Overview
Special Appointment
James Bloom
Program Committee
Katheryn Doran (Philosophy)
Martine Guyot-Bender (French)
Robert Knight (Art)
Scott MacDonald (Art History), director
Kyoko Omori (Japanese)
Pavitra Sundar (Literature and Creative Writing)
Zhuoyi Wang (Chinese)
The goal of Hamilton's Cinema and Media Studies Program is to blend study in film history and theory while providing students opportunities to pursue their own artistic visions through the uses of new technology.
Students Will Learn to:
- Analyze films, regardless of genre and context, for their structure, approach, goals, social and political implications, and aesthetics
- Apply knowledge of the overall development and history of cinema and moving-image media, from a global perspective, in written and spoken work
- Produce creative work in forms employed in cinema and media studies
- Demonstrate knowledge of contexts, outside of the specific focus of moving-image media, within which cinema and media studies play a role
Hamilton’s Cinema and Media Studies Program offers opportunities to explore cinema and media history and theory through in-depth, broadly ranging exposure to pivotal contributions and accomplishments in media-making, as well as through hands-on creative experiences. The focus of the concentration is to develop critical perspectives on the aesthetics, structures, and impacts of visual representations and new media technologies.
A concentration in Cinema and Media Studies (CNMS) consists of ten courses: eight core courses and two electives. These core courses include CNMS-120 (this course satisfies the College’s Social, Structural, and Institutional Hierarchies requirement) and CNMS-301; three courses on media or cinema history or genre: options include PHIL-228, MUSIC-245/MUSIC-345, CNMS-290, and CNMS-330; at least one course in production: ART-116, ART-213, CNMS-335, THETR-105, THETR-130, THETR-212, THETR-213; one course in World Cinemas (see list below); and CNMS-500: senior seminar. Additionally, students take two electives chosen from the electives list below (or from the lists above).
All interdisciplinary majors require careful planning since courses depend on the offerings of individual departments and may change year by year.
Honors in CNMS is awarded to concentrators with at least a 3.7 average in the concentration and who complete CNMS-550 with a grade of at least A-.
Beginning with the class of 2019, a minor in Cinema and Media Studies comprises five courses: CNMS-120 and either four courses from the Theory/Genre list below. or three courses from the Theory/Genre list and one production course.
Courses and Requirements
2 credits:
CNMS-120 Introduction to the History and Theory of Cinema
CNMS-301 Avant-Garde and Experimental Film: Cinema as Theory and Critique
3 credits in THEORY/GENRE: choose among the following or comparable courses:
ARTH-130 Introduction to Visual Studies
FRNCH-160 History of French Cinema
GOVT-268 Political Film
PHIL-228 Philosophy and Film
MUSIC-245/MUSIC-345 Music in American Film
CNMS-290 Facing Reality: A History of Documentary Cinema
CNMS-291 Classic American Film Comedy
CNMS-330 Digital History and New Media: Theories and Praxis
1 credit in PRODUCTION from the following list (or comparable courses):
THETR-105 Introduction to Theatre Production
ART-116 Introduction to Photography
THETR-130 Visual Storytelling
ASNST-218 Smart Films for a Smart World
THETR-212 Scene Design
ART-213 Introduction to Video
ART-221 Introduction to Animation
THETR-213 Lighting Design
ART-301 Advanced Digital Projects
ART-302 Advanced Photography
ART-313 Advanced Video
CNMS-335 Media and Production
(Production courses taken in programs abroad may fulfill this requirement.)
1 credit in WORLD CINEMAS from following list:
FRNCH-160 French Cinema through Work
RSNST-169 Dreams, Visions and Nightmares: Introduction to Russian Film
CHNSE-160 Modern China through Film
LIT-230 Bollywood
CHNSE-380 Transcultural Chinese-Language Cinema and Hollywood
(taught in language of origin)
FRNCH-374 African Cinema (in French)
HSPST-223 Introduction to Hispanic Cinema (in Spanish)
HSPST-323/HSPST-423 Re-imagining the Nation in Hispanic Film (in Spanish)
HSPST-362/HSPST-462 Literature on Film (in Spanish)
FRNCH-435 Picturing War (in French)
FRNCH-428 Cinematographic Memory (in French)
1 credit for Senior Seminar: CNMS-500
(1 credit for Senior Honors Project: CNMS-550)
2 credits ELECTIVES from the following list (or from the lists above):
LIT-118 Food in Literature and Film
LIT-136 Performing Revenge
JAPN-160 Japanese Film, Animation, Literature
THETR-224 Playwriting
THETR-236 Outrageous Acts: Avant-Garde Theatre and Performance Art
JAPN-239/JAPN-339 Modern Japan: Japanese Culture and Society From A (-Bomb) to (Dragon Ball) Z.
ANTHR-259 Digital Technology and Social Transformation
LIT-266 Modernisms
ART-302 Advanced Photography
ART-313 Advanced Video
ARTH-207 Documentary Photography
RELST-145 World Films, World Faiths
RELST-332 Holocaust Literature and Films
LIT-374 The Hollywood Novel