Film Studies

(Interdisciplinary Studies minor only)

Office: 315B McEwen Hall

(716) 673-4853

Mr. Phil Hastings, Coordinator

Website: http://www.fredonia.edu/department/interdisciplinary/Film_Studies.asp

Film is fundamentally a medium of expression and communication that may be used to examine and study human knowledge and exploration in a wide variety of fields. A film may have predominantly literary content or may be predominantly historical, political, or cultural. A film may be highly impressionistic and be primarily an abstract, aesthetic work. Film is more than a century old, and it is an increasingly popular form of entertainment and cultural influence in the world. It is also a medium capable of serious artistic expression and scholarly analysis. The departments of Communication, English, Modern Languages and Literatures, History, Political Science, and Visual Arts and New Media and the Women's Studies and Film Studies programs offer courses regularly that treat film as a communication medium, an artistic medium, an historical or political document, or a reflection of culture. In any given semester, as many as 200 students may be enrolled in courses in which film is the major vehicle for study.

The goals of the Film Studies minor are to develop a variety of approaches to understanding the role of film as a medium of expression and communication and the kinds of content with which a film might be concerned, to acquaint students with the development of film as a medium of expression and communication, and to acquaint students with landmarks in the history of film and to recognize and challenge the grounds on which landmark status has been recognized.

Total Hours: 21

Core: (at least 6 credit hours chosen from the following courses)

Choose one from

ARTH 276/ FILM 220	Film Form
or
COMM 155	Rhetoric of Vision and Sound

Choose one from

ARTH 376	Film and Special Effects
ENGL 280	Introduction to Film
ENGL 380	Narrative Film Silence to Sound
ENGL 381	Narrative Film After 1940
HIST 203	History through Films*

Electives: (at least 12 credit hours, chosen from the following.) It is recommended that students have completed at least one core course before beginning work on electives:

ARTS 222	Introduction to Experimental Video
ARTH 345	Film Criticism
ARTH 359	New Media Writing
COMM 309	Film Analysis
COMM 361	Script Writing for Video, Film and Radio
COMM 386	International Film
COMM 452	Documentary I
COMM 454	Video Drama
ENGL 207	Drama and Film
ENGL 386	Women and Film
ENGL 387	American Film
FILM 399	Special Topics (content varies)
FILM 401	Independent Study
HIST 363	Chinese Culture Through Films
HIST 376	Film and American Culture
LANG 385	German Film
POLI 345	Film and Politics

Any course from the core not taken to fulfill core requirements

Capstone: (3 credit hours)

FILM 470

Senior Film Seminar

Students should have at least 12 credit hours before registering for FILM 470.

Notes: No more than four (4) courses in any one discipline may be taken for credit toward the film minor.

Faculty in various departments frequently offer other film-related courses that address the goals of the Film Studies program. To determine if a course not listed above will satisfy requirements for the Film Studies minor, students should contact the coordinator.

Film Studies

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