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Film and New Media Studies

www.coloradocollege.edu/academics/dept/filmandnewmedia/

Assistant Professor KRZYCH; Artists-in-Residence HASKELL, NELSON

THE MAJOR — REQUIREMENTS:

Twelve units minimum. Six units (the core courses) are required of all majors. Upon commencement of their junior year, majors must declare either a theoretical emphasis or a practical emphasis. The remaining six units reflect this choice. With the exception of the core courses, majors may petition the Program in Film and New Media Studies for other courses in other college departments to fulfill various requirements.

Our understanding of the world — what it has been, what it is, what it might be — has become increasingly enmeshed with media technologies. Film introduces us to other worlds, both real and imagined; television provides us with instant access to news,

events and entertainment; the internet serves as a vast archive of information and provides real-time modes of global communication. The expansive networks and growing archives of content that constitute Film and New Media demand the kind of broad perspective offered by the liberal arts. We intend to provide an intellectual framework responsive to the accelerated pace of technological evolution in its impact on culture and society.

The 6 core units for the major are:

  • FM101 Introduction to Film, Television, and New Media Studies. 2 units.
  • FM102 Basic Filmmaking. 1 unit.
  • FM301 Advanced Media Theory. 1 unit.
  • FM302 Junior Seminar: Collaborative Practices. 1 unit.
  • FM401 Senior Thesis. 1 unit.

Film and New Media Courses

101 Introduction to Film, Television and New Media Studies

Examines how contemporary media affects our understanding and experience of reality through in-depth reading of influential theories of New Media and Cultural Studies, matched with close analysis of television, film, social networking, and interactive technology. Topics include reality television, representations of gender and sexuality, cable news, the internet, and global positioning systems. Explores theories of ideology, interactivity, and convergence. Also questions the ways in which visual media (and their underlying technologies) extend our beliefs about the world into the world, changing the world and us in the process. (Not offered 2012-13).

2 units

102 Basic Filmmaking

Also listed as Film Studies 212.

1 unit —

103 Art and Society

Also listed as Sociology 105.

1 unit —

104 Language and Culture

Also listed as Anthropology 105 and Race and Ethnic Studies 200.

1 unit —

105 Creativity: Theory and Practice

Also listed as English 215 and Sociology 115.

1 unit —

112 Introduction to Drawing

Also listed as Art Studio 103.

1 unit —

114 Pre-Theory

Also listed as Music 199.

1 unit —

115 Fundamentals of Theatrical Design

Also listed as Drama 110.

1 unit —

116 Computer Science I

Also listed as Computer Science 122.

1 unit —

200 Topics in Film and New Media Studies:

Also listed as Drama 200 and English 286.

1 unit —

201 Independent Work in Film and New Media Studies

Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

1 unit —

202 Media and Psychoanalysis

Considers the status of desire and subjectivity in the contemporary media landscape, a setting in which failure often has become a new means for success. How can we judge the aesthetic value of contemporary media when failure may ensure, rather than prevent, profitabilty? Is there any possibility for an ethics of media when nothing is off limits? To what extent can the psychoanalytic concept of desire be applied to and extended by the aesthetics of new media?

Also listed as Comparative Literature 200 and English 280 and Philosophy 203.

1 unit —

207 Art Since 1945

Also listed as Art History 245.

1 unit —

208 Aesthetics

(Not offered 2012-13).

1 unit

209 Popular Culture

Also listed as Anthropology 245.

.5 unit —

210 Topics in Filmmaking:

Also listed as Film Studies 218.

1 unit —

211 Beginning Screenwriting

Also listed as Film Studies 284.

1 unit —

212 Writing for Performance

(Not offered 2012-13).

1 unit

215 Music and the Computer

Also listed as Music 200.

.5 unit —

217 Introduction to Journalism

Also listed as General Studies 216.

1 unit —

218 New Media, Ethics, and Journalism

Also listed as General Studies 233 and Political Science 203.

1 unit —

219 Computer Science II

Also listed as Computer Science 222.

1 unit —

300 Intermediate Independent Work in Film and New Media Studies

Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

1 unit —

301 Advanced Media Theory

In-depth study of contemporary theoretical approaches to film and/or new media. Topics vary from year to year and include philosophy of new and developing technology, digital media theory and other emerging discourses. (Not offered 2012-13).

Prerequisite: Film and New Media Studies 101 or consent of instructor.

1 unit

302 Junior Seminar: Collaborative Practices

Activates theoretical and practical aspects of creative collaboration within the discipline of Film and New Media Studies. Includes immersion in aesthetics, philosophy, history, and collaborative strategies to create an integral final group public performance. Utilizes a process of conceptualization and experimentatin to discover which elements (visual, kinesthetic, audio, textual, electronic, real time, and spatial) lend themselves to a unified collaborative work of art in Film and New Media Studies. (Not offered 2012-13).

1 unit

303 Philosophy of Technology in Film and New Media Studies

Explores the ways in which technology serves as a compromise between mind and matter. Technology may begin as an idea in the mind of an inventor, but technologies only come into existence through unpredictable processes that involve historical, cultural, and environmental limitations. In those moments when technology begins to operate unpredictably, independently of its inventors or intended purposes, it opens up possibilities for philosophical insights into culture, society, and human subjectivity. Investigates examples in film and new media, including cybernetics, special effects, digital cinema, and virtual reality.

Also listed as Comparative Literature 200 and Film Studies 205.

1 unit —

309 Videogames, Aesthetics, Culture

Examines the various ways in which videogames intersect with and borrow from other modes of play, performance and artistic/cultural/political expression. Begins with a survey of videogames history and the major concepts and debates surrounding the emerging field of game studies. Then considers the aesthetic intersections between videogames and cinema, both in popular forms of 'machinima' aid in more experimental practices. Finally, examines the various ways in which videogames operate throughout popular culture: in the emerging field of 'persuasive' or political games, as allegories of digital culture, and as agents in the development of individual and collective identity. (Not offered 2012-13).

1 unit

311 Advanced Performance

Also listed as Dance Theory 304 and Drama 304.

1 unit —

312 Experimental Music

Also listed as Music 399.

1 unit —

313 Advanced Video Art

Also listed as Art Studio 316.

1 unit —

314 Advanced Filmmaking

Also listed as Film Studies 312.

1 unit —

401 Senior Thesis

Advanced work in film and/or new media culminating in a capstone project/senior thesis. The thesis may be fulfilled by a substantial annotated essay or a substantial creative film, video, or new media endeavor, depending upon the choice of a practical or theoretical emphasis. Work that combines both theoretical and practical aspects is also encouraged.

1 unit —