Global Film Studies Minor

Courses in this minor will introduce students to audiovisual analysis, artistic forms, and cultural practices in a range of countries, and novel forms of cinematic storytelling. Students will gauge the impact of new and emerging technologies on contemporary cinema and explore developments in international film production, reception, exhibition, and distribution. It also provides students with a unique perspective on contemporary social and political issues, such as immigration, gender and sexuality, disability, human rights, and climate change. An understanding of global issues and exposure to different cultures through the medium of film will strengthen students’ intercultural communication competence and enhance their ability to participate in our increasingly networked world, thus facilitating the development of their careers in the international marketplace.

The home of English Department is Clemens Hall, where students come to meet with faculty advisors and mentors during office hours. The department holds classes in centrally scheduled spaces throughout the campus, which includes traditional classrooms and lecture halls that are amenable to our program’s teaching goals.

The faculty consists of nationally and internationally prominent scholars and writers who also take teaching very seriously, including six faculty members who have won the prestigious SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching or have been made Distinguished Teaching Professors. Their interests range from early modern literature to postmodernism and include cultural studies, postcolonialism, psychoanalytic theory, film, gender and sexuality studies, visual studies, poetics, Marxism, documentary, African-American literature, ecocriticism, mythology and much more.

Each semester, the department also offers courses taught by approximately 60 teaching assistants and 20 adjunct instructors.

We welcome students to meet with the director of undergraduate studies (303 Clemens Hall, 716-645-2579) to discuss any aspect of our program (individual courses, major requirements, study abroad, grants, internships and more).

The minor might be helpful to students aiming to enter careers in publishing (print- and online-based), teaching, film criticism and filmmaking, audiovisual research and archiving, curating, screenwriting, editing, tourism, advertising, public relations and community outreach.