Overview
The Film & Media Studies program at F&M explores all aspects of visual communication and expression. Students in our program make movies—narrative, documentary, and experimental. They study movies as cultural and historical artifacts. And they think deeply about how moving images work—as art, entertainment, technology, commerce, and a powerful instrument for discovering and sharing knowledge and ideas.
The Film & Media Studies curriculum deliberately integrates practical skills, historical knowledge, and critical thinking. It also deliberately emphasizes the ways in which the study of moving images connects to, borrows from, and enriches other disciplines, from every division of the College. So our majors develop an exceptionally well-rounded understanding of moving images. At the same time, our program provides majors with the resources and support they need to pursue particular interests in depth. Resources and support include production equipment, grants for student work, internship opportunities, face-to-face contact with professionals, and lots of individualized attention from the faculty. Majors have carried out advanced projects in areas ranging from narrative filmmaking, to media management, to the psychology of cinema.
Because of their broad knowledge and their specific skills, graduates of the Film & Media Studies program at F&M are well prepared for a wide range of careers, not just in film and the media, but also in communications, business, scientific research, higher education, and many other fields.
Majors & Minor
Film & Media Studies can be a major, a minor, half of a joint major with another program, such as Creative Writing or Psychology, or part of a self-designed Special Studies major, with courses from two other departments. Examples of Special Studies majors with a Film & Media Studies component are "The Nature of Myth," "Media & Marketing," and "Comedy and Laughter."
A Major in Film & Media Studies
consists of eleven (11) courses:
These include the following five courses:
- TDF 162 - Fundamentals of Motion Picture Production
- TDF 165 - Introduction to Film and Media Studies
- TDF 267 - Motion Picture History
- TDF 363 - Film Theory Seminar
- TDF 470 - Thesis Project in Film and Media Studies
Two of the following production workshops:
- TDF 362 - Narrative Video Workshop
- TDF 364 - Documentary Video Workshop
- TDF 367 - Experimental Workshop
One additional 300-level film history, criticism, or theory course.
Plus three electives in Film & Media Studies and related subjects approved by the program director (see electives listings to the right).
A Minor in Film & Media Studies
consists of six (6) courses:
These include the following four courses:
- TDF 162 - Fundamentals of Motion Picture Production
- TDF 165 - Introduction to Film and Media Studies
- TDF 267 - Motion Picture History
- TDF 363 - Film Theory Seminar
Plus two other Film & Media Studies courses or electives (see below).
Electives in Film & Media Studies
Automatically approved electives include TDF courses in writing, acting and design (186, 225, 228, 229, and 283), Videodance, and film courses in other departments (e.g., Italian Cinema, Cinema and the American Jewish Experience). Film Theory (363) and 300-level video production workshops (362, 364, 367) may be repeated as electives. Students with an interest in interdisciplinary research involving Film & Media Studies (e.g., arts management, visual anthropology, movies for social change, the psychology of cinema) may petition the program director to include courses from other departments as electives within the major.
Courses
Special Offerings - Fall '15
(A), (H), and (S) indicate that a course fulfills the Art, Humanities, or Social Science distribution requirement, respectively.