Housed within the English Department, the film minor is an interdisciplinary program that not only leads students to explore the many relations among visual media and humanities disciplines but also encourages students to hone and apply their critical thinking and writing skills.

To complete a film minor, the following five courses are required, though six are recommended:
1.    History of Film: Beginnings to 1940 (ENG 372/THR 372/CMM 381)
2.    History of Film: 1940 to the Present (ENG 373/THR 373/CMM 382)
3.    Critical Approaches to Film (ENG 380/THR 371/CMM 380)
4.    Film minors must take at least one course outside the English department. At present, these include:
Religion in Contemporary Film (REL 349)
Movies, Remarriage and Unknownness (PHL 413)
Politics in Film (PSC 354)
History and Culture in the Modern Middle East: Cinema, Media, Art and Internet (HST 410/PGS 410)
French Through Film (FRN 206)

5.    Choose from the following:
•     Representations of the Media in Film (ENG358/CMM 358/GWS 358)
•    Documentary Film (CMM 310/ENG 310)
•     Any of the 400-level film courses we offer within the English department: American Film Noir and the Femme Fatale (ENG 414/WMS 414); Twelve American Films: A Socio-Historical Study of Auteurism (ENG 415/GWS 415); Film and Literature (ENG 416).
•     Acting (THR 304 or THR 305)
•     Scriptwriting (CRW 387/CMM 387/ENG 387)
•     Basic Studio Operations (CMM 305)

What happens in a typical class?

Taking a film course doesn’t simply involve watching movies, and it isn’t simply a survey of who liked the film and who didn’t. Classes are intense and rigorous, but are interesting and addicting! There are assigned readings that are relevant to the film and discussions that offer insight into the cultural and historical context of the film and possibly interpretations and meaning of a given film. A professor may choose to use blackboard as a forum for responses to the film and/or the assigned readings.  Generally, course time is spent discussing--that is, arguing about the meaning of--individual films.

Typical Program of Study for a Film Minor

Second Year
Fall
--History of Film: Beginnings to 1940 (ENG 372/THR 372/CMM 381)

Spring:
--History of Film: 1940 to the Present (ENG 373 /THR 373/CMM 382)


Third Year
Fall
One of the following:

--Religion in Contemporary Film (REL 349)
 --Movies, Remarriage, and Unknownness (PHL 413)
 --Politics in Film (PSC 354)
 --French Through Film (FRN 206)

Spring
 --Critical Approaches to Film (ENG 371 /THR 371/GWS 351/CMM 380)

Fourth Year
Fall
One of the following:

--Acting (THR 205)
--American Film Noir and the Femme Fatale (ENG 414/GWS 414)
--Basic Studio Operations (CMM 305)
--Documentary Film (ENG 310/CMM 310)
--Film, Culture, and Literature (ENG 416)
--The Films of Alfred Hitchcock (ENG 378/CMM 383/GWS 359) --French Through Film (FRN 206)
--Movies, Remarriage, and Unknownness (PHL 413)
--Politics in Film (PSC 354)
--Religion in Contemporary Film (REL 349)
--Representation of the Media in Film (ENG 358/CMM 358/GWS 358)
-- Scriptwriting (ENG 387/CRW 387/CMM 387)

Spring

One of the following:
--Acting (THR 205)
--American Film Noir and the Femme Fatale (ENG 414/GWS 414)
--Basic Studio Operations (CMM 305)
--Documentary Film (ENG 310/CMM 310)
--Film, Culture, and Literature (ENG 416)
--The Films of Alfred Hitchcock (ENG 378/CMM 383/GWS 359)
--French Through Film (FRN 206)
--Movies, Remarriage, and Unknownness (PHL 413)
--Politics in Film (PSC 354)
--Religion in Contemporary Film (REL 349)
--Representation of the Media in Film (ENG 358/CMM 358/GWS 358)
-- Scriptwriting (ENG 387/CRW 387/CMM 387)