Skip to main content
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
ENGL        2A         Analyzing Crime Rhetoric (effective 1/1/19)
ENGL        2A         Imagining History (effective 9/1/09)

Anthropology
ANTH        6           Screen Time: Culture, Film & Media in the 21st Century (effective 03/25/18) 

Classics
CLAS        75        Classics in Cinema (effective 9/1/09)

Communications
COMM       3          Digital Storytelling (effective 09/01/22)
COMM       30        Introduction to Digital Filmmaking (effective 9/1/09)
COMM       31        Introduction to Digital Film Making (effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     130       Global Screenwriting (effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     130A     Advanced Screenwriting (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     131D     Documentary (effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     131E     Immersive Media Production (effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     131F     Short Fiction Production (effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     132       Directing (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     132D     Directing the Actor (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     133       Producing (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     133D     Producing the Documentary (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     133F     Producing the Short Film (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     133W    Producing the Web Series (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     134       Cinematography (effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     135       Editing (Topics Vary; effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     136A     Genre,Auteur & Narrative Strategies (effective 9/1/09)
COMM       136F     Family Melodrama (effective 09/01/22)
COMM       136S     Horror Film (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     137       American Film History (effective 9/1/09)
COMM       137S     Film & Sustainability (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     138       Television History (Topics Vary; effective 9/1/09)
*COMM     139       Documentary History (effective 9/1/09)
COMM       140       Race, Gender & Film (effective 09/01/22)
COMM       140B     Black Cinema (effective 09/01/22)
COMM       140C     Latinx Cinema (effective 09/01/22)
COMM       140W    Women in Cinema (effective 09/01/22)
COMM       140Q    Queer Cinema (effective 09/01/22)
COMM       141       AI & The Human in Cinema (effective 09/01/22)
*COMM     143       Cinema in the Age of Globalization (effective 1/1/16)
*COMM     144       Diversity and the Media (cross-listed with COMM 121D and ETHN 162; effective 9/1/09)
COMM       145       The Business of Media (effective 9/1/09)
COMM       146       Hybrid Films (effective 09/01/22)

English
ENGL        45         Reading Film (effective 9/1/09)
ENGL        55         Shakespeare and Film
ENGL        107       Life Stories and Film (effective 9/1/09)
ENGL        120       Studies in Comparative Cinema (effective 9/1/09)
ENGL        121       American Film (effective 9/1/09)
ENGL        122       Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with WGST 134; effective 9/1/09)
ENGL        122AW  Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with WGST 134AW; effective 9/1/09)
ENGL        128       Studies in the Literature of the Middle Eastern and Islamic World (effective 9/1/09)
ENGL        151C     Studies in Shakespeare (Formerly ENGL 118; also listed as THTR 118; effective 9/1/2019
ENGL        153A     LGBTQ Studies: Global Perspectives
*ENGL      173       Screenwriting (cross-listed with THTR 173; effective 9/1/09)
*ENGL      197       Contacts & Clashes: Latin American Cinema (cross-listed with SPAN 149; effective 9/1/09)

Ethnic Studies
ETHN        95          African American Independent Filmmakers (effective 9/1/09)
ETHN        96          Race, Class, and Culture Through Film (effective 9/1/09)
ETHN        135        African Americans in Postwar Film (cross-listed with HIST 185; effective 9/1/09)
ETHN        160        Documentary Making for Social Justice (effective 9/1/09)
*ETHN      162        Diversity and the Media (cross-listed with COMM 144 and COMM 121D; effective 9/1/09)

History
HIST        40           Biography and Autobiography in the African Experience: Exploring African Lives and Writing (effective 03/25/22)
HIST        140         Biography and Autobiography in the African Experience: Exploring African Lives and Writing (effective 03/25/16)
HIST        140S      Biography and Autobiography in the African Experience: Exploring African Lives and Writing (effective 03/25/16)
HIST        185        African Americans in Postwar Film (cross-listed with ETHN 135; effective 9/1/09)

Modern Languages and Literatures
*FREN      173        Immigration, Race, & Identity in Contemporary France (effective 9/1/09)
FREN        174        French & Francophone Novels and Films: Culture, Gender, and Social Classes (effective 9/1/09)
*FREN      175        Transnational Cinema (effective 01/01/23)
ITAL         113        Introduction to Italian Cinema (effective 3/25/22)
ITAL         187        Destination Italy: Immigration in Film & Literature (effective 3/25/18)
ITAL         187I       Destination Italy: Immigration in Film & Literature (effective 3/25/19)
*SPAN      146        Latin American Documentary (effective 1/1/20)
*SPAN      147        Cinema, Politics and Society of Latin America (effective 3/25/19)
SPAN        149        Contacts and Clashes: Latin American Cinema (cross-listed with ENGL 197; effective 9/1/09)

Music
MUSC        119        Music, Technology & Society (effective 9/1/09)

Philosophy
PHIL          24          Ethics and Gender in Film (effective 1/1/17; formerly PHIL 4B)
PHIL          183        Philosophy and Film (effective 9/1/09; formerly PHIL 151)

Religious Studies
*RSOC       67         Film & Judaism (effective 9/1/09)
*RSOC       87         Buddhism in Film (9/1/09)
*RSOC       110       Film and Religion (effective 2/3/2016)
*RSOC       121       Representing Religion in World Cinema (effective 9/1/09)
*SCTR        33        New Testament Narratives of Cinema (effective 9/1/09)
*SCTR        139      Bible in Contemporary Fiction & Film (effective 9/1/09)

Theater and Dance
THTR          118      Studies in Shakespeare (formerly ENGL 118; also listed as ENGL 151C; effective 9/1/2019)
THTR          119      Shakespeare's Plays in Performance (effective 3/25/21)
THTR          122      Acting Styles II: Acting for the Camera (effective 9/1/09)
*THTR        173      Screenwriting (cross-listed with ENGL 173; effective 9/1/09)

Women's and Gender Studies
WGST         134      Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with ENGL 122; effective 9/1/09)
WGST         134AW  Film, Gender and Sexuality (cross-listed with ENGL 122AW; effective 9/1/09)

* Indicates Course Has Prerequisites