The Cinema and Media Studies (CAMS) major combines the critical study of moving image and sound media with digital video and audio production. Courses range from global and Hollywood film studies to fiction and nonfiction filmmaking, animation, television studio production and genre studies, moving image media installations, and writing for film and television.
The integration of theory and practice is a guiding principle in the formulation of the curriculum, reflecting a liberal arts philosophy in which theory and practice are mutually informing.
Major Requirements
Seventy-two credits are required for the major: forty-eight credits in core courses and twenty-four credits in elective courses. In the core curriculum, students are required to enroll in CAMS 110 and CAMS 111, two 200-level production courses (one of which must be CAMS 270 or CAMS 271), two 200-level film history courses (one of which must be CAMS 210, CAMS 211 or CAMS 214) and one 300-level theory seminar (CAMS 320, CAMS 330, CAMS 340). In addition to the core curriculum, students are required to enroll in four elective courses, choosing from courses taught departmentally as well as extra-departmentally, with a limit of two courses taught extra-departmentally counting towards elective credit for the major. In the senior-year comps project, students are asked to develop projects furthering their work in the curriculum.
- Two 100-level Introductory Courses (12 credits):
- Two 200-level Production Courses (12 credits) one of which must be CAMS 270 or CAMS 271:
- CAMS 222 Collaborative Narrative Filmmaking
- CAMS 245 The Essay Film (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 263 The Element of Control: Studio Filmmaking (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 264 Story Development Workshop (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 265 Sound Design
- CAMS 270 Nonfiction
- CAMS 271 Fiction
- CAMS 273 Digital Editing Workshop (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 278 Writing for Television (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 279 Screenwriting
- CAMS 280 Advanced Screenwriting
- CAMS 288 Experimental Film & Video Production
- CAMS 370 Advanced Production Workshop I
- Two 200-level Film History Courses (12 credits) one of which must be CAMS 210, CAMS 211 or CAMS 214.
- One 300-level Seminar (6 credits).
- Four Elective Courses (24 credits). Credit for elective courses may be obtained by enrolling in any departmental or approved extra-departmental courses with the following stipulations:
a) Any CAMS course not fulfilling a core requirement can serve as an elective course for the CAMS major.- CAMS 100 Rock ‘n’ Roll in Cinema
- CAMS 101 Making Media (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 177 Television Studio Production
- CAMS 186 Film Genres
- CAMS 187 Cult Television and Fan Cultures
- CAMS 210 Film History I (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 211 Film History II
- CAMS 212 Contemporary Spanish Cinema (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 214 Film History III
- CAMS 215 American Television History (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 216 American Cinema of the 1970s (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 218 Contemporary Global Cinemas
- CAMS 222 Collaborative Narrative Filmmaking
- CAMS 225 Film Noir: The Dark Side of the American Dream
- CAMS 236 Israeli Society in Israeli Cinema (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 240 Adaptation (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 245 The Essay Film (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 246 Documentary Studies
- CAMS 257 Video Games and Identity (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 258 Feminist and Queer Media
- CAMS 263 The Element of Control: Studio Filmmaking (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 264 Story Development Workshop (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 265 Sound Design
- CAMS 267 Contemporary Media Arts Program: Exploring Contemporary Media Arts in New York and Europe (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 268 Contemporary Media Arts Program: Media Production Workshop (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 270 Nonfiction
- CAMS 271 Fiction
- CAMS 273 Digital Editing Workshop (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 278 Writing for Television (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 279 Screenwriting
- CAMS 280 Advanced Screenwriting
- CAMS 288 Experimental Film & Video Production
- CAMS 296 Cinema and Cultural Change in Chile and Argentina (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 320 Sound Studies Seminar (not offered in 2022-23)
- CAMS 330 Cinema Studies Seminar
- CAMS 340 Television Studies Seminar
- CAMS 370 Advanced Production Workshop I
- CAMS 371 Advanced Production Workshop II
- MUSC 123 The American Film Musical
b) A maximum of 12 credits in extra-departmental elective courses can count toward fulfillment of elective credit for the major.
- AMST 222 Indigenous Film
- AMST 269 Woodstock Nation (not offered in 2022-23)
- ARTH 171 History of Photography
- ARTH 172 Modern Art: 1890-1945 (not offered in 2022-23)
- ARTH 240 Art Since 1945
- ARTH 241 Contemporary Art for Artists
- ARTS 339 Advanced Photography (not offered in 2022-23)
- CHIN 239 Digital China: Media, Culture, and Society (not offered in 2022-23)
- CHIN 240 Chinese Cinema in Translation (not offered in 2022-23)
- CHIN 250 Chinese Popular Culture in Translation
- CHIN 348 Advanced Chinese: The Mass Media (not offered in 2022-23)
- CS 312 Audio Programming (not offered in 2022-23)
- ENGL 245 Bollywood Nation
- ENGL 247 The American West (not offered in 2022-23)
- ENGL 248 Visions of California (not offered in 2022-23)
- ENGL 288 California Program: The Literature of California
- ENGL 362 Narrative Theory
- FREN 236 Francophone Cinema and the African Experience (not offered in 2022-23)
- GWSS 398 Capstone: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Popular Culture
- JAPN 231 Tradition and Modernity: Japanese Cinema in Translation (not offered in 2022-23)
- JAPN 244 The World of Anime in Translation (not offered in 2022-23)
- JAPN 254 World of Japanese Manga in Translation
- LCST 245 The Critical Toolbox: Who’s Afraid of Theory?
- MELA 121 East-West in Israeli and Palestinian Fiction and Film (not offered in 2022-23)
- MUSC 115 Listening to the Movies
- POSC 203 Political Communication: Political Advertising in Elections and Public Policy (not offered in 2022-23)
- POSC 204 How American Campaigns and Elections Work (and Don’t Work)
- POSC 205 News Media and Democratic Electoral Processes (not offered in 2022-23)
- POSC 214 Visual Representations of Political Thought and Action
- POSC 220 Politics and Political History in Film (not offered in 2022-23)
- POSC 303 Political Communication: Political Advertising in Elections and Public Policy* (not offered in 2022-23)
- SPAN 244 Spain Today: Recent Changes through Narrative and Film
- SPAN 328 The Contemporary Spanish Fictional Essay (not offered in 2022-23)
- SPAN 356 The Political and Cultural History of the Cuban Revolution (not offered in 2022-23)
- THEA 320 Live Performance and Digital Media (not offered in 2022-23)
- Integrative Exercise CAMS 400 (6 credits)
Students proposing production projects for comps are strongly encouraged to apply to enroll in CAMS 370 Production Workshop I during the fall term of their senior year and are expected to enroll in CAMS 371 Production Workshop II and CAMS 400 during the winter term of their senior year. Students proposing writing projects for comps have the option to enroll in CAMS 400 in the fall or winter terms of their senior year.
Students considering a major in Cinema and Media Studies are encouraged to take CAMS 110 Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies and CAMS 111 Digital Foundations by the end of their sophomore year and at least one 200-level film history course (CAMS 210 Film History I, CAMS 211 Film History II, or CAMS 214 Film History III), one 200-level production course (CAMS 270 Nonfiction or 271 Fiction), and the 300-level theory seminar (CAMS 320 Sound Studies Seminar or CAMS 330 Cinema Studies Seminar or CAMS 340 Television Studies Seminar) by the end of their junior year.