Screen Cultures
Bachelor of Arts
Michael D. Richardson, Professor, Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and Program Coordinator
The Screen Cultures major is an innovative and interdisciplinary program that provides students with a flexible course of study. It offers a solid understanding of foundational issues related to the study and understanding of the moving image while also allowing students to focus their studies on a range of specific issues and areas. This major is administered by a steering committee of faculty drawn from a wide range of programs in both the School of Humanities and Sciences and the Park School of Communications, with courses drawn from disciplines such as art history, cinema and photography, emerging media, philosophy, politics, religious studies, television-radio, and world languages, literatures, and cultures.
As a humanities-based course of study grounded in the field of film studies, but drawing on neighboring disciplines such as cultural studies, area studies, media arts, and media theory, Screen Cultures allows students to study in depth the theory, aesthetics, history, and cultural and institutional contexts of film, television, and related screen media from interdisciplinary perspectives. The degree emphasizes international and multicultural foci and is attentive to the role that the moving image plays in the construction of national, racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual identities. It provides opportunities for experiential learning in the form of on-campus and off-campus internships and projects in collaboration with a variety of film festivals on campus and throughout Ithaca ensuring that students graduate not only with core liberal arts skills, but with a keen understanding of the important role that visual media play in the contemporary world and in national/international public discourses and multiple industries.
SCRE 10000 FLEFF (Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival) Immersion (LA)
This course provides an experiential opportunity to explore the annual Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) within an interdisciplinary academic framework. The course introduces the histories, theories and practices of festivals, providing multiple routes by which to explore and engage this particular festival in person and to reflect on this experience. May be repeated for a total of 4 credits. (S,Y)
1 Credit
SCRE 11100 Global Screen Cultures (LA)
Team-taught lecture course that examines cinematic representations of changing notions of cultural, national, and individual identity. Topics will include the impact of war and fascism on national identity; changing notions of the family structure and gender roles; generational conflict and cultural identity, class, race, and religion. Students will investigate these topics both within and across various national cultures. LNGS 11100 and SCRE 11100 are cross-listed; students may not take both courses for credit. (F,S,Y)
Attributes: CA, DV, HM, LXME, RPRE, SCE, TIDE
4 Credits
SCRE 39400 Sport in Film and Literature (LA)
Investigation of the sociocultural and mythic dimensions of contemporary sport as represented in selected films and fiction. Prerequisites: SPME 29700. (S,Y)
Attributes: MAP
3 Credits
SCRE 39900 Screen Cultures Independent Study (LA)
Student-initiated research project on a specialized topic in the area of screen cultures. May be repeated up to a total of 6 credits. Prerequisites: Three courses with the attribute SCE (Screen Cultures). (F,S,Y)
1-3 Credits
SCRE 40100 Screen Cultures Internship (NLA)
This course explores the experiential dimensions of applied disciplinary study through a work and study project designed by the student, in consultation with a faculty sponsor and a practicing professional. A detailed project proposal will plan the specific aims of the internship, the activities involved in the internship, and the methods of reporting and reflecting on this experience. Students may repeat this course for a total of 6 credits, as long as each enrollment is connected to an internship place at a different site. Prerequisites: Permission of instructor. (F,S,Y)
1-6 Credits
SCRE 45000 Capstone Seminar in Screen Cultures (LA)
Focuses on intensive study of the disciplinary field of Screen Cultures, extending and synthesizing conceptual strands encountered earlier in the program and assessing the contemporary field of Screen Cultures. Particular attention paid to a discussion of career opportunities and preparation for post-graduate work. (F,S,Y)
3 Credits