Film and Television Major

The film and television major takes a critical and practical approach to the study of media in their shared and distinctive artistic and industrial elements. It draws from a broad tradition of historical, theoretical, and creative practices to best prepare students with the skills they need in the rapidly evolving media landscape.

Fordham’s location in New York City and Jesuit mission makes the University uniquely positioned to offer students cultural and career opportunities in film and television as well as a curriculum that trains them in ethical approaches to media studies and practice.

The major offers a concentration in either film or television, with courses designed uniquely for each concentration and with courses that bridge both tracks. It also offers flexibility for those students wishing to focus on film and/or television writing and production, and those wishing to concentrate on critical, historical, and theoretical concerns.


Learning Outcomes

Upon graduation from the film and television major or minor, students will have achieved the following curricular goals:

  1. Develop a critically-informed understanding of film and television as a set of industries and institutions, forms of aesthetic expression, sites of cultural contestation, modes of representation, spaces of creative production, and evolving political-economic ecosystems.
  2. Be conversant in the multiple histories and theories of cinema and/or television, and be able to connect those histories and theories to current and emerging screen-based media forms.
  3. Be able to frame cinematic and televisual production, distribution and consumption within the context of regulatory, economic and policy parameters, as well as social norms and systemic and institutional exclusions.
  4. Be able to articulate the role that film and television play in the development of identities, cultures, and beliefs on local, national, and global scales.
  5. Cultivate skills necessary to ethically create and engage in varying forms of film and television writing, production, and reception, and thus develop a holistic appreciation of film and television cultures.

CIP Code

50.0601 - Film/Cinema/Media Studies.


You can use the CIP code to learn more about career paths associated with this field of study and, for international students, possible post-graduation visa extensions. Learn more about CIP codes and other information resources.

The film and television (FITV) major requires eleven (11) courses.

Students must declare a concentration in film or television. The required courses for the major are:

Course Title Credits
COMM 1000Fundamentals of Communication and Media Studies 13
Select one of the following tracks:12
Film
Understanding Film
History of Film, 1895-1950
Film Theory and Criticism
Television
Understanding Television
History of Television
Television Theory and Criticism
One Production course4
Two FITV courses at the 3000/4000 level (excluding production courses) 28
Three additional electives 212
One Film, Television, Identity and Difference course (normally taken during the senior year) 34
1

COMM 1010 Introduction to Communication and Media Studies may be substituted if taken prior to Spring 2017.

2

Any course with the FITV subject code or the FITV attribute code may fulfill this requirement.

3

Any course with the FIID attribute code may fulfill this requirement (see list below).

Production Courses

Any FITV course numbered xx1x or xx2x—i.e., courses whose third digit is 1 or 2) may fulfill this requirement.

Courses in this group have the FIPR attribute.

A course in film and TV production is required for students majoring in film and television. These courses focus on the development of technical and creative skills that include screenwriting and digital video production.

Course Title Credits
DTEM 2425Digital Video Production I for DTEM4
DTEM 3423Projects in Digital Video4
DTEM 3425Digital Video Production II4
FITV 2425Digital Video Production I for FITV4
FITV 2511Screenwriting I4
FITV 2611Television Production I4
FITV 2612Writing Producing Web Series4
FITV 3425Digital Video Production II4
FITV 3511Screenwriting II4
FITV 3512Film/Television: Narrative Basics4
FITV 3525Writing the Genre Screenplay: Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy4
FITV 3624Writing Television Dramas4
FITV 3626Writing the Original Television Pilot4
FITV 4625Writing Television Sitcoms4
FITV 4626Writing For Animation4
JOUR 4789Sports Television Production: Theory and Practice4
VART 1265Film/Video I4
VART 2265Film/Video II4
VART 3251Film Video Postproduction4
VART 3261Documentary Film/Video Production4
VART 3262Narrative Film/Video Production4

Film, Television, Identity, and Difference courses

Courses in this group have the FIID attribute.

These courses explore film and television from minority, ethnic, diasporic, postcolonial, colonial, indigenous, global, feminist, and queer traditions. They center on how race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality, and disability shape the aesthetics, politics, and ethics of film and television. Fundamentally, they are attentive to the importance of intersectionality as well as social justice in theory and practice.

Course Title Credits
COMC 2277Media and Sexuality4
COMC 3240Photography, Identity, Power4
FITV 2670Television and Social Change4
FITV 3548Film and Gender4
FITV 3554African American Cinema4
FITV 3585Transnational Asian Media4
FITV 3588Global Cinema4
FITV 3604Critical Production Studies in Film and Television4
FITV 3637Queer Studies in Film and Television4
FITV 3647TV, Identity, and Representation4
FITV 3648Television, Race, and Civil Rights4
FITV 3658Italian Americans on Screen4
FITV 3688Global Television4
FITV 4554Black Experimental and Art Cinema4
FITV 4570Films of Moral Struggle4
FITV 4660Ethics of Reality Television4

Availability

The major in film and television is available at Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) and Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC). Students in Fordham's School of Professional and Continuing Studies may major in film and television only if they receive the approval of their advising dean and/or department, and their schedules are sufficiently flexible to permit them to take day courses at the Rose Hill or Lincoln Center campuses. Such students must provide the Communication and Media Studies Associate Chair at their home campus a statement confirming they are able to take day classes in order to fulfill their major requirements.

Fordham College at Rose Hill students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the Core Curriculum.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the Core Curriculum.