|
While there is as yet no officially recognized academic program in film studies at MJC, the seeds for such a program have already been carefully planted among the faculty, students, and administration at the college. Faculty across the campus have been drawing on their academic training and practical experience in order to offer new courses that approach film studies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Students who are pursuing the film production certificate within the mass communications program and those who are focusing on scriptwriting within the English department are now able to enroll in academic courses on the forms, styles, history, and social relevance of cinema. |
|
And the college administration has so far looked favorably upon the faculty’s efforts to integrate these three areas – film production, scriptwriting, and film scholarship – into a single program that accommodates diverse students with a wide range of academic and vocational goals. The number of students enrolling in these courses is rising. More and more faculty are lending their expertise and unique disciplinary perspectives to this project. And the administration continues to smile on (or perhaps at) our efforts.
While the current state of the California Community College budget may likely postpone the official launch of a full-fledged film studies degree program at MJC, we encourage students who are interested in this subject to enroll in the various courses we have recently created in order to cater to this interest. The knowledge and experience they can acquire will be invaluable in their future professional and academic careers in filmmaking and/or film studies.