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Core Curriculum

Cinema Studies

Cinema Studies 

Facilitator: Michael Whalen, Communication

Courses in this Pathway will help students engage in the critical study of film and television history, theory, aesthetics, and production. Students will engage in the interdisciplinary study of national cinemas, international film movements, major and minor filmmakers in various traditions, film and media theory, the economic, legal, and political forces governing the film and television industries, and the relationship between film, television, the arts and culture. Students in this pathway may be asked to analyze and reflect on films or television shows already created or create new films or videos as part of this inquiry. Students may also be asked to compare film and television to other art forms such as novels or plays.
A main goal of the Cinema Studies Pathway is to deepen the knowledge and understanding of how cinema shapes, and is shaped, by the culture it exists in and emerge not only knowledgeable about cinema and television, but also enriched by contact with history, literature, foreign cultures, philosophy, and theology.

Associated Courses 

Anthropology (ANTH)
6 Screen Time: Culture, Film & Media in the 21st Century 
Classics (CLAS)
75 Classics in Cinema 
Communications (COMM)
3 Digital Storytelling 
30 Introduction to Digital Filmmaking
31 Introduction to Digital Film Making 
130 Global Screenwriting 
130A Advanced Screenwriting 
131D Documentary 
131E Experimental Cinema 
131F Short Fiction Production 
132 Directing 
132D Directing the Actor
133 Producing 
133D Producing the Documentary 
133F Producing the Short Film 
133W Producing the Web Series
134 Cinematography 
135 Editing (Topics Vary)
136A Genre, Auteur & Narrative Strategies 
136F Family Melodrama 
136S Horror Film
137 American Film History 
137S Film & Sustainability 
138 Television History (Topics Vary)
139 Documentary History 
140 Race, Gender & Film 
140B Black Cinema 
140C Latinx Cinema 
140W Women in Cinema 
140Q Queer Cinema 
141 AI & The Human in Cinema 
143 Cinema in the Age of Globalization
144 Diversity and the Media (cross-listed with COMM 121D and ETHN 162)
145 The Business of Media 
146 Hybrid Films 
English (ENGL)
45 Reading Film 
55 Shakespeare and Film
107 Life Stories and Film
120 Studies in Comparative Cinema 
120G Global Film Studies 
120AM American Film Studies 
122 Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with GNSX 134)
122AW Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with GNSX 134AW)
128 Studies in the Literature of the Middle Eastern and Islamic World 
151C Studies in Shakespeare (cross-listed with THTR 118)
153A LGBTQ Studies: Global Perspectives
173 Screenwriting (cross-listed with THTR 173)
197 Contacts & Clashes: Latin American Cinema (cross-listed with SPAN 149)
Ethnic Studies (ETHN)
95 African American Independent Filmmakers 
96 Race, Class, and Culture Through Film 
135 African Americans in Postwar Film (cross-listed with HIST 185)
160 Documentary Making for Social Justice 
162 Diversity and the Media (cross-listed with COMM 144 and COMM 121D)
164 Popular Music, Race and American Culture (cross-listed with MUSC 134)
French (FREN)
173 Immigration, Race, & Identity in Contemporary France
174 French & Francophone Novels and Films: Culture, Gender, and Social Classes 
175 Transnational Cinema 
Gender and Sexuality Studies (GNSX)
134 Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with ENGL 122)
134AW Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with ENGL 122AW)
History (HIST)
40 Biography and Autobiography in the African Experience: Exploring African Lives and Writing 
140 Biography and Autobiography in the African Experience: Exploring African Lives and Writing
140S Biography and Autobiography in the African Experience: Exploring African Lives and Writing 
185 African Americans in Postwar Film (cross-listed with ETHN 135)
Italian (ITAL)
113 Introduction to Italian Cinema 
187 Destination Italy: Immigration in Film & Literature 
187I Destination Italy: Immigration in Film & Literature
Music (MUSC)
119 Music, Technology & Society 
127 Ethnographic Writing in Music and Film
134 Popular Music, Race and American Culture (cross-listed with ETHN 164)
Philosophy (PHIL)
24 Ethics and Gender in Film 
183 Philosophy and Film
Religion, Theology, and Culture
Religion and Society (RSOC)
67 Film & Judaism 
87 Buddhism in Film 
110 Film and Religion 
121 Representing Religion in World Cinema 
Scripture and Tradition (SCTR)
33 New Testament Narratives of Cinema 
139 Bible in Contemporary Fiction & Film
Spanish (SPAN)
146 Latin American Documentary 
147 Cinema, Politics and Society of Latin America 
149 Contacts and Clashes: Latin American Cinema (cross-listed with ENGL 197)
Theater (THTR)
33 Stage Lighting
118 Studies in Shakespeare (cross-listed with ENGL 151C)
119 Shakespeare's Plays in Performance 
122 Acting Styles II: Acting for the Camera 
173 Screenwriting (cross-listed with ENGL 173)