Film and Media Studies

Director: Robert Sickels
Anne Petersen

Affiliated Faculty:
Charly Bloomquist, Art
Matt deTar, Rhetoric Studies
Heather Hayes, Rhetoric Studies
Donghui He, Chinese
Sarah Hurlburt, French (on Sabbatical, Fall 2013)
Justin Lincoln, Art
Paul Luongo, Music
Charles McKhann, Anthropology
Matthew Reynolds, Art History and Visual Culture Studies
Yukiko Shigeto, Japanese
Lisa Uddin, Art History and Visual Culture Studies

Film and Media Studies (FMS) is an interdisciplinary program that enriches understanding of the complexity of media culture by providing a solid grounding in the theory, history, production, interpretation, and criticism of a wide variety of media texts, thus preparing its students to better understand, analyze, and participate in contemporary society.

Distribution: FMS courses count toward Humanities, with the exception of 260 and 360, which count toward the Fine Arts area.
The Film and Media Studies major: A minimum of 34 credits including FMS 160, 387, and either 491 or 498. The remaining elective credits may be completed from the list of courses below, as well as other elective courses offered by the FMS program. Students may substitute up to eight of the elective credits with program-approved film and media studies transfer credits. Department policy does not allow a P-D-F grade option for courses within the major.

Rhetoric and Film Studies (RFS) and Rhetoric and Media Studies (RMS) courses taken prior to Fall 2012 (except 121, 221 and 222) shall count for the major, including RFS/RMS 160 and 387, which shall count as FMS 160 and 387. Students may not receive credit for taking both the FMS and RFS/RMS versions of the same class (except for 401 and 402).

Senior assessment: All departmental majors will write a substantial thesis during fall semester and will defend that thesis via an oral examination.

The Film and Media Studies minor: A minimum of 20 credits in Film and Media Studies, including 160 or 170. The remaining elective credits may be completed from the list of courses below, as well as other elective courses offered by the FMS program. Students may substitute up to four of the elective credits with program-approved film and media studies transfer credits. Department policy does not allow a P-D-F grade option for courses within the minor. Students may not receive credit for taking both the FMS and RFS/RMS versions of the same class (except for 401 and 402).

The following courses are available for the major or minor:

150-155 Special Topics in Film and Media Studies
1-4

Topics in Film and Media Studies not generally considered in other courses offered by the department. Materials will vary from semester to semester and may cover subjects, developments, and concepts from early times to the present. Lectures, discussions, tests, papers, and/or weekly screenings. May be repeated for credit. Any current offerings follow.

150 ST: Mad Men: Media, Gender, Historiography
4, x Petersen

The critically acclaimed series Mad Men spans the years 1960-1967, during which the United States was coming to terms with its role as a world power and the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements coalesced.  The class will use Mad Men as a lens through which to investigate questions of gender, race, class, and the way that history is told and re-told through the media.  To do so, we will watch the entirety of the series; at the same time, we will cast a broad net into the cultural milieu of the era, investigating pivotal books, speeches, music, and film.  On the surface, Mad Men might seem simply another exemplar of “quality television”—yet the story of its production, the issues it covers, and what it reveals about the stories we tell about ourselves is both provocative and profound.  Possible texts include: The Feminine Mystique, Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, Sex and the Single Girl, The Lonely Crowd, “The White Negro,” and Parting the Waters: America in the King Years.  Weekly blog posts, weekly screenings, mid-term writing assignment, and final paper.  Open to first-years, sophomores, and Film and Media Studies majors; others by consent of instructor. Distribution area: humanities.

160 Introduction to Film Studies
4, x Sickels

This course introduces the historical and theoretical fundamentals of film studies. Representative films will be drawn from a variety of different eras, genres, and countries. Lectures, discussions, tests, and required weekly film screenings. Open to first-years, sophomores, and Film and Media Studies majors; others by consent fo instructor.

170 Introduction to Television Studies
x, 4 Petersen

This course explores world culture through an analysis of what is arguably its central medium: television. Tracing the medium from its origins in radio to its digital future, we will investigate television as a site of identity formation, controversy, political power, and artistic experimentation. The course will also consider television in terms of industrial production and audience reception, including the rapidly changing practices associated with television viewing in the 21st century. Lectures, discussions, tests, and required weekly screenings.

250-255 Special Topics in Film and Media Studies
1-4

Topics in Film and Media Studies not generally considered in other courses offered by the department. Materials will vary from semester to semester and may cover subjects, developments, and concepts from early times to the present. Lectures, discussions, tests, papers, and/or weekly screenings. May be repeated for credit. Any current offerings follow.

260 Introduction to Filmmaking
4, x Sickels

This course introduces the fundamentals of the visual language and narrative structures of film. Students will collaboratively make their own short films. Extensive lab time required. Prerequisites: Film and Media Studies 160 or consent of instructor. Priority given to Film and Media Studies majors.

360 Advanced Film Making
x, 4 Sickels

In this intensive workshop course students will produce documentary films and commercials. Extensive lab time required. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Film and Media Studies 160, 260, or consent of instructor. Priority given to Film and Media Studies majors.

365-370 Special Topics: Studies in Film & Media Studies
1-4

Topics in Film and Media Studies not generally considered in other courses offered by the department. Materials will vary from semester to semester and may cover subjects, developments, and concepts ranging from early times to the present. Lectures, discussions, tests, papers and/or weekly screenings. May be repeated for credit. Any current offerings follow.

365 ST: Celebrity Media Culture
x, 4 Petersen

How is a celebrity different than a star? Have there always been celebrities?  Have we always afforded them so much time in our daily lives?  How is a celebrity “made,” and what does how we consume him/her say about our own values?  Are we really a celebrity-obsessed culture—and does it matter?  This course attempts to answer those questions, examining celebrity media culture as a cultural and industrial phenomenon.  We’ll examine the history of celebrity, theories of its importance, and its various manifestations within the contemporary mediascape, from football players to YouTube stars, from reality performers to the President.  Possible texts include: The Frenzy of Renown, Claims to Fame, and Celebrity and Power.  Weekly blog assignments, mid-term writing assignment, and a final paper. Distribution area: humanities.

372 “Mean Streets and Raging Bulls”: The Silver Age of Cinema
4; not offered 2013-14

In tracing film history from the demise of the studio, students in this course will study the all too brief era known as the American cinema’s “silver age,” during which maverick film school directors made deeply personal and remarkably influential films. Texts will likely include works by Coppola, DePalma, Friedkin, Altman, Allen, Polanski, Bogdanovich, Kubrick, Malick, and Scorsese. Lectures, discussions, a big research paper, an oral presentation, and weekly film screenings.

373 “The Genius of the System”: The Golden Age of Cinema
4; not offered 2013-14

In tracing film history from its late nineteenth century beginnings to the 1950s, students in this course will study the era known as the American cinema’s “golden age,” during which the Hollywood Studio System dictated virtually all aspects of filmmaking. Texts will likely include works by Ford, Hitchcock, Curtiz, Hawks, Capra, Sturges, and others. Lectures, discussions, papers, and weekly film screenings.

387 Film & Media Studies Theory
4, x Petersen

Using a variety of critical theories, this course focuses on the analysis of film and various other media forms. Students give presentations and write papers utilizing these various perspectives. The goal is for students to become more conversant in the many ways they can assess the significant influence media has in our lives. Open to FMS majors; open to other students with consent of instructor. Fulfills the Rhetoric and Media Studies 387 requirement for previously declared RMS majors.

401, 402 Independent Study
1-4, 1-4 Staff

Studies of film and media issues including directed readings and/or approved projects. The student is expected to submit a written proposal to the instructor prior to registration for the course. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

491 Thesis
4, x Petersen and Sickels

Research and writing of the senior thesis. Open only to and required of senior majors.

498 Honors Thesis
4, x Petersen and Sickels

Research and writing of the senior honors thesis. Open only to and required of senior majors. Prerequisite: admission to honors candidacy. Students wishing to be considered for honors must apply to the department within the first six weeks of spring semester of their junior year.