Cinema and New Media Studies is an interdisciplinary minor that brings together courses involving historical and theoretical study and/or hands-on experience of photochemical, electronic and digital media. The focus of the minor is to develop critical perspectives on visual representations and new technologies (for example, cinema and the Internet) as they construct or express individual artistic visions or cultural identities.
The minor in Cinema and New Media Studies consists of five courses, including
1) either 120, Introduction to the History and Theory of Film, or 125, Introduction to the History and Theory of New Media;
2) and four additional courses that collectively satisfy the three goals of the minor. Two of these four courses must be at the 200-level or higher.
For further information about the goals of the minor and for a list of courses that count toward it, please see the college catalogue or contact the director, Patricia O'Neill (poneill@hamilton.edu)
120F Introduction to the History and Theory of Film.
A general introduction to the wide world of cinema and cinema studies, focusing on crucial films from many cinematic traditions. Topics include the evolution of film from earlier forms of motion picture, the articulation and exploitation of a narrative language for cinema, the development of typical commercial genres, and the appearance of a variety of forms of critical cinema. Focuses on basic film terminology, with the cinematic apparatus and ongoing theoretical conversation about cinema and its audience.
(Same as Art History 120 and .)
MacDonald.
125F Introduction to the History and Theory of New Media.
What are new media and what makes them “new?” How do new media compare with, transform or remediate earlier media practices and forms? In this course we will examine new media, specifically the emergence of digital visual media after World War II, in terms of the history of their production, reception and circulation. We will cover the central issues and debates raised by new media through close study of key texts in new media studies and of varied examples of new media, from early hypermedia experiments and hypertext literature to digital cinema, video games and online social networks. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.
(Same as American Studies 125 and .)
Maximum enrollment, 20.
Anable.
325S Media Theory and Visual Culture.
We are bombarded with images, in myriad forms, on a daily basis. How do we interpret and analyze them? What is the relationship between an online advertisement for a movie and the movie itself, between a television program and a video game? This seminar will provide an overview of contemporary media theory as it relates to visual culture in the twenty-first century. Readings will include seminal works in psychoanalytic theory, cultural studies, semiotics, postmodern theory, new media studies, and visual studies.
(Same as American Studies 325 and and Communication 325.)
Maximum enrollment, 12.
Anable.
350S Gender and Cyberculture.
This course explores critical approaches to media through the intersection of gender and the technological imaginary. We will study how the production, use, and circulation of digital media affect notions of representation, identity, the body, and consciousness. Students will engage in close visual and textual analysis of the ways writers, artists, and theorists have conceived these issues.
(Same as American Studies 350.)
Maximum enrollment, 20.
Anable.
