Film & Media Studies |
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DEVELOPING A FILM & MEDIA STUDIES (FAMS) PROGRAMfrom the report of the Film & Media Studies Committee April 2007
I. COMMITTEE CHARGE II. COMMITTEE COMPOSITION III. TERMINOLOGY Film Studies—this term suggests the established scholarly field investigating the history, style, and theory of moving pictures as a complex art form. Film Studies embraces the technological and cultural changes inherent in the evolution of moving pictures, or cinema, from its 19th-century inception to the recent forms and implications of video and digital filmmaking. Media Studies—a broader term embracing the formal study and cultural impact of many kinds of technology-aided visual, aural and print media, including television, radio, graphic design, photography, web, journalism, broadcast, visual ethnography, film and video. New Media—a more recent term used to describe all forms of digital (as opposed to analog) media. While there is inevitable overlap with the above terms, New Media examples include video games, hypertext fiction, email, podcasting, blogs, computer animation, and moving pictures. Production—a term that refers to the creation of all forms of digital content, whether film/video, web, animation, audio, or other forms of New Media. IV. BACKGROUND: FILM & MEDIA STUDIES AT LAFAYETTE The English Department typically offers 4-5 film-related courses per year, including Introduction to Film, Topics in Film (Documentary and Narrative), Screenwriting, and Film and Literature. Many of these courses integrate film production (via partnership with Skillman Library ITS) with critical study, and the English Department hosts a successful Student Film Festival, now in its 4th year. Art Department faculty have consistently offered studio courses in Basic Photography, Graphic Design, and Visual Communication, and the Department has this year added new courses in Digital Photography and Time-Based Media. The Departments of Foreign Languages and Literature, History, Government & Law, Anthropology & Sociology, and the Theater and American Studies programs, all have periodic offerings relevant in some form to the study of film and/or digital media. Other courses recently introduced include: Philosophy of Film (Philosophy), Contemporary Society and the Cinema (A&S), Film Music (Music), Japanese Animation (Art), Screenwriting and New Media (English). The newly formed Policy Studies Major hosted an Election Night 2006 Live Television Broadcast featuring students in a variety of roles. A collaboration among English Department faculty, ITS staff, Williams VAB faculty, and the Dean of Studies office resulted in the feature-length documentary film Towers of Shadow & Light (2005). This film was produced as part of the college’s First Year Orientation program for the Class of 2009, and supported by integrated graphic materials created at the VAB. For the Class of 2010, essays and a website were developed with faculty and staff from ITS, English, and Intercultural Development, to support that year’s reading of the film Crash. More and more, digital filmmaking and digital content creation are employed as learning tools in courses in a wide variety of disciplines. The frequency of film screenings in many disciplines has increased, as has the frequency of visits by filmmakers and New Media scholars/artists as guest speakers. The Skillman Library renovation project incorporated critical design elements to support the burgeoning faculty interest and student demand for film courses and digital media production facilities. Further, recent technology and staffing investments to expand and enhance the production capabilities of the Williams Visual Arts Building as well as the music labs in the Williams Center of the Arts have helped to support this growing area. V. RECOMMENDATIONS
VI. OUTLINE OF THE FILM MINOR The distinction between Film Studies and Media Studies is highlighted by a survey of Film and Media Studies minors at comparable institutions (see Appendix B). In order to create a legitimate and intellectually substantial Film & Media Studies program, additional faculty and resources are required. Because enough Film Studies courses are currently in place, we recommend the college begin by establishing a Film Minor. This will allow current students who desire a minor to pursue an integrated course of study as we work to put the larger program in place. Once additional faculty and facilities are established, the program can grow into a major that embraces both Film Studies and Media Studies. Meanwhile, the Minor will serve as a useful metric for gauging student and faculty response. Using the Film Minor as a stepping-stone, the college can both encourage student and faculty interest and lay the groundwork for a rich, interesting, and unique interdisciplinary program in Film & Media Studies. The Minor The minor requirements shall consist of the following two courses: ENG 240: Introduction to the Study of Film This course instructs students in film history, form, style, and theory, and introduces basic film production. ENG 340: Topics in Film—Documentary/Narrative This advanced course offers instruction in a focused area of Film Studies (e.g. history and theory of the Documentary or Short Narrative forms), and integrates a substantial production component. In addition, students must take three elective courses that treat creative, critical, and/or production aspects of film. These courses must be chosen from at least two departments and from the following list:
Other relevant courses may be approved by petition to the program coordinator. Staffing Supervision, student advising, promotion and oversight of the minor will be provided by a program coordinator. VII. OUTLINE OF THE FILM & MEDIA STUDIES PROGRAM
Integration: Lafayette’s Program in Film & Media Studies (FAMS) should rigorously integrate historical and critical approaches with creative and production components, giving students the opportunity to work in both the theory and practice of media, all within the framework of a liberal arts education. Interdisciplinarity: The program will naturally encourage connections between English and the Arts, or between Philosophy and Anthropology & Sociology. In addition, FAMS should support innovative and collaborative teaching efforts that build on Lafayette’s existing strengths; for example, projects that bring together Computer Science and Theater, or Engineering and the Humanities. Community: The program should encourage interaction between the college and the film and arts communities of the Lehigh Valley. FAMS will also connect students to internship opportunities in film and media in the Lehigh Valley and New York City, taking advantage of Lafayette’s proximity to the largest media market in the country. The Major
Other proposed ideas for the FAMS program include:
This initial outline is rooted in Lafayette’s specific strengths, as the nature and orientation of Film & Media Studies Programs varies widely across institutions. A survey of programs at similar schools makes clear that there is no standard paradigm. A report to the Mellon Foundation on a Symposium on Film and Media Studies in the Liberal Arts is particularly helpful in articulating the diversity of approaches (see Appendix C). VIII. FACILITIES As part of an expanded Williams Center for the Arts, the college should seriously consider the creation of a new Film & Media Studies facility with the following physical components:
New program space in an expanded Williams Center for the Arts will serve to nurture the interdisciplinary nature of Film & Media Studies, and help place the study and production of these visual forms of communication at the center of a liberal arts-focused campus community. Obvious possible connections abound: to the Music program’s recording studios, to the Art and Theater programs’ exhibitions and productions, and even to the proposed Dance program. In addition, less than obvious connections are waiting to happen between Film & Media Studies and other disciplines, such as Engineering and Computer Science. IX. ONGOING ISSUES FOR THE FAMS COMMITTEE Still, the question of where to place new hires is a serious one. One option is to build upon the recent and ongoing work in Film Studies in the English Department. The foundational courses for the minor come from the English Department; the courses most closely dedicated to integrating study and practice are offered by the English Department, as are the most consistently offered courses; many programs at other schools are dependant on scholars and teachers housed in English Departments. In December 2006, the Department formally requested a new hire in Film Studies to supplement their existing offerings and help meet demand. Another alternative, the Art Department, offers multiple courses in the creation of new media and is committed to many studio courses in the visual arts. Other options include creating a combined Theater and Film Department with an enhanced Media Studies Program attached to the Art Department, or structuring FAMS as a free-standing entity. Perhaps a logical course of action would be to plan two tenure-track hires, one in Art to support Media Studies and one in English to support Film Studies. A targeted search in A&S for a tenure-track faculty member specializing in Mass Communications would also support the goals of the FAMS program.
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