Film Studies adopts a critical, theoretical, and historical approach to the analysis of individual films and to the study of cinema from the silent era to the contemporary period. Courses analyze film as a medium that employs specific formal strategies that shape meaning and they investigate wider debates about cinema as a cultural form and as an industrial and institutional practice. A number of courses also investigate various national cinemas focusing on the history, industrial organization, and cultural implications of cinema in specific national contexts. Film Studies may be combined with a range of other majors; and students are encouraged to integrate production-oriented courses and programs with Film Studies.  A major in Film Studies requires the successful completion of ten Film Studies courses, seven of which should be at the 3000 level or above. All students working toward the major will be required to take Communication 3150 (Film Analysis) and Communication 4860 (Film Theory) and one upper-level capstone course. The capstone course should be taken during the last semester of the junior year or either semester of the senior year and should be selected from designated capstone option courses. (Please note that some special topics courses may also be designated as capstone option; students should consult the Schedule of Classes). For capstone credit in Film Studies, students should enroll in FMST 5110 along with the selected capstone course. Electives may be selected from the list below. In the case of topics courses (which are indicated with an asterisk), only film topics will be considered and approval of the Film Studies Director is required. Additional film courses not listed below may be included with approval of the Director. Additional information on the Film Studies program can be found at Film Studies

Required Courses

• COMM 3150 - Film Analysis
• COMM 4860 - Film Theory

Elective Courses

• COMM 1150 - Introduction to Cinema
• COMM 2400 - Topics in International Film Movements and National Cinemas
• COMM 2500 - Film and Society
• COMM 3150 - Film Analysis
• COMM 3270 - Authors and Genres
• COMM 3550 - Third World Cinema
• COMM 3600 - Documentary Cinema
• COMM 3800 - Cinema Reception and Cultural Memory
• COMM 4160 - Contemporary Chinese Cinema
• COMM 4170 - U.S. Film History
• COMM 4180 - African Cinema
• COMM 4190 - Introduction of Latin American Film
• COMM 4230 - Cinema, History, Archive (capstone option)
• COMM 4300 - Cultural Politics and Cinema (capstone option)
• COMM 4350 - Gender and the Cinema
• COMM 4610 - National Cinemas in Latin America
• COMM 4810 - Special Topics in Communication * (capstone option when designated)
• COMM 4820 - Special Topics in Communication * (capstone option when designated)
• COMM 4850 - Cinema, Technology, Modernity (capstone option)
• COMM 4860 - Film Theory
• COMM 5000 - Honors Thesis
• COMM 6210 - Seminar in Communication Studies *
• COMM 6220 - Seminar in Communication Studies *
• ENLS 3640 - Screenwriting
• ENLS 4100 - Literature and Film
• FMST 5110 - Capstone (in conjunction with capstone course)
• FREN 3110 - French Cinema
• FREN 4810 - Special Topics *
• FREN 4820 - Special Topics *
• GERM 3710 - Deviants, Nazis, and Radicals. An Introduction to German Film
• ITAL 3300 - Topics in Italian Literature and Cinema *
• ITAL 3330 - Italian Literature in Translation *
• ITAL 4040 - Topics in 19th- and 20th-Century Italian Literature *
• ITAL 4440 - Topics in Italian Literature and Cinema in Translation * (capstone option)
• SOCI 2450 - Society through Cinema
• SPAN 4170 - Spanish Film
• SPAN 4190 - Introd
• FREN 4820 - Special Topics *
• GERM 3710 - Deviants, Nazis, and Radicals. An Introduction to German Film
• ITAL 3300 - Topics in Italian Literature and Cinema *
• ITAL 3330 - Italian Literature in Translation *
• ITAL 4040 - Topics in 19th- and 20th-Century Italian Literature *
• ITAL 4440 - Topics in Italian Literature and Cinema in Translation * (capstone option)
• SOCI 2450 - Society through Cinema
• SPAN 4170 - Spanish Film
• SPAN 4190 - Introduction to Latin American Film
• SPAN 4210 - Topics in Latin American Cinema
• SPAN 6910 - Special Topics *
• SPAN 6920 - Special Topics *
• THEA 2070 - Video Production I
• THEA 2080 - Video Production II

Note(s):

For descriptions of course content see appropriate department listings. For courses followed by an asterisk, film topics only are included.

Note(s):

For descriptions of course content see appropriate department listings. For courses followed by an asterisk, film topics only are included.