340 Humanities Hall; (714) 824-5386
Linda Williams, Program Director
Rhona Berenstein, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Assistant Professor of Film Studies (television, film genre, film history)
Homer Obed Brown, Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University, Professor of English (film theory, American film, popular culture)
David Carroll, Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University, Professor of French (film history and criticism, French cinema, film and society)
Rey Chow, Ph.D. Stanford University, Professor of Comparative Literature (Chinese literature, Asian literatures and cultures, contemporary critical theory, film)
Edward Fowler, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Associate Professor of Japanese (modern Japanese literature, film, and cultural studies)
Anne Friedberg, Ph.D. New York University, Associate Professor of Film Studies (film history and theory, film and postmodernism, avant-garde and experimental film)
James Herbert, Ph.D. Yale University, Associate Professor of Art History and Film Studies (modern European art, critical theory, and visual culture)
Renée Riese Hubert, Ph.D. Columbia University, Professor Emerita of French and Comparative Literature (surrealist film/fantastic film, early comedy)
Alejandro Morales, Ph.D. Rutgers University, Professor of Spanish (Latin American film)
Gonzalo Navajas, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Spanish (Spanish cinema)
Eric Rentschler, Ph.D. University of Washington, Professor of Film Studies (film history and theory, German film, modern German studies)
John Carlos Rowe, Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo, Director of the UCI Critical Theory Institute and Professor of English (film and documentary images of war, film theory)
Sally A. Stein, Ph.D. Yale University, Associate Professor of Art History (American art, history of photography, photography and media)
Linda Williams, Ph.D. University of Colorado, Director of the Program in Film Studies and Professor of Film Studies (film history and genre; women and film, feminist theory, melodrama and pornography)
Our understanding of the modern world is to a large extent a mediated one: film and television greatly influence our sense of who we are and how we live. Yet so much of our exposure to these forces remains taken for granted, indeed unreflected. The sights and sounds of movies and television compel and excite us, perhaps more so than many of us realize or would like to admit. An undergraduate education in Film Studies encourages students to explore the appeal and operation of these complex meaning-producing machines we call cinema and television.
The course work leading to the B.A. degree in Film Studies trains students to become visually and aurally literate, to grasp films and images in their socioeconomic, political, and aesthetic dimensions. This entails looking at mainstream films with a more critical gaze as well as gaining a regard for different kinds of movies and alternative ways of seeing. The Film Studies curriculum is systematic and comprehensive; courses are typically taught by regular faculty in classes of about 20 to 50 students. During the 199596 academic year, there were more than 85 Film Studies majors enrolled at UCI.
The Program familiarizes students with the history, theory, and art of cinema, individual filmmakers, period styles, genres, and aspects of television. Additional courses address the practical and technical concerns of film production and scriptwriting. Regular course offerings are complemented by student-run film series; special screenings and retrospectives; visits from directors, critics, and scholars; and trips to film festivals, as well as critical symposia.
Film Studies at UCI is unique in its concentration on the history, theory, and criticism of cinema and television. The faculty has published books and articles on such topics as French surrealist cinema, films of the Third Reich, images of the Vietnam war, Hollywood melodramas, contemporary avant-garde directors, film and postmodernism, and women filmmakers. The Program provides its majors with a thorough appreciation of the modern media's innumerable functions in contemporary society.
The School of Humanities charges a laboratory fee of $20 per course to all students taking Film Studies courses.
Film Studies students have the opportunity to spend their junior year in France studying at the Inter-University Center for Film and Critical Studies in Paris, through the University's Education Abroad Program. Information is available both in the Film Studies Office and the Education Abroad Program Office.
A degree in Film Studies will provide students with a variety of opportunities to explore a wide range of interests leading to a career choice or to further education at the graduate or professional level. Graduates from the program have gone on to a host of different careers. Some have pursued graduate work in critical film studies at leading institutions such as the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Iowa. Others have entered M.F.A. programs in production at places like the University of Southern California or San Francisco State University. Many are now at work in various sectors of the entertainment industry as feature film editors, executives in video distribution companies, technicians for local news programs, and independent filmmakers.
The Career and Life Planning Center provides services to UCI students and alumni including career counseling, information about job opportunities, a career library, and workshops on resume preparation, job search, and interview techniques. See the Career and Life Planning Center section for additional information.
Film Studies 85, 101A-B-C, 102, 110, either 117A or 120A, 139, and five of the following: 112, 113, 114, 115, 160, 198, and/or no more than two of the following: 117B, 117C, 120B, 120C.
Residence Requirement for the Major: At least five upper-division courses required for the major must be completed successfully at UCI.
Film Studies 85, 101A-B-C, and three of the following: 102, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 160, 198.
Residence Requirement for the Minor: Four upper-division courses must be successfully completed at UCI.
85 Visual Media and Contemporary Culture (4) F. An interrogation of the authority of the image in contemporary culture. Serves as an introduction to the critical vocabulary of film and television studies.
101A-B-C History of Film
101A The Silent Era (4) W. An investigation of the technological, economic, social, and aesthetic determinants of the cinema in its first 30 years. The formal strategies and historical importance of films by Méliès, the Lumières, Porter, Griffith, Murnau, Lang, Eisenstein, Pudovkin, and others. Prerequisite: Film Studies 85.
101B The Sound Era I (4) S. Explores the formal strategies and socio-historical dynamics of films made between 1930 and 1960, concentrating on representative cinemas and works by Lang, Riefenstahl, Renoir, Welles, De Sica, Ophüls, Kurosawa, and others. Prerequisite: Film Studies 101A.
101C The Sound Era II (4) F. Studies narrative strategies and formal possibilities in films made since 1960, framing aesthetic questions in political, social, and economic terms, using selected features from Western and non-Western countries. Prerequisite: Film Studies 101B.
102 History of Television (4) F, W, S. Development of television as a mass medium and a distinctive form of representation. Spans the history of the medium since the 1940s, concentrating on television as an expressive form and an institution, subject to a series of sociopolitical, aesthetic, and economic determinants.
110 Film Theory (4) F, W, S. A survey of major directions in film theory of the silent and sound eras. Includes Frankfurt School theorists of mass culture, formalism, realism, auteurism, semiotics, feminism, and cultural studies. Prerequisite: Film Studies 101A-B-C or consent of instructor.
112 Film Genre (4) F, W, S. Analytical and theoretical approaches to the serial productions we call "genre" films, the patterns of recognition known as westerns, weepies, musicals, horror films, and others. Prerequisite: Film Studies 101A-B-C or consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit as topics vary. Same as Women's Studies 174A when topic is appropriate.
113 Film/Narrative/Image (4) S. What relations do sound, image, and story assume in film narrative? In what ways does film interact with and borrow from other story-telling media? How have filmmakers explored non-narrative strategies and to what end? Prerequisite: Film Studies 101A-B-C or consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.
114 Film and the Other Arts (4) F, W, S. A synthetic entity, film draws on both established and popular arts. Looks at film's exchanges with high and low culture, exploring its relation to areas such as photography, music, painting, and architecture. Prerequisite: Film Studies 101A-B-C or consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.
115 Film Authorship (4) F, W, S. Theoretical and analytical discussions of film authorship, focusing on case studies of directors, producers, scriptwriters, and artists. Prerequisite: Film Studies 101A-B-C or consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.
117A Introduction to Screenwriting (4) F, W, S. Introduction to the history and technique of the screenplay, with a particular focus on its different aesthetic forms as well as on the various roles it has assumed within the evolution of the film industry.
117B Basic Script Writing (4) F, W, S. Exercises in the development of screenplays with emphasis on formal and structural considerations as well as on film industry praxis. Conducted in an intimate workshop setting with frequent group discussions of student scripts-in-progress. Prerequisite: Film Studies 117A.
117C Scriptwriting Workshop (4) F, W, S. Continuation and intensification of work initiated in 117B. Students complete a full-length screenplay. Concentrates on both practical and technical concerns, addressing pragmatic and aesthetic questions in intensive small-group discussions. Prerequisite: Film Studies 117B.
120A Basic Production (4) F, W, S. Introduction to the basic apparatus of video/film production. The elementary essentials of production, including the use of camera and lenses, lighting, editing, and sound. Formerly Film Studies 50A.
120B Intermediate Production (4) W. Students work on individual and group projects, utilizing skills and insights introduced in Film Studies 120A. Prerequisite: Film Studies 120A. Formerly Film Studies 50B.
120C Production Workshop (4) S. As film and video are collaborative media, students form production groups and ultimately produce final 1015 minute film/video projects. Prerequisite: Film Studies 120B.
139 Writing About Film (4) F, W, S. Practical exercises in film criticism as a form of cultural analysis. Requires at least 4,000 words of assigned composition. Film Studies majors are given admission priority. Prerequisites: Film Studies 85 and 101A; satisfaction of lower-division writing requirement; junior standing.
160 National Cinemas (4) F, W, S. Period styles, national schools, oppositional movements, e.g., Classical Japanese Cinema, Italian Neorealism, Nouvelle Vague, Weimar Film, Cinema Nôvo. Same as East Asian 160, French 160, German 160, Italian 160, or Spanish 160 when topics are appropriate. May be repeated for credit when topics vary. (VII-B)
198 Special Topics in Film Studies (4) F, W, S. Exploration of special issues concerned with film history and theory. Examples include close textual analysis, film and pornography, representing war, film and gender. Prerequisite: Film Studies 101A-B-C or consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit when topic varies.
199 Individual Study (varying credit) F, W, S. Directed reading and research in consultation with a faculty member. Substantial written work required. Prerequisite: consent of sponsoring faculty member.
Graduate seminars in Approaches to Film Theory, Problems in Film Analysis, and Advanced Film Theory and Analysis are offered as Humanities graduate courses. See page 227.
