Film Studies

The goals of film studies at DePauw University are consistent with the mission of the liberal arts university: fostering reading, writing, speaking, and analytical skills. Studying film at DePauw allows students to develop a range of intersecting intellectual and analytical skills: reading and analyzing film texts closely and interpreting their various meanings and messages; using theory and critical-analytical models that have emerged and become central to film and media studies; understanding the cultural, political and economic contexts in which film production takes place; recognizing the similarities and differences between various national cinemas; engaging with the historical dimensions of cinema. Students will have the opportunity to make connections across disciplines and to develop a breadth of knowledge that will stimulate intellectual and artistic discoveries. Because film is an international medium, we place special emphasis on the cultural importance of film. It should be emphasized that film studies at DePauw is not a pre-professional program for aspiring filmmakers. Students are required to complete at least one course in production, but our emphsis rests on the critical, theoretical, historical, and philosphical traditions that have come to comprise film studies as a field of inquiry. Our film studies courses engage with a wide range of perspectives, but do so within the liberal arts tradition.