Program Description
The cinema studies major 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 Introduction to Cinema Studies I and II during the freshman year and a qualifying examination in film history and aesthetics, which is given at the end of the freshman year.
Requirements for the Major
Freshman year:
To advance to the sophomore year, students must pass a qualifying examination in film history and aesthetics, which is given at the end of the freshman year.
Sophomore Through Senior Years
Representative Elective Courses
American Cinema of the ’50s
American Film Genres
Cinema and Revolution
Contemporary Global Cinema
Cult Cinema
Documentary Film and Theory
Eastern European Film
French Cinema
Latin American Cinema
Meaning and Truth in Cinema
Methods in Film Criticism
Mexican Cinema
The American Avant-Garde Film
The Cinematic Bestiary
The Western
Topics in Classical Cinema
Representative Alumni
For more information, please visit the cinema studies program site.
Updated June 6, 2012
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