Carnegie Mellon University

Film & Visual Media - Minor

Film and electronic media have become a crucial part of contemporary culture and society; they constitute an important tool for under-standing social arrangements, historical changes, and play an increasingly important role in the development of aesthetic and cultural theory. The Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences' minor in Film & Media Studies takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of film and other electronic media. Courses provide techniques for analyzing and criticizing film and other media, for assessing their value as historical, anthropological and social scientific data, and for understanding the aesthetic and philosophical premises of various media texts.

Learn how to declare a minor in Film and Visual Media.

Curriculum:  6 courses, 54 units minimum

Required Introductory Course (2 courses, 18 units):

76-239 Introduction to Film & Visual Media Studies
76-310 Advanced Studies in Film & Media

Film & Media Electives (3 courses, 27 units minimum):
Choose courses at the 200-level or above where their primary topics are film and media. Students should consult the minor faculty advisor if they have questions about particular courses. Courses include but are not limited to:

76-243 Introduction to TV
76-297 Radicals, Heretics, and Hackers: Russian Outlaws in History, Literature, and Film

76-312 Crime and Justice in American Film

76-339 Topics in Film (can be taken more than once as different faculty teach different content when offered)
76-353 Transnational Feminisms: Fiction and Film
76-367 Fact into Film: Translating History into Cinema
76-377 Shakespeare and Film
76-438 The Wire: Crime, Realism, and Long-Form TV
76-439 Advanced Seminar in Film and Visual Media Studies
76-448 Shakespeare on Film
76-467 Crime Fiction and Film
79-214 Paris in Revolt: History, Literature, and Film
79-225 West African History in Film
79-270 Century of Russian Film
79-306 Fact into Film: Translating History into Cinema
79-308 Crime and Justice in American Film
79-309 The Chinese Revolution through Film (1949-2000)
79-319 India through Film
79-326 German History through Film
79-340 Juvenile Delinquency & Film: From "Juvenile Court" (1973) to "The Wire" (2002-08)
79-341 The Cold War in Documents and Film
79-391 Stardom, Gender, and American Film
79-427 Radicals, Heretics, and Hackers: Russian Outlaws in History, Literature, and Film
79-434 Literature, Politics, Film in Russia and East Europe
79-438 The Film Festival: The New Chinese Cinema
82-215 Arab Culture through Film and Literature
82-278 Japanese Film and Literature: the Art of Storytelling     
82-284 Multicultural Pittsburgh: A Creative Media Exploration of Community, Language and Identity  
82-296 A Century of Russian Films
82-411 Filmothea: Interdisciplinary Film Workshop
82-428 History of German Film
82-455/56 Topics in Hispanic Studies (subject to variation by semester: only some sections have a significant film component)
82-533 Visions of China: Modern Chinese Society and Culture through Documentary Films and New Media

400-Level Film & Media Course (1 course, 9 units minimum):
Complete one 400-level course that concentrates on film/media directly or that uses it as a tool of social or cultural analysis. Courses include but are not limited to:

76-439 Seminar in Film & Media (topics vary per semester)
76-448 Shakespeare on Film
76-449 Race & Media
76-454 Rise of the Blockbuster
76-456 Independent Study in Film & Media Studies (requires instructor and department approval)
76-467 Crime Fiction & Film
76-469 Screenwriting Workshop