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Minor in Film Studies

College of Arts and Sciences
Students who earn the film studies minor gain knowledge of the history of cinema, both technical and cultural, and complete a range of courses that provide them with practice in interpreting film texts as cultural artifacts.
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Location: Chicago
Start Term: Fall, Spring
Program Type: Minor

Students who complete the minor in film studies develop crucial skills in critical observation, research, analysis, and interpretation. All of these are highly transferrable and desired skills in our heavily mediated culture. Work in arts organizations, media organizations, political and public relations are served by the knowledge and skill developed in this course of study.

Expectations & Requirements

Standards

Students will learn about cinema history, film theory, film genre, and the intersections of this modern industry and the cultural developments in which it is enmeshed.

Students complete two required courses at the 200 level--Film History, and Fundamentals of Film Studies--and four electives including options such as focused seminars on the work of a single film-maker, films of particular genre, film production, or an internship in an organization with a focus on film.

Sample Courses

  • Fundamentals of Film Studies
  • Film History
  • The Films of Alfred Hitchcock
  • Charlie Chaplin: Comedy and Pathos
  • Film and Gender
  • Film Noir
  • The Art of the Art Documentary
  • Apocalyptic Cinema
View Academic Catalog View Minor Requirements

Testimonials

"Many of us at the university had used film in a variety of courses for quite a long time. The film studies minor began in 2013 in response to students' interest in studying film as an art form and medium of communication that is deeply embedded in contemporary culture. The program emphasizes the history of the cinema and its relation to the various cultures it represents, and includes courses from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. The film studies minor is an exciting complement to any major."

​Lawrence Howe
Professor of English and Film Studies​, Roosevelt University