CAMS Major
Cinema and Media Studies (CAMS)
Director: Associate Professor Carol Donelan
Associate Professor: Carol Donelan
Visiting Assistant Professor: Shawn VanCour
Instructor: Paul Hager
Visiting Instructors: Carey Dissmore, Thomas W. Pope, Rachel Raimist, Eric Tretbar
The Cinema and Media Studies Department major combines the critical study of film and media with hands-on media production, reflecting a liberal arts philosophy in which critical thinking and creative making are mutually informing.
Requirements for a Major:
Sixty-six credits are required for the major; thirty-six credits in core courses and thirty credits in elective courses.
a) Two 100-level Introductory Courses (12 credits):
CAMS 110 Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies
CAMS 111 Digital Foundations
b) One 200-level Studio Production Course (6 credits):
CAMS 270 Nonfiction Video Production
CAMS 271 Fiction Video Production
CAMS 272 Advanced Editing Techniques
CAMS 274 Special Projects Workshop
CAMS 275 Audio Workshop
CAMS 277 Studio Production
CAMS 278 Studio Production
CAMS 280 We Media
CAMS 281 Photography as New Media
CAMS 282 Graphic Design
CAMS 283 Site Specific Media
CAMS 289 New York and Europe Program
c) One 200-level History Course (6 credits):
CAMS 210 Film History I
CAMS 211 Film History II
CAMS 241 History of American Broadcasting
d) One 300-level Theory Course (6 credits):
CAMS 330 Film Theory and Analysis
CAMS 340 Media Theory: Objects and Methods
e) Integrative Exercise CAMS 400 (6 credits)
Students considering a CAMS major are strongly encouraged to take Cinema and Media Studies 110 and 111 by the end of their sophomore year, and the core history (CAMS 210, 211 or 241) and theory (CAMS 330 or 340) courses by the end of their junior year. Cinema & Media Studies offers a predictable range of offerings in media production that vary only slightly in alternating years. This sequence of courses insures that students wishing to do a production-based research project for Comps can have completed all preparatory classwork by the spring of their junior year. All students should begin with Digital Foundations, preferably in the freshman year. Students interested in the core fiction sequence—Fiction 1, Screenwriting, Fiction 2—ideally should take them as a sequence either in their sophomore or junior year. Nonfiction students should take the Nonfiction course offered every spring in their sophomore or junior year, and consider an additional project through Advanced Project Workshop. Photography and Graphic Design are offered regularly in the fall and winter, respectively. Students in any medium who have sufficient preparation may enroll in the Advanced Production Workshop where they develop and execute an advanced project in consultation with the instructor.
II. Elective Courses
Thirty credits in elective courses are required for the Cinema and Media Studies major. Credit may be obtained by enrolling in departmental and approved extra-departmental courses with the following stipulations:
a) Any CAMS course not fulfilling a core requirement can serve as an elective course for the CAMS major.
b) A maximum of eighteen credits in elective CAMS production courses count toward the major.
CAMS 270 Nonfiction Video Production
CAMS 271 Fiction Video Production
CAMS 272 Advanced Editing Techniques
CAMS 274 Special Projects Workshop
CAMS 275 Audio Workshop
CAMS 277 Studio Production
CAMS 278 Studio Production (Not offered in 2008-2009)
CAMS 280 We Media
CAMS 281 Photography as New Media
CAMS 282 Graphic Design
CAMS 283 Site Specific Media
CAMS 289 New York and Europe Program
c) A maximum of twelve credits in extra-departmental elective courses count toward the major. Extra-departmental elective courses approved for the CAMS major are listed on the Registrar’s Website (Schedule of Classes/Enroll page) each term.
ARBC 221 Imagining History in Arab Film (Not offered in 2008-2009)
ARTH 222 History of Photography
ARTS 238 Photography I
ARTS 338 Advanced Photo: Color Photography
ARTS 339 Advanced Photo: Digital Imaging
CHIN 240 Chinese Cinema
FREN 233 The French Cinema (Not offered in 2008-2009)
FREN 250 Mali Program: Film and Society in Mali (Not offered in 2008-2009)
GERM 216 Studies in German Cinema: Current Issues in Contemporary Film (Not offered in 2008-2009)
GERM 219 German Film after WWII (Not offered in 2008-2009)
JAPN 231 Japanese Cinema in Translation
MUSC 115 Music and Film (Not offered in 2008-2009)
POSC 203 Political Communication: Election Campaign Advertising and Public Opinion
POSC 204 Media and American Politics: Special Election Edition
POSC 220 Politics and Political History in Film
RUSS 255 Russian Cinema: History and Theory (Not offered in 2008-2009)
SPAN 250 Spanish Cinema