Last updated: September 30, 2010 @ 09:48AM

Film Studies

This program is offered through the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film

Chair
Russell Johnston

Academic Adviser
Penni Lafleur

General Information

Administrative Assistant
Bridget Cahill

905-688-5550, extension 4290
Scotiabank Hall 344
http://www.brocku.ca/cpcf/

The Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film offers three separate programs of study: Communication Studies, Film Studies and Popular Culture. A four-year program leading to the BA Honours degree and a three-year program leading to the BA Pass degree is offered in all three programs. In addition, the Department is involved in programs with community colleges which offer students the opportunity to earn an honours degree in Communication Studies and a college diploma or certificate.

Film Studies is a sequence of critical and historical courses that examines a variety of approaches to film. The courses explore the nature of film language and develop an analytical perspective on film as both an art and a medium. Other courses explore issues and theories in popular culture. Students may have opportunities to engage in media production in selected upper year courses.

Program Notes
  1. WRIT 1P93 is recommended.
  2. Year 3 courses are normally restricted to students with at least three 2(alpha)00 credits or permission of the instructor.
  3. FREN 1F90 is strongly recommended for Honours students intending to continue their studies at the graduate level.
  4. In all 20 credit degree programs, at least 12 credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above, six of which must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above and of these, three must be numbered 3(alpha)90 or above. In all 15 credit degree programs, at least seven credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above, three of which must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above.

Honours Program

Year 1
·   FILM 1F94
·   COMM 1F90 or PCUL 1F92
·   one Social Science context credit
·   one Science context credit
·   one elective credit (see program note 1)
Year 2
·   FILM 2F90, 2P10, 2P54, 2P56 and 2P91
·   one credit from FILM 2P20, 2P21, 2P94, COMM 2F50, 2P22, PCUL 2F92
·   one elective credit
Year 3
·   FILM 3P20, 3P54, 3P56 and 3P91
·   FILM 3P93 or 3P95
·   one and one-half credits from FILM 3F28, 3P21, 3P93, 3P94, 3P95, 3P96, 3P97, 3P98, 3Q94, COMM 3P14
·   one elective credit
Year 4
·   Two credits from FILM 4P30, 4P31, 4V50-4V79
·   two credits from FILM 3P93, 3P94, 3P95, 3P96, 3P97, 3P98, 3Q94, 4F80, 4F99, PCUL 4P23, 4P34
·   one elective credit

Pass Program

Satisfactory completion of the first three years of the Honours program entitles a student to apply for a Pass degree.

Combined Major Program

Students may take a combined major in Film Studies and a second discipline. For requirements in the other discipline, the student should consult the relevant department/centre. It should be noted that not all departments/centres provide a combined major option.

Honours
·   FILM 1F94, 2F90, 2P10, 2P91, and 3P91
·   FILM 2P54 or 2P56
·   three credits from FILM 2P20, 2P21, 2P54, 2P56, 2P94, 3F28, 3P20, 3P21, 3P54, 3P56, 3P94, 3P97, 3P98, 3Q94, 4F80, 4F99
·   one credit from FILM 4P30, 4P31, 4V50-4V79
Pass
·   FILM 1F94, 2F90, 2P10, 2P91 and 3P91
·   FILM 2P54 or 2P56
·   one credit from FILM 2P20, 2P21, 3F28, 3P20, 3P21, 3P54, 3P56, 3P93, 3P94, 3P95, 3P96, 3P97, 3P98, 3Q94

Description of Courses

Note that not all courses are offered in every session. Refer to the applicable term timetable for details.

# Indicates a cross listed course
* Indicates primary offering of a cross listed course

Prerequisites and Restrictions

Students must check to ensure that prerequisites are met. Students may be deregistered, at the request of the instructor, from any course for which prerequisites and/or restrictions have not been met.
FILM 1F94
Introduction to Film Studies
Critical and historical approaches to world cinema. Close analysis of selected films in relation to their cultural contexts.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.

FILM 2F90
Film History
History of cinema as a medium, industry and art form from its origins, including Hollywood cinema and major international movements.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 1F94.

FILM 2P10
Film Research Methods
Introduction to research and writing in the areas of film criticism, film history and film theory.
Lectures, lab, seminar, 5 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 1F94.
Corequisite(s): FILM 2F90.

FILM 2P20
Popular Culture Theory and Research Methods
(also offered as COMM 2P20 and PCUL 2P20)
Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of various forms of popular culture. Critical and research skills specific to studies in popular culture.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined), COMM and PCUL majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): one of FILM 1F94, CANA 1F91, COMM 1F90, PCUL 1F92 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 2P21
Canadian Popular Culture
(also offered as COMM 2P21 and PCUL 2P21)
Survey of the media in Canada. Studies in the popular arts, with special reference to the ways that institutions (CBC, NFB) and selected artists identify and express a Canadian cultural imagination.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined), COMM and PCUL majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2P20 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 2P54
Documentary Film
(also offered as COMM 2P54 and SOCI 2P54)
History, theory, aesthetics and cultural implications of documentary film and other visual media.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): one of FILM 1F94, COMM 1F90, SOCI 1F90 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM (COMM/SOCI) 2F54.

FILM 2P56
Canadian Cinema
(also offered as COMM 2P56 and PCUL 2P56)
Critical and historical study of Canadian cinema.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): one of FILM 1F94, COMM 1F90, PCUL 1F92 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM (COMM) 2F97.

FILM 2P91
Early Film Theory
Major early film theories including realism, formalism, and surrealism. Application of the theories to selected films.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 1F94 or permission of the Department.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM 2P95.

FILM 2P94
Popular Cinema
(also offered as COMM 2P94 and PCUL 2P94)
Popular cinema as art and institution emphasizing film genres and cultural contexts.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 1F94 or PCUL 1F92.

FILM 3F28
Basic Production: Video
(also offered as COMM 3F28)
Introduction to the theory and practice of video techniques: critique of videos and production work.
Workshops, seminar, 3 hours per week; additional production time as required.
Restriction: permission of the Department.
Prerequisite(s): two FILM credits.
Note: enrolment limited to 15 students. Materials fee required.

FILM 3P18
Audience Studies
(also offered as COMM 3P18 and PCUL 3P18)
Theoretical and methodological approaches to the understanding of audiences for media and cultural products, including print, sound, film, broadcasting, and digital media.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90 or COMM 2P15 and FILM 2P20.

FILM 3P20
Television Studies
(also offered as COMM 3P20 and PCUL 3P20)
Historical, theoretical and critical approaches to television.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined), COMM, PCUL and STAC majors with a minimum of 9.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90, 2P20 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 3P21
Canadian Television
(also offered as COMM 3P21 and PCUL 3P21)
Historical, theoretical and critical approaches to Canadian television.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined), COMM, PCUL and STAC majors with a minimum of 9.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 3P20 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM 3F50.

FILM 3P54
Issues in Documentary Film
(also offered as COMM 3P54 and SOCI 3P54)
Advanced studies in selected aspects of documentary film and other visual media.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2P54
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM (COMM/SOCI) 2F54.

FILM 3P56
Issues in Canadian Cinema
(also offered as COMM 3P56)
Advanced studies in selected aspects of Canadian cinema.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2P56
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM (COMM) 2F97.

FILM 3P91
Contemporary Film Theory
Current film theories including semiotics, psychoanalysis and postmodernism. Application of the theories to selected films.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2P91
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM 2P95.

FILM 3P93
Authorship in the Cinema
Issues of personal and collaborative creativity in film through the study of the style, themes and development of selected film makers.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 3P94
Film Genre
(also offered as COMM 3P94 and PCUL 3P94)
Genre theory and its application to popular film.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90, 2P20 and 2P21 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 3P95
National Cinema
Study of selected national cinemas emphasizing their relationship to national cultural traditions.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 3P96
Issues in Popular Culture
(also offered as COMM 3P96 and PCUL 3P96)
Specialized studies in popular culture and its role in specific social, historical or theoretical contexts.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90 or FILM 2P20 and 2P21.

FILM 3P97
Gender, Race and Class in Cinema to the 1960s
(also offered as COMM 3P97 and WISE 3P97)
Representation of gender, sexuality, race and class, and implications of spectatorship and ideology.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly film lab.
Prerequisite(s): one of FILM 2F90, FILM 2P20 and 2P21, WISE 2P91, or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM 3F97.

FILM 3P98
Gender, Race and Class in Contemporary Cinema
(also offered as COMM 3P98 and WISE 3P98)
Representation of gender, sexuality, race and class via ideology, feminism, queer theory and spectatorship in film and video texts since the 1960s.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly film lab.
Prerequisite(s): one of FILM 2F90, FILM 2P20 and 2P21, WISE 2P91 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM 3F97.

FILM 3Q94
Television Genres
(also offered as COMM 3Q94 and PCUL 3Q94)
Genre theory and its application to popular television.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90, FILM 2P20 and 2P21 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 3V50-3V59
Special Topics in Film Studies
Lectures, lab, seminar, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 2F90 and 2P91 or permission of the instructor.

FILM 4F80
Directed Reading
Directed individual or group reading in an area of Film Studies.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined) majors with a minimum of 14.0 overall credits, a minimum 80 percent major average, approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Department.
Note: students are responsible for arranging their course with a faculty member, in consultation with the Academic Adviser and must submit a written proposal before registration. The reading may not be on the topic of the student's FILM 4F99 thesis.

FILM 4F99
Honours Thesis
Thesis on a topic of mutual interest to the student and the instructor, with a critical, historical or contemporary focus.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined) majors with a minimum of 14.0 overall credits, a minimum 80 percent major average, approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Department.
Prerequisite(s): FILM 4P30 and 4P31(may be taken concurrently).
Note: to register in the Honours thesis, the student must consult the Undergraduate Program Adviser about topics, department regulations and the selection of an adviser.

FILM 4P30
Theories of Mass Culture
(also offered as COMM 4P30 and PCUL 4P30)
Studies in cultural theory and its application to mass media texts, with special reference to the work of the Frankfurt School, French Structuralism and British Cultural Studies.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined), COMM and PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

FILM 4P31
Theories of the Visible
(also offered as COMM 4P31 and PCUL 4P31)
Central 20th-century developments in the theories of visibility and their relevance to the field of media studies.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined), COMM and PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

FILM 4P34
Taste and Cultural Politics
(also offered as COMM 4P34 and PCUL 4P34)
Application of cultural theories to the analysis of taste, distinction, class, cultural standards and moral panics, transgression and trash culture.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single or combined), COMM and PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

FILM 4V50-4V59
Special Topics in Film Studies
Seminar, 3 hours per week.

FILM 4V51
The Private Eye in American Culture
(also offered as PCUL 4V51)
Historical investigation of the private eye in American fiction, film and television.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single and combined) and PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

FILM 4V52
2008-2009: British Popular Culture
(also offered as PCUL 4V52)
Mass media in Britain emphasizing issues of production, regulation and reception. Popular texts in their social and political contexts.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to FILM (single and combined) and PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

FILM 4V60-4V69
Issues in Film History
Specialized studies in Film History addressing issues such as aesthetics, ideological and theoretical concerns across a range of periods and cultures.

FILM 4V70-4V79
Issues in International Cinema
Specialized studies of the historical and social contexts influencing trends and developments in international cinema.