Minor Film Studies

Minor Overview

The Film Studies Minor is an 18-hour minor that allows students to examine the cultural, political, and social implications of what is currently the most powerful, persuasive, and popular art form in society today.

Film Studies differs from courses in film production. Courses in film studies equip students to consider film as art and as drama and to do so with a fuller understanding of the theoretical ideas that shape the world’s seventh art. They also allow students to engage cinematic representations of history, crime, politics, and a host of other social constructions.

Those who complete the Film Studies Minor will be empowered to pursue graduate work in film studies and, more generally, to think about the implications and consequences of the form any moving image takes.

The Film Studies Minor is housed in English, but draws on contributing faculty from History, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Fine Arts. The minor is always looking to expand, too, so other areas may also be included soon. The minor is flexible and open to all students in every discipline.

Students wanting to earn the Interdisciplinary Film Studies Minor must complete one required course, ENGL 3335 Film Studies, and five additional courses from the below list*:

• ENGL 3339 Literature and Film
• ENGL 4336 Film History
• ENGL 4337 Film Auteurs
• ENGL 4338 Film Genres
• ENGL 4339 Film Theory and Criticism
• CJ 3345 Criminal Justice and the Moving Image
• FA 4321 The Artist on Film
• HIST 3361 History and Film
• HIST 4386 Hollywood and the Western
• POL 3350 Politics and Propaganda in Film
• SOCI 3340 Media and Society

*This list provides examples of regularly offered film-specific courses. Other courses may count toward the minor when approved by the Film Studies coordinator, Dr. Allen Redmon.