FAMS 101 Intro to Film & Media Studies
This foundational course introduces students to basic concepts, theories and methods central to the study of film and media studies, with the main goal of developing critical media literacy. We will study histories, contexts, and formal techniques, with emphasis on properties such as camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound to develop an understanding of analog and digital modes of representation. We will focus on cinema, but will also touch upon journalism, television, photography, web and other forms of electronic media to gain a better understanding of the perspectives and practices of audiences, evolving technologies, and forms of distribution. Through required screenings, activities, readings, writing and regular discussion, we will analyze a variety of screen media to understand how they work and how they influence our world. Old CCS: H. New: GP, HAH. TR 1:15-4:00 PM, Landis Cinema (101), Buck Hall. Andy Smith
FAMS 102 Integrated Practice I
This course introduces students to the creative, theoretical, and practical aspects of media production and is designed to provide a foundational understanding of audio-visual storytelling. Students will learn the technical fundamentals of composition, lighting, audio recording, digital video cameras, and non-linear editing. The class will be grounded in discussions of theory, ethical media-making and responsible practices that move between past, present, and future.
CCS: HAA. TR 1:15-4:00 PM, Media 1 (102), 248 N. 3rd St. Drew Swedberg
FAMS 120 Filmmakers: Hitchcock
This introductory course examines the work of Alfred Hitchcock, one of cinema’s most recognizable and impactful filmmakers. Known as the “Master of Suspense,” Hitchcock was fascinated by sex, deviance, crime, obsession, power, terror, mystery, and the macabre. His career, spanning from the silent era to the 1970s, offers numerous unforgettable films and a fascinating way to study evolutions of film form, film history, and film theory. Some of the titles are legend: Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, North By Northwest, The Birds, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt. In addition to studying both famous and lesser-known films, we will examine Hitchcock’s work on other platforms, especially television and radio. We will adopt useful cultural and theoretical frameworks through which to read Hitchcock’s body of work, and we will practice reading film and media closely, as complex, sometimes contradictory, and always supremely manipulative art forms. Old CCS: H. New: HAH. TR 9:30 AM-12:15 PM, Landis Cinema (101), Buck Hall. Andy Smith
FAMS 140 Media & Mass Incarceration
In this course, held primarily inside Northampton County Jail in Easton, we will learn about the prison industrial complex in the United States and the ways in which the media has contributed to, reified, and resisted the discourse around mass incarceration. The course introduces students to basic, but critical concepts of the PIC and similarly, basic concepts, and methods central to film and media studies. Through required weekly screenings, readings, writing, regular discussion, and peer presentation, we will gain a better understanding of our community in the Lehigh Valley. Old CCS: GM1, H, V.
New: CECS, HAH. F 1:15-4:00 PM, Media 2 (121), 248 N. 3rd St. & Northampton County Prison. Nandini Sikand
DOC 150 Documentary Storymaking
Whatever your major or scholarly area of interest, everyone needs good media content—but how do you acquire the skills to become an effective visual communicator? This course is intended for students across all disciplines and majors who want to do just that. It merges a critical study of non-fiction media with the hands-on construction of their own documentary stories. Working with tools of the documentary arts—video, still images, audio, writing—students will acquire foundational strengths in documentary production and effective visual storytelling, analyze a variety of notable media examples and forms, grapple with the ethics of documentary practice, learn to work collaboratively in teams, and produce and share original works of documentary media. Students will be encouraged to create works that advance their unique study in their majors or areas of interest. Old CCS: H. New: CECS, HAA. T 7:00-9:45 PM, Media 2 (121), 248 N. 3rd St. Drew Swedberg
FAMS 221 Media Theory
Any understanding of what it means to be human in the twenty-first century—how we communicate and create art, labor and play games, make friends and fall in love, and, above all, come to understand (or misunderstand) what is real and true about the world—demands a careful study of contemporary media. This course introduces students to key media concepts and theories through the study of contemporary images, technologies, platforms, and media companies. Together, we will try to make sense of how different media formations fundamentally shape our everyday lives. Among other examples, we will study: the hype and histories of AI; “content” culture and influencer labor; immersive technologies (VR/video games); the speculative economies of Web3; and the tools and tactics of contemporary surveillance, warfare, and resistance.
Old CCS: W. New: W, HAH, INST. MW 2:45-4:00 PM, Media 3 (102), Buck Hall. Katherine Groo
FAMS 240 Philosophy of Art
What is art? And how should art be interpreted and evaluated? What is the nature of artistic representation? What is the connection between art and emotion? What role does form play in art? Can art ever be a source of knowledge or of moral growth? This course examines these and other fundamental questions by looking at the classical theories of art as well as contemporary philosophical writings. Examples are drawn especially from painting, photography, and cinema. Old CCS: H,V.
New: GP, HAH. TR 11:00 AM-12:15 PM, Pardee 320A. Alessandro Giovannelli
FAMS 252 Writing for Television
The subtitle of this version of the course is “Episodic Content in Late Capitalism.” In this class, we will be exploring the craft and analyzing the context of writing for television. We will learn the essentials of script formatting and practice how to develop an original idea into a show with intriguing characters and storylines. Through in-class screenings, discussion, and play-acting, we will analyze characters and plot, the structure of both half-hour comedic and hour-long dramatic episodes, series-long story planning, and strategies for writing compelling dialogue. We will develop a vocabulary for discussing TV productions while also analyzing the industry’s history and evolution in the U.S. Writing assignments will build from one-sentence loglines to revised scripts. Particular emphasis will be placed on drafting, group work (“writers’ rooms”), and revision. CCS: W. TR 1:15-2:30 PM, Pardee 201. Mikael Awake
FAMS 345 Philosophy of Film
This course is an examination of fundamental questions on the nature, interpretation, experience, and evaluation of film. Special attention will be paid to film’s essential nature, and to how such nature affects how films engage the viewer, hence perhaps how movies should be evaluated. Topics will include: the distinctive nature of the moving image compared to other forms of representation; cinema as an art form; film authorship; colorization; the nature of film horror; and the relationship between film and ethics. Old CCS: GM2,H,V,W. New: GP,HAH,W. TR 9:30-10:45 AM, Pardee 320A. Alessandro Giovannelli
FAMS 355 Cinema is Dead, Long Live Cinema!
This course explores what moving images are in the twenty-first century. In the late 1990s, roughly one hundred years after the invention of the first film camera, film fans, scholars, and archivists began lamenting the “death of cinema.” The emergence of digital images seemed to threaten an entire century of film practice and the very foundations of film studies. If we no longer had physical film, they argued, cinema was dead. Though scholars have never stopped announcing the death of cinema, moving images have expanded and proliferated wildly in the twenty-first century. This course aims to introduce students to the expansive field of “post-cinema” studies. We will engage a range of examples of twenty-first century moving images, including computer-generated and animated cinemas, streaming television, music videos, small formats (e.g., Instagram, TikTok), video games, AR/VR immersive experiences, and algorithmic art. Old CCS: H, W. New: HAH. MW 11:00 AM-12:15 PM, Media 2 (121), 248 N. 3rd St. Katherine Groo
FAMS 420 Capstone
This required course for FAMS majors is a chance for students to synthesize their course of study into one major individual project. FAMS capstone is a workshop-based experience where students design and complete a significant film and media project that results in a public presentation of their most advanced work as FAMS majors. Open only to Senior FAMS majors. Old CCS: W. New: HAH, W. M 1:15-4:00, PM Media 2 (121), 248 N. 3rd St. Andy Smith