French director Jean-Luc Godard famously proclaimed that cinema is truth 24 times a second.
Cinema is a key medium of modern mass communication, information-dissemination, and entertainment. It is at once a business, an industry, a means of creative expression, and a social and political force. It has played a vital role in modern political and social movements, and the power of its aesthetic designs and emotional appeals have helped to shape many coordinates of modern thought and culture.
Familiarity with its history, its aesthetic designs, and its industrial context enables students to develop skills that are fundamental to negotiating life in modern society where they are surrounded by images and by the appeals made by image-based media. The Minor in Film Studies addresses cinema in its multiple contexts. Students learn about the history of cinema, its aesthetic designs and production methods, its role in modern social and political movements, and its business operations.
Students who want more information or who wish to complete this minor should consult The Interdisciplinary Studies Advising Center, 155 Lane Hall, 231-6630 or the minor coordinator, Dr. Stephen Prince, 113 Shanks Hall, 231-5044. Email: sprince@vt.edu