Overview and Learning Goals

Overview and Learning Goals

The Cinema Studies Program introduces students to the history, form, and analysis of motion pictures through an interdisciplinary approach. It explores how cinema, as an art form and cultural product, reflects the vision of filmmakers and influences our understanding of historical and lived realities. A key goal of the program is to teach the critical analysis of images in an increasingly image-driven society. Upon completing the minor, students should be able to:

• demonstrate mastery of basic conceptual and visual vocabulary used in the study of film, in particular the ability to analyze film in terms of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound, and narrative structure;
• analyze the formal components of cinema within aesthetic, historical, sociocultural, political, and international contexts, as well as in light of theoretical frameworks related to gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, class, and/or global interactions;  
• demonstrate knowledge of the history of national and international cinemas, as well as major filmmakers and different genres;
• describe the relation of film to other art forms such as literature, theater, music, and dance; and
• demonstrate an understanding of how different aspects of the film experience—from preproduction and production through distribution, marketing, exhibition, and reception—engage in processes of making meaning.

Options for Minoring in the Program

Students may elect to minor in cinema studies. Bowdoin does not offer a major in cinema studies.

Program Website