FAMS 101: Introduction to Film & Media Studies
This is a foundational course that introduces students to the basic concepts, theories, and methods in film and media studies. We will study the histories and genres of cinema as well as formal techniques, including cinematography, editing, and sound, to develop a critical understanding of film as a mode of representation. We will also study other forms of contemporary moving-image media to gain a better understanding of the perspectives and practices of emerging technologies and forms of distribution. Through required weekly screenings, readings, writing and regular discussion, we will analyze these various kinds of screen medias as they influence our world. No prerequisites. FAMS F & CCS (HUM). M 7:00-9:50pm, TR 2:45-4:00pm, Landis Cinema – Buck Hall. Katherine Groo
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 deep discussions of ethical media-making and responsible practices that move between past, present, and future. Prerequisite: FAMS 101 or permission of instructor. TR 1:10-4:00pm, Media 1 – 248 N. 3rd St. Drew Swedberg
FAMS 103: Foundations Writing & Research
This course will introduce students to the practice of writing and researching in the discipline of Film and Media Studies. Students will learn to develop strong research questions, identify relevant scholarly sources, draft a bibliography and write a literature review, conduct archival research, and write and revise a research paper. They will develop these skills as we explore media-historical case studies from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and participate in site visits. This course is designed to be a genuinely collaborative endeavor. Students will contribute to the course materials through their research; they will learn about moving image technology and teach others what they learn. Prerequisite: FAMS 101. CCS (W). MW 11am-12:15pm, Media 2 – 248 N. 3rd St. Andy Smith
FAMS 221: Media Theory
This course introduces students to key concepts and theories in contemporary media studies. Over the last twenty years, visuality has become digital, virtual, social, and global. The image-as-object has disintegrated. The theatre-as-architecture has collapsed. In turn, we will consider: What are images today? How are they made? How are we encouraged to look, gaze, spectate, and stream? How do contemporary forms of visual media circulate and structure our lives? And how do they intersect with the social dynamics of gender, race, class, and national identity? FAMS T & CCS (HUM/W). M 1:10-4:00pm, Media 2 – 248 N. 3rd St. Katherine Groo
FAMS/A&S 267: Film, Media, and Popular Culture in Africa
Media are often associated with the West, leaving other sites of visual production out of the picture. Since the early colonial period, African audiences have consumed images, especially cinema, while being largely relegated outside the frame. How have Africans resisted the hegemony of Western images and representations? What differences are involved when Africans seize the camera and turn it on themselves, seeking to tell stories that reflect their own social realities and visions? What different formations of race, gender, and global inequality get reflected on the screen in the process? By linking the study of cinema with interdisciplinary approaches to popular culture in different African cultural worlds, the class foregrounds the diverse roles that media play in sociocultural life. Is popular culture just mere entertainment, or can it be a source of education – shaping counter-narratives and serving as a platform for resistance? In readings, screenings, and discussions, we will examine how diverse African social worlds have actively shaped and been altered by the creation and reception of moving images, focusing on documentary, video films, hip-hop, and other domains of popular cultural expression. CSS (GM1/GM2/SS). TR 2:45-4:00pm, OCGE 314. Bill Bissell
FAMS 302-01: Integrated Practice III: Short Fiction Film
This course asks students to integrate a critical study of short fiction film with hands-on practice at an advanced level. Students will closely examine the form and force of short fiction film while completing their own short films, moving through the stages of writing, shooting, editing, scoring, and publicly screening their original work. IP3 is recommended for anyone hoping to 1) do a production-heavy capstone project in their senior year, and/or 2) anyone looking to sharpen and add to their media portfolio. CCS (HUM). Prerequisite: FAMS 102 required, FAMS 202 recommended. W 1:10-4:00pm, Media 1 – 248 N. 3rd St. Andy Smith
FAMS 302-02: Integrated Practice III: Documentary Film
This course asks students to integrate a critical study of documentary film with hands-on practice at an advanced level. Students will closely examine the form and force of documentary film while completing their own documentary films, moving through the stages of writing, shooting, editing, scoring, and publicly screening their original work. IP3 is recommended for anyone hoping to 1) do a production-heavy capstone project in their senior year, and/or 2) anyone looking to sharpen and add to their media portfolio. CCS (HUM). Prerequisite: FAMS 102 required, FAMS 202 recommended. T 7-9:50pm, Media 2 – 248 N. 3rd St. Drew Swedberg
FAMS 355: Cinema is Dead, Long Live Cinema: Moving Images in the Twenty-First Century
This course explores what moving images are in the twenty-first century. Since 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, 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., Vine and TikTok), video games, AR/VR immersive experiences, and algorithmic art. CCS (HUM). Prerequisite: FAMS 220 or 221. TR 11am-12:15pm, Media 2 – 248 N. 3rd St. Katherine Groo
DOC 150: Introduction to Documentary Storymaking
This course is an introduction to digital documentary storymaking. It merges critical study of documentary media with hands-on construction of documentary stories in local communities. This specific iteration of Doc 150 focuses on the use of the still image as a tool for storymaking. Using hands-on practical instruction, students will learn how to use the camera and visual grammar to construct community-based stories. Students will encounter a variety of notable documentaries that examine the ways images are used or misused, to inform, instruct, persuade, and propagandize. With a focus on photographic documentation, students will also learn about the evolution of the still image and how it has shaped our understanding of history and society. No prerequisites. Open to all majors. CCS (HUM). R 7-9:50pm, Walson TVS – Muhlenberg College. Registration through the LVAIC portal. David Romberg