Associate of Arts - Film Studies

Film Studies introduces students to the history and development of cinema as an art, as an entertainment medium, as an object of philosophical study, and as a cultural and social phenomenon. The program examines film as a "text" which can be studied through diverse critical and theoretical perspectives. Students can enroll in a wide variety of courses in this area, including those in American and international film history, aesthetics and criticism, genre and gender studies, film in relation to society, literature into film, and cross‐cultural film studies. Students can take courses in Film Studies to augment their liberal education through the acquisition of aesthetic and critical knowledge, or they may use their studies to gain entry into a wide variety of professions, including teaching, filmmaking, writing, archiving and preservation, advertising, film business & law, and production finance.

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to demonstrate critical thinking and aesthetic judgment skills, both verbally and in writing, to the analysis of film as an art form and entertainment medium, utilizing and applying the specialized vocabulary of film studies as it has developed in the academic context and in the film industry. Students will also be able to identify and discuss the major historical developments, both artistic and technological, that have influenced the cinema throughout the twentieth century, as well as the social, economic and cultural factors that have shaped films from different gender and ethnic perspectives, and from domestic and international contexts.