Film Studies minor

Office: 257 Fenton Hall

(716) 673-3848

Shannon McRae, Coordinator

Email: film.studies@fredonia.edu

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

The Film Studies minor considers a variety of approaches to understanding the role of film in all its different forms and intents. A film may have predominantly literary content or may be specifically engaged with historical, political, or cultural concerns. It may also be primarily an abstract, aesthetic work, exploring alternatives to traditional narrative filmmaking. It is fundamentally a medium used to examine and study human knowledge and exploration. It is tightly interwoven into cultural identity throughout the world.

The Film Studies minor acquaints students with these ideas and introduces key landmarks in the history of film while identifying and challenging the grounds on which landmark status has been recognized. The departments of Communication, English, History, World Languages and Cultures, Politics and International Affairs, and Visual Arts and New Media, and the Women's and Gender Studies, and Film Studies programs offer courses regularly that engage in the academic study of the medium.

This interdisciplinary collaboration between many different departments and programs provides a wide variety of course offerings that change each semester. A variety of special topics courses may be offered at any time. In any given semester, as many as 200 students may be enrolled in courses in which film is the major vehicle for study. Always check with the Film Studies minor coordinator if you have any questions about course availability.

Required courses for the minor (18 credit hours)

6 credit hours chosen from the following courses.

Choose one from

ARTH 276Film Form

3

or

COMM 155Rhetoric of Vision and Sound

3

Note: Students should not take both classes. Only one will count toward the minor.

Choose one from

ARTH 376Film and Special Effects

3

ENGL 280Introduction to Film

3

ENGL 380Film: Silence to Sound

4

ENGL 381Narrative Film After 1940

4

HIST 203History Through Films

1-3

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 222Introduction to Experimental Video

3

ARTH 345Film Criticism

3

ARTH 359New Media Writing

3

COMM 308Documentary History and Criticism

3

COMM 309Film Analysis

3

COMM 361Script Writing Video/Film/Radio

3

COMM 386International Films

3

COMM 452Documentary I

4

COMM 454Fiction I

4

ENGL 207Drama and Film

3

ENGL 386Women in Global Cinema

4

ENGL 387American Film

4

FILM 399Special Topics

1-4

FILM 401Independent Study

1-3

HIST 363Chinese Culture Through Films

4

HIST 376Film and American Culture

3

LANG 385German Film

3

POLI 345Film and Politics

4

or

Any course from the core not taken to fulfill core requirements excluding ARTH 276/FILM 220 and COMM 155.

FILM 399: content varies

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.

Communication Department students can use only one course from their Major Track requirements.