Major and Minor
Options & Requirements
There are four kinds of film and media studies courses at F&M:
1. Film analysis courses. A film analysis course teaches principles of film analysis and covers the major elements of film style (e.g., camera work and editing) and film form (e.g., narrative). TDF 165, “Language of Cinema,” is the primary film analysis class, offered every fall.
2. Film history courses. Film history courses approach movies and media texts as historical artifacts, exploring various ways in which they connect up with their cultural circumstances. TDF 267, “Survey of Film History,” offered every spring, provides an overview, but there are a host of regular offerings, including TDF 213, “Black American Film”; TDF 245, “The History of Photography”; TDF 270, “Film Noir”, and many others. Courses offered in other departments that regularly analyze movies or media texts as cultural artifacts, such as “Film and Economics,” “Cinema and the American Jewish Experience,” and “African Francophone Cinema” typically fit in this category.
3. Production courses. TDF 364, “Community Media Lab” (a documentary production workshop), TDF 362, “Video Workshop: Narrative” and TDF 383, “Dramatic Writing,” are our primary video production courses but, with advance permission, students may also count acting, directing, lighting, and design courses in the Theater department and creative writing courses in the English department. There are also many opportunities for independent studies in video production, animation, dance/video, and web and DVD design, after at least one other more structured video production course has been satisfactorily completed.
4. Film or media theory courses. Film theory deals with broad philosophical questions, such as how film music achieves its emotional impact or the nature of nonfiction. These are two of the recent topics of our regular “Film Theory Seminar,” TDF 363. Other courses, such as “Stage to Screen,” “Media and Public Opinion” (in the Government department), and philosophy or psychology courses (such as “Aesthetics and Cognitive Science”), may also be counted in this category, with advance permission.
Minor
A minor consists of one course in each of the above four categories plus two courses from any of the categories, for a total of six courses. Simple.
Major
F&M does not currently offer an official major in Film & Media Studies, yet there are typically 5 to 8 juniors and seniors who are de facto Film & Media Studies majors. How is this possible? There are three avenues to a do-it-yourself Film & Media Studies major.
1. Special Studies Major. A Special Studies major consists in specially selected courses from three different departments. Examples include Media and Marketing, Film and Myth, Film Music, Film and Literature, Italian Art and Cinema. There are of course many other possibilities. The two stipulations are (1) that it sounds like a legitimate academic major and (2) that it not be called Film and Media Studies (since we have no official major in that program).
We strongly encourage advisees to do special majors. There are several good reasons:
- When people look at your transcript, you will be able point to your special major with pride, as a sign of initiative, originality, and independent thinking.
- If you take a major with a minor, you may be faced with 18 required courses; if you take a double major, 24. In contrast, a special major typically consists of just 10 to 12 courses. That frees up more time to take the courses you really want.
- Regardless of your career plans, your undergraduate degree does not make a whole lot of difference. If you want to be a journalist, people will want to see what you wrote in college, not whether you were an English major. If you want to be a lawyer, people will want to see how you think. So, unless you are really sure you want to be a doctor, for example (which requires that you bone up on a particular body of knowledge) there is no compelling reason not to do a special major.
A Special Studies major is remarkably simple to create. You simply define it (typically with a paragraph), give it a name, and compile the list of courses you want it to consist of, with alternatives in case some of those courses are not offered when you need them. The details are in the college catalog.
2. Joint Major. This is essentially a mini-major in another department and a maxi-minor in Film and Media Studies. You might do a joint major in History and Film & Media Studies, for instance. You would typically to between 8 and 10 courses in both departments. Both departments would need to sign off on your plan of studies. The drawback of this option is that it has more requirements than a Special Studies major , with no real advantages over a Special Studies major . (If you had a Special Studies major and wished to take more than the required number of courses in one department, you’d just do it.)
3. TDF Major with Film Concentration. This is essentially a Theater major, with most of the regular requirements of a theater major, including Performance Seminar (i.e., involvement in theater productions). This is a terrific option for theater students with a strong interest in film. For students who do not wish to take theater history courses or acting, a Special Studies major is probably better.
The requirements of the Theater major are listed in the college catalog.
Whichever of these options you might choose, the film component of your major must include at least one course in each of the four categories listed on the other side of this page, plus between two additional courses from any of the categories (for a Special Studies major) or four courses (for a Joint Major).
If you have any questions, just call or e-mail the head of the Film & Media Studies program, Dirk Eitzen, at 717-291-4297 or deitzen@fandm.edu