Minor in Film and Media Studies
The following are required courses for the Film and Media Studies Minor:
- Film 220 Introduction to Film Studies – Offered every fall 3 credits
- Film 330 History of American Cinema – Offered every spring 3 credits
- Film 340 History of World Cinema – Offered every fall 3 credits
- Film 350 History of Electronic Media – Offered every spring 3 credits
In addition to these required courses, students must also take a 3 credit advanced elective course to complete the minor. Courses that are internships or independent study are not available for the minor.
Minor in Global Film and Media Studies
Film and Media Studies offers a minor in Global Film and Media Studies that encourages students interested in visual culture to learn about film and media as global phenomena beyond the confines of the U.S. A number of classes available in this minor will emphasize how specific aspects of a country's cultural heritage and aesthetic traditions are expressed through commercial, narrative cinema. The aim of this minor is to foster understanding of the global development of moving image visual forms that may be in adaption of, or in self-conscious opposition to, U.S. feature film or electronic media practice, other modes of moving image production can also studied, such as documentary film/media, avant-garde film, television and video games. In addition to courses on specific national or regional cinemas or electronic media forms, other courses will offer students the opportunity to compare and contrast moving image texts from different cultural and historical contexts.
Minoring in this area can help students see film and media within the changing cultural, social, and political terrain, moving from the local to the global. They will also gain understanding of the intersection of production and reception, textual conventions (or transgressions) and audience expectations. They will learn how to situate the longstanding commercial dominance of U.S.-based media forms within an understanding of adaptive, contrarian, and transformational responses to those forms. Students will also learn how moving image texts within and across national boundaries treat issues like stereotyping, cultural hybridity, orientalism, economic neocolonialism, neo-liberalism, and cultural globalization. Emphasis on synthetic thinking and analytical, argument based writing in FMS courses guarantees that students in this minor will have the opportunity to improve their critical thinking and writing skills.
TOTAL CREDITS needed to complete Global Film and Media Studies minor: 15 hours
The following are required courses for the Global Film and Media Studies Minor:
- Film 220 Introduction to Film Studies – Offered every fall 3 credits
- Film 340 History of World Cinema – Offered every fall 3 credits
It is recommended but not required that students begin with these two required courses.
Three electives totaling nine credit hours focused on non-U.S. cinemas:
- 2 courses (3 credits each) at the 300 or 400 level dealing with national or regional cinemas such as French New Wave, Italian Neorealism, French Film Culture, British cinema, History of German film, Anime, Japanese New Wave cinema, East European cinema, Topics in Chinese Language Film
- 1 course (3 credits) at the 300 or 400 level in a cinema or media course that analyzes film or moving image media from different countries or parts of the world. Choices in this category include: Global Art Cinema, Transnational Cinema, Women and Film, Making War, East Asian Melodrama, Visualizing the East: Orientalism in Cinema and Art, The James Bond Franchise, History of Media Convergences, Holocaust cinema, Documentary Film and Media; Masters of the Avant-Garde, Theories of Mass Media
NOTE: With the permission of the director of undergraduate studies, one course (3 credits) on media/film taken in another department or program at the 300 or 400 level may count toward the Global Media Studies minor. Students should consult with their FMS advisor or the FMS undergraduate studies director before enrolling in a course offered outside of FMS that they hope to count towards this minor.