New Curriculum for Film and Media Arts

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Photo courtesy of Thomas William.

As a part of the development of the Creative School, still scheduled to launch in 2024, the Film Studies program is preparing a new curriculum with new courses for its future as the “Film and Media Arts Program” upon the start of the upcoming academic year. The changes to the curriculum include the reconstruction of  FILM 100 “Intro to Film” to FLME 100 “Intro to Film and Media Arts'' and the replacement of FILM 200 “Film and Culture” with FLME 195 “Intro to Digital Film Production” as core requirements for the major.

FLME 100 will not only focus on film as a cinematic art form but also be attentive to its relation to other forms of audiovisual media such as television, video, or web series. Making FLME 195 a core requirement is a part of the program’s aim to promote the balance of critical film and media studies with creative production in order for students to apply critical studies lessons to experiences in producing creative work.

According to Film Studies program Director Christine White, the decision to add FLME 195 as a core requirement, as well as to add more production course options in general, was made “to address students' desires for more production classes in more media forms and to help them with their goals for after graduation.” In regards to students’ professional development for post-graduate employment in the film and media industry, White confirms that a “Film and Media Arts Internship” course is in development so that students can get course credit for their off-campus internships.

Changes to other required courses for the major include the addition of one course in “Film, Television, and New Media Cultures and Representation,” one “Interdisciplinary Arts'' elective, two electives in production, scriptwriting for film, and media criticism, and one course in film and media history.

Film, Television, New Media Cultures, and Representation is a new category of classes for the program which includes new courses such as FLME 221: “Race and Ethnicity in Film, Television Topics'' and FLME 231: “National and Transnational Cinemas Topics.”  Interdisciplinary arts elective courses are courses cross-listed with other departments that coincide with artistic expression and production. T

his category of courses includes new classes like COMM 311: “Acting for the Camera,” COMM 318: “Business of the Performing Arts” and ENG 267: “Visual and Digital Narratives” among others. Other new courses in production, screenwriting, and critical studies include FLME 215: “Podcasting: Craft and Culture,” FLME 235: “Making the Video Diary,” FLME 245: “Experimental Animation,” FLME 365: “Documentary Filmmaking,” and FLME 375: “Feminist Film Practices.”

The specific courses that are to be taught in the fall of 2023 are as follows:

FLME 100: Intro to Film and Media Arts

FLME 195: Intro to Digital Film Production

FLME 221: Black Diaspora Cinema 

FLME 231A: K-drama and K-pop culture 

FLME 231B: “Youth Gone Wild” in Contemporary French Cinema

FLME 235A: Making the Video Diary

FLME 275: Religion and Film 

FLME 301: History of Film, Television, and Media

FLME 321: The Hollywood Musical 

FLME 322: Screenwriting

The required 9.25 credits for the major remain the same but the minor requirements have decreased from five credits to only four in an attempt to make the minor more accessible to students. To learn more about the program’s changes contact chriswhite@depauw.edu. To get involved in film and media arts and meet current film students please contact @depauwfilmclub on Instagram for information on general body meetings.