Collage film strip-style image including video stills from the films: The Big Heat, The Searchers, and Touch of Evil.

Film Studies and the English Major

The English major program welcomes the study of film texts alongside literary works and allows students to select from a range of courses in film genres, national cinemas, and historical periods as part of their degree work in English. Teacher Education students, many of whom will use film in their secondary school English classes, take Introduction to Film as part of their major program in order to address the state’s visual literacy requirement.

English majors’ interest in American literature is complemented by American Film, just as students of international literature benefit from the perspective of World Film. Moreover, film courses can be used to satisfy a number of English major requirements in genre, international study, and representations of race, class, and gender. Film studies courses, with their emphasis on close textual analysis, historicism, and cultural studies are consistent with the values of the English major and foster interdisciplinary work.