Bachelor [Film Studies] From Mount Holyoke College

Film studies at Mount Holyoke introduces students to the academic study of film from a variety of critical and disciplinary perspectives. Courses combine cultural, historical, formal, and theoretical analyses of films from a range of world cinematic traditions. In addition, some possibilities for the study of film/video production are available to students at the College and at the other Five College institutions.

The Five College major in film studies is comprised of ten courses (40 credits), two of which must be taken at the other Five College institutions. The major should include courses in film history, theory, genre or authorship, production, national or transnational cinema, and documentary or experimental film.

A student graduating with a major in Film Studies should be fluent in reading and analyzing cinematic texts using the terminology particular to the discipline. In addition, students should be aware of and should have seen most of the films that are definitive of the field. The canon of Film Studies has been traditionally made up of feature length fiction films from Europe, the United States, and select other cinemas due primarily to the vagaries of distribution and preservation. However, we ask students to become acquainted with non-western traditions as well, focusing on the ways in which cinema is a global medium of expression with direct connection to contemporary issues of immigration, diaspora, and national and transnational identity. We also encourage students to become aware of film traditions that deviate from the Hollywood model, such as experimental and documentary film.