and Modern Media
  • SP 308H Film and Literature: Spanish Civil War
  • SP 309H Film and Literature: Hipanics in the U.S.
  • SP 310H Literature, Film and Art: Lorca, Bunuel, Dali
  • SP 312H Latin American Culture in Film
  • other courses as approved by the discipline coordi
    nator

Film Production elective options include:

  • FI 301 Documentary Filmmaking
  • FI 302 Narrative Filmmaking
  • FI 303 Film Technique
  • FI 304E Film, Media and the Environment
  • AR 345 Motion Graphics/Special Effects
  • AR 348 Experimental Film and Video
  • CW 204A Introduction to Screenwriting
  • CW 304 Writing Workshop: Screenwriting
  • CW 404 Writing Workshop: Screenwriting
  • HU 370H Humanities Internship
  • IA 240A Sound Design
  • TH 235A Acting for the Camera
  • TH 272E Performance and the Environment
  • TH 372 Directing
  • other courses as approved by the discipline coordinator