Program Overview

School of Arts and Humanities

The School of Arts and Humanities offers a diverse range of programs, including the Visual and Performing Arts with Film Concentration.

Visual and Performing Arts with Film Concentration (BA)

The Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) major with a Film Concentration is an interdisciplinary program that allows students to explore the arts through a variety of courses in writing, interdisciplinary studies, professional development, historical context, theory, and practice. The program culminates in a Senior Capstone.

Program Description

Film Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that considers the history, aesthetics, and ideology of cinema as an art form, as an industry, and as a system of personal, political, and cultural representation. Courses are offered on a variety of topics involving film and moving-image culture, among them authorship, adaptation, world and national cinemas, genres, and modes.

Degree Requirements

The Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts with Film Concentration requires 120 semester credit hours.

Faculty

• Professor: Adrienne L. McLean
• Associate Professor: Shilyh Warren

Core Curriculum Requirements

• Communication: 6 semester credit hours
  • RHET 1302 Rhetoric
  • Choose one course from:
    • COMM 1311 Survey of Oral and Technology-based Communication
    • COMM 1315 Public Speaking
• Mathematics: 3 semester credit hours
  • Select any 3 semester credit hours from Mathematics Core courses
• Life and Physical Sciences: 6 semester credit hours
  • Select any 6 semester credit hours from Life and Physical Sciences Core courses
• Language, Philosophy and Culture: 3 semester credit hours
  • Select any 3 semester credit hours from Language, Philosophy and Culture Core courses
• Creative Arts: 3 semester credit hours
  • FILM 2332 Understanding Film
  • or select any 3 semester credit hours from Creative Arts Core courses
• American History: 6 semester credit hours
  • Select any 6 semester credit hours from American History Core courses
• Government / Political Science: 6 semester credit hours
  • GOVT 2305 American National Government
  • GOVT 2306 State and Local Government
• Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 semester credit hours
  • Select any 3 semester credit hours from Social and Behavioral Sciences Core courses
• Component Area Option: 6 semester credit hours
  • Select any 6 semester credit hours from Component Area Option Core courses

Major Requirements

• Lower-Division: 0 semester credit hours beyond Core Curriculum
  • Lower-division preparatory courses (0-6 semester credit hours beyond Core Curriculum)
    • FILM 2332 Understanding Film
    • 3 semester credit hours of lower-level Visual and Performing Arts Prep Course
• Upper-Division: 48 semester credit hours
  • Major Core Courses: 15 semester credit hours
    • VPAS 3340 Writing in the Arts
    • VPAS 4389 Theory and Practice of the Visual and Performing Arts
    • VPAS 4390 Senior Capstone
    • Select 3 semester credit hours of Related Courses from:
      • ARHM 3342 Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies in the Arts and Humanities
      • VPAS 3300 Elements of Art and Performance
      • Or Related Upper-Level Course from the School of Arts and Humanities
    • Select 3 semester credit hours of Professional Development Courses from:
      • ARTS 3311 Contemporary Art Practices
      • ARTS 4310 Studies in Contemporary Exhibitions
      • COMM 4370 Communication and Leadership
      • COMM 4371 Communication and Professionalism
      • ENTP 3301 Innovation and Entrepreneurship
      • ISAH 4V50 Internship
      • VPAS 4310 Entertainment Law
  • Film Concentration: 33 semester credit hours
    • 9 semester credit hours from:
      • FILM 3321 Film in Historical Context
      • FILM 3325 Film Authorship
    • 6 semester credit hours from:
      • FILM 3321 Film in Historical Context
      • FILM 3325 Film Authorship
      • FILM 3342 Topics in Film
      • FILM 4V71 Independent Study in Film
    • 6 semester credit hours of upper-division courses of Prescribed Electives from:
      • AHST 3324 History of Photography
      • ATCM 2322 Media Histories
      • ATCM 2321 Reading Media Critically
      • ATCM 3321 Networked Identities
      • ATCM 3325 Global Media Cultures
      • ATCM 3331 Critical Making
      • ATCM 4322 Disability, Technology, and Media
      • ATCM 4323 Feminism, Technology, and Media
      • ATCM 4325 Race, Technology, and Media
      • ATCM 4327 Privacy and Surveillance
      • BIS 3320 The Nature of Intellectual Inquiry
      • COMM 3352 Media and Culture
      • GST 2300 Introduction to Gender Studies
      • LIT 2350 Close Reading
    • 6 semester credit hours of upper-division Visual and Performing Arts electives
    • 6 semester credit hours of Major Related courses

Elective Requirements

• Free Electives: 30 semester credit hours
  • Both upper- and lower-division courses may be used as electives, but students must complete at least 51 semester credit hours of upper-division courses to qualify for graduation.