Film & Media Studies

Film has the complex characteristics of art, entertainment, industry, and science, and is a total medium of expression that conveys ideas and emotions at the same time. In order to properly understand the artificial product of film beyond the level of simple entertainment, it is necessary to learn the basics of film language, film aesthetics, film history, film production, and the film industry. This course introduces a systematic understanding of film media, focusing on how film can give people the kind of aesthetic experience offered by art such as music, art, theater, etc.

This course analyzes the media’s construction of historical discourses and their representations according to the type of media. This interdisciplinary workshop analyzes historical content from a semi-discursive approach.

This course offers a study of varying forms of contemporary Spanish audiovisual media including: film, television fiction, reality TV, and internet videos (such as Youtube).

This course analyzes the role of mass media and other channels of communication in local and international political processes. It examines the way in which governments communicate through the media, and the role the media play as either independent watchdogs or as tools of the political system. 

This course examines the relationship between media, society and politics by examining the ways in which information is mediated between social, cultural and political institutions. It develops a conceptual framework from which to analyze the dynamic technological and regulatory environment in which the media operates and to investigate the consequences of changes in these areas for media practitioners, politicians and ordinary citizens. Topics covered include media ownership and regulation; the media and society; the media and politics; the media and social movements; the politics of spin; censorship, freedom of speech/press; new media and democracy; global media and global politics.

This course addresses how the film medium can provide alternative historical, aesthetic, analytical, and theoretical expressions. The course focuses on various alternatives to the culturally and financially dominant model of Hollywood cinema, and to the characteristics of this model in terms of film style and narrative. The course  invites analysis and theoretical discussions on larger aesthetic movements and trends, as well as focused studies on specific films and audiovisual images. The course illustrates the historical conditions that form the basis of various cinematic orientations, and explores how film has always in various ways tested the limits and characteristics of the medium. The course offers knowledge to students who want to work with film in academic and/or other professional contexts, such as in film production, cultural work, or in various journalistic contexts. Prior basic knowledge of film history, film/media theory, and academic writing is recommended.