Last spring, a group of 16 students took part in the first semester of the Georgetown’s Film and Media Studies Program. While Georgetown has a history of alumni involvement in the entertainment industry, the film and media studies minor has set the foundation for students and teachers to focus on media history, criticism, and production with the proper resources and facilities to do so.
As College Dean Bernie Cook put it, the program needed several things to line up before the minor could be set in stone. “We needed the faculty with requisite expertise, we needed students who were really interested in this subject, and we needed alumni accomplishments,” he said.
While professors were hired and student interest grew, Mike Cahill (COL ‘01) and Brit Marling (COL ‘05), put out Another Earth, the 2011 Sundance Festival favorite that helped meet the third requirement of the trifecta. The program’s fate was sealed, and the 16 selected students (out of a pool of 40) began taking classes in the minor, along with the required “gateway” course that would set a base for the program to build on.
Along with securing classes and resources for the minor, the Film and Media Studies Program has been able to expand into the 80-seat screening room in New South—a useful location for holding events and interviews with filmmakers. While the screening room is now nearing its eighth year, the film program just refinished a second room in New South where students will be able to watch early drafts of projects.
Next semester, the first graduates of the program will take the “capstone course,” which will require each student to work on one of three types of projects. Given the choice among a well-researched analytical essay, a script, or a time-based production, these students’ original works will not only be important exercises in the creative process, but may also serve as sample pieces submitted to potential employers. Students who will be taking the capstone course next semester are currently finalizing the concepts for the projects, which range from specific genre histories to more unconventional, experimental media pieces.
But while production is a focus in the program, the minor is not just targeted at students looking for careers in film and media. Rather, a significant number of students have expressed interest in the program because of media’s unavoidable influence on society, a trend that has no signs of slowing down.
“An understanding of film and media is really an essential thing for anybody in the 21st century.” Cook said. “You have to be able to see the effect of media on how we understand the world.”
By the time students complete the minor, they will have completed the required capstone and gateway courses, along with four electives. But aside from gaining a solid grasp of the intricacies of film and media, Cook hopes the students will also take away lessons in social justice and media (one of the electives must focus on media and social justice). While the decision for this element in an arts minor may come as a bit of a surprise, it fits nicely into Georgetown’s core Jesuit values.
“Using media you can advocate for the things you care about, whether it’s absolutely local issues or much bigger issues,” Cook said.
