Program Description

The Cinema Studies Program offers students an opportunity for intensive study of the art of film through a broad range of courses in history and aesthetics. All students begin with year-long introductory surveys of film and modern art, then proceed to more advanced courses that focus on a wide variety of directors, national cinemas, genres, modes (narrative, documentary, avant-garde), and critical/theoretical approaches. In their senior year, students explore and extend their knowledge of cultural, historical, industrial, philosophical, and artistic perspectives on the medium in their senior project.

This program is rigorous and highly competitive, with official admission to the program contingent on successful completion of Cinematic Expression I and II during the freshman year and a qualifying examination at the end of the freshman year.

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

In their freshman year, cinema studies majors complete four survey courses: Cinematic Expression I and II (with a grade of B or higher required in each), Introduction to Modern Art, and Art Since 1945. At the end of the year, a qualifying examination in film history and aesthetics is given, which must be passed in order to advance to the second year.

In their second, third, and fourth years, students concentrate on advanced studies: four upper-level film history courses, three upper-level film theory courses, and at least 24 credits in elective courses, 12 of which must be upper level. (At least one video production course is recommended.) In their fourth year, students also complete the 8-credit senior project in consultation with their senior thesis advisor.

Representative Elective Courses

Cinema and Revolution
Women and Film
Documentary Film and Theory
Film Sound: Technique and Theory
Digital Cinema: Theory and Practice
Cult Cinema
History of American Television
Mexican Cinema
Animation
The Screenplay
Research Practicum: Silent Cinema
Contemporary Global Cinema
Contemporary European Cinema
Methods in Film Criticism
Eastern European Film
Race and Representation: U.S. Literature and Film
Queer Cinema
Kubrick
American Film Genres
The Gangster Film
The Western
Experimental Cinema
Meaning and Truth in Cinema
Indian Cinema: From Art Cinema to Bollywood
Contemporary Asian Cinema
American Cinema of the ’50s
Hawks and Wilder: Hollywood Auteurs
Contemporary French Cinema

Representative Alumni

• Shira Daniels ’07, screener and Web coordinator, NBC Universal
• Andrew Jupin ’06, print traffic coordinator and programming assistant, Jacob Burns Film Center
• Sean Weiner ’05, faculty member, Media Arts Lab, Jacob Burns Film Center; co-teaches digital journalism to students in the BOCES Incarcerated Youth Program, which has resulted in the films Look Inside and Judgement

For more information, visit the Cinema Studies site in Academic Programs.

Updated May 28, 2010