As Michigan continues to welcome blockbuster filmmakers to the state, Michigan State University has launched a new bachelor’s degree program in film studies.
The College of Arts and Letters will host the program, providing students with training in production, history, theory and criticism of cinema – skills and knowledge they need to give back to their communities culturally and artistically.
And faculty members who are award-winning filmmakers will teach them.
“The technical and critical knowledge, analytical and organizational skills, and aesthetic and narrative sensitivity required of film studies students transfer well to a variety of occupations in the creative industries of today’s international, media-driven cultures,” said assistant professor Josh Yumibe, director of film studies.
Some of the targeted occupations: film production, film criticism, arts management, advertising, public relations, software development and educational programming.
Throughout the last decade, the landscape of film has changed, witnessing an explosion of affordable digital filmmaking tools and, as a result, a surge in film production outside Hollywood, Yumibe said. In fact, film has become an economic driver in Michigan, so MSU’s new film studies program comes at the perfect time – for students and for the state.
“What sets the new film studies program apart and makes it particularly attractive to our students is its broad global dimension, especially its focus on the Global South - filmmakers in India, Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand - and the opportunities for students to pursue screenwriting and film production in conjunction with the study of film,” said College of Arts and Letters Acting Dean Elizabeth Simmons.
The study of film has enjoyed a rich tradition at MSU, producing a number of prestigious alumni and former students. For example, as a student in the late 1970s, Sam Raimi of “Evil Dead” and “Spiderman” fame worked closely with Bill Vincent, professor of film studies.
In the 1980s, MSU’s Department of English began developing its faculty and curriculum in film studies. From 1991 to 2009, the department was the lead unit supporting the specialization in film studies in the College of Arts and Letters, and from 2002 to 2014 it housed the concentration in film studies as part of its bachelor’s degree program in English.
Currently, the College of Arts and Letters also offers a minor in film studies and collaborates with the College of Communication Arts and Sciences in offering minors in fiction filmmaking and documentary production. In addition, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences administers a concentration in TV, cinema and radio as part of its Media and Information Program.
“Our curriculum investigates cinema as a global art, a business and a technology – all of which are shaped by the social dynamics of race, gender and sexuality,” Yumibe said.