Film Studies
Department of Media Study
College of Arts and Sciences
231 Center for the Arts
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-6020
Phone: 716.645.6902
Fax: 716.645.6979
Web: www.cas.buffalo.edu/depts/filmstudies/
Bernadette Wegenstein
Program Director
Kate Anderson
Program Advisor
About the Program
The film studies program (FST) program, administered by the Department of Media Study, is an interdisciplinary BA curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences. FST offers film-related courses from the Departments of Anthropology, African American Studies, Art, Communications, Comparative Literature, English, Media Study, Romance Languages and Literatures, Sociology, and Women’s Studies, as well as from the Center for the Americas, taught by thirty different CAS faculty members. Throughout the FST curriculum, students approach film critically (filmmaking will be only a minor, and elective, component). They acquire historical, theoretical, and intercultural tools to study films from around the world and become capable of reading the art of cinema as cultural critics. Screenings, film festivals, the Buffalo Film Seminars (http://csac.buffalo.edu/bfs.html), and FST conferences are offered to enrich students’ critical film expertise in Buffalo.
Degree Options
The FST program requires 120 total credit hours (46 within the major). There is the opportunity to continue on to an interdisciplinary MA in humanities (http://pluto.fss.buffalo.edu/programs/idp/grad/humanities.html), which requires a total of 36 credit hours.
Transfer Policy
Film studies coursework taken at another institution is evaluated for transferability to UB by the director of the FST program. Students should provide a transcript and syllabi for courses taken. For applications, please contact Professor Bernadette Wegenstein in the Department of Media Study.
Transfer students and continuing students who have accumulated 50 or more credit hours overall will be able to declare the major provisionally until they are able to complete the courses within the major. This insures that students declaring the interdisciplinary major have both the breadth and the particular preparation to succeed in the FST major. To facilitate the articulation of transfer courses into the major, the program director confers with each incoming transfer student.
Career Opportunities/Further Study
The FST program educates students to become film writers, film teachers, or prepare for a film concentration in their future graduate studies (see the FST MAH component at http://www.cas.buffalo.edu/depts/filmstudies/mahcurriculum.html).
Film Studies - B.A.
Acceptance Criteria
Completion of the prerequisite courses with a minimum GPA of 2.5.
Advising Notes
Admission to the major is granted at the end of the sophomore year, when students will have accumulated at least 50 overall credit hours with a minimum GPA of 2.0.
Students must meet with the director of the FST program prior to application to the major (usually at the end of the sophomore year).
No course can count twice.
Prerequisite Courses
Any three of the required courses for the major.
Required Courses
DMS 107 Film History I or DMS 108 Film History II
DMS 259 Media Analysis
ENG 379 Film Genres
ENG 441 Contemporary Cinema I or ENG 442 Contemporary Cinema II
Ten additional courses, chosen from the Electives and Course Groupings section below
Summary
Total required credit hours for the major: 46
See Baccalaureate Degree Requirements for general education and remaining university requirements.
Recommended Sequence of Program Requirements
FIRST YEAR
Fall— DMS 259, SOC 334
Spring— DMS 108
SECOND YEAR
Fall—AAS 253, AMS 100
Spring—DMS 213, ENG 256
THIRD YEAR
Fall—DMS 305, WS 415
Spring—ENG 442, ITA 430
FOURTH YEAR
Fall—DMS 409, DMS 440
Spring— DMS 406, DMS 411
Electives and Course Groupings
Electives
Three courses* for a minimum of 9 credit hours in this category:
AAS 253 Blacks in Film I
AAS 254 Blacks in Film II
AAS 417 Contemporary Black Film Culture
AMS 100 Non-Western Images in Film
DMS 101 Basic Filmmaking
DMS 103 Basic Video or DMS 105 Basic Documentary
DMS 109 Introduction to Film Interpretation
DMS 213 Immigration & Film
DMS 331 Urban Media
DMS 333 Third World Cinema
DMS 381 Film Comedy
DMS 405 Ethnographic Film
DMS 407 History of Soviet Film
DMS 409 Nonfiction Film
DMS 411 Film Theory
DMS 413 Film Narrative
DMS 430 The Dream in Film & TV
DMS 440 Women Directors
DMS 452 Films of the Civil Rights Era
ENG 441 Contemporary Cinema I
ENG 442 Contemporary Cinema II
FR 341 The French Film
ITA 410 Special Topics
ITA 429 Italian Cinema I
ITA 430 Italian Cinema II
SPA 408 History of Spanish Cinema
*Or their equivalent as determined by the Director of the Film Studies program
Film Theory-History-Criticism-Analysis
Required:
DMS 107 Film History I or DMS 108 Film History II
ENG 379 Film Genres
Select two additional courses* for a minimum of 14 credit hours in this category:
DMS 305 Film Analysis I
DMS 306 Film Analysis II
DMS 409 Nonfiction Film
DMS 411 Film Theory
ENG 256 Literary Types: Film
ENG 413 Film Directors
ENG 420 Film Theory
ENG 426 Studies in Genre
WS 379 Gender and Hollywood Films
Critical Theory and Cultural Studies
Required:
DMS 259 Media Analysis
Select three additional courses* for a minimum of 13 credit hours in this category:
DMS 406 Ethnographic Film
SOC 334 Introduction to Cultural Studies
SOC 368 Sociology of Film
WS 415 Media & Gender
WS 459 Television, Gender & Society
World Cinema
Required:
ENG 441 Contemporary Cinema I or ENG 442 Contemporary Cinema II
Select two additional courses* for a minimum of 10 credit hours in this category:
AAS 253 Blacks in Film I
AAS 254 Blacks in Film II
AAS 417 Contemporary Black Film Culture
AMS 100 Non-Western Images in Film
DMS 333 Third World Cinema
DMS 440 Women Directors
FR 341 The French Film
ITA 410 Special Topics
ITA 429 Italian Cinema I
ITA 430 Italian Cinema II
SPA 408 History of Spanish Cinema
Updated: Nov 16, 2005 10:48:36 AM