Film buffs at the University now have a reason to rejoice — this year marks the first of the University’s latest major: cinema studies.
Although the program will not officially begin until winter term, classes for the major are already underway. Soon-to-be associate professor of cinema studies Michael Aronson said the program will be a mix of “historical, critical and production classes.”
The major will draw faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Journalism and Communication and the School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
“The University is very interested in interdisciplinary work, and in many ways this is the first bachelor program to reach so wide,” Aronson said. “There’s faculty all over campus with expertise in film.”
Cinema studies students will do much of their work in the new cinema studies lab that was completed this summer in Knight Library. It is located in Knight 267, where the library computer lab was previously located. In addition to high-tech computers, the lab will eventually also feature an exhibition and collaboration space for students to display their work.
Aronson said the word “cinema” was chosen over “film” because the program will encompass moving images across a variety of media, not simply celluloid.
“Our lives are surrounded by moving images,” Aronson said, “so it’s important for students to be able to understand and produce them.”
[email protected]