Film and Media Studies Program

Welcome to Film and Media Studies, an interdisciplinary academic program in Georgetown College, Georgetown University, dedicated to exploring the relations between media, power, and social justice by integrating film and media theory and history with creative practice.
This academic year, we welcome a new cohort of 16 Minors, selected by our faculty from a talented pool of applicants. Our new students bring a diversity of academic interests to their study of film and media; their majors include Biology, Political Economy, French, History, English, and American Studies. In the fall, our new Minors will enroll in FMST-100: Gateway to Film and Media Studies with Professor Miléna Santoro and in ARTS-181: Introduction to Filmmaking with Professor Roberto Bocci. Our new students join our seniors who will be engaged this year in Capstone work.

This year, we welcome two new faculty members who will add to our curriculum. In the fall, Sky Sitney will teach FMST-355, a new course on the history and theory of Documentary. Professor Sitney directs the Silverdocs International Film Festival, one of the most important non-fiction film festivals in the world. Last year, she partnered with Film and Media Studies to launch our new screening series Silverdocs@Georgetown.

In the spring, Georgetown alumna Heidi Ewing (SFS’93) will join me to team-teach FMST-399, our Social Justice Documentary course. Professor Ewing was nominated for an Academy Award for Jesus Camp (2006) (with filmmaking partner Rachel Grady). This fall, Ewing and Grady are distributing their latest film, Detropia (2012), a poetic and deeply human consideration of the lived experience of post-industrial Detroit. By returning to the Hilltop, Professor Ewing will share with our students her deep understanding of the documentary form and of the relations between media and social change.

In spring 2012, we graduated our first cohort of 11 students. Each student designed and produced a Capstone project under the guidance of an FMST faculty mentor. The Capstone projects ranged in form from scholarly essays to scripts and to time-based media projects.

Through the Capstone projects, our students integrated the distinct aspects of their learning about film and media, bringing together critical and creative approaches in pursuit of questions that matter deeply to them, that emerged out of their experiences, their studies at Georgetown, and their commitments in the world. Importantly, the students’ answers to these questions are designed to be shared with each other through workshop-based learning and with members of the Georgetown Community and the world.

In that spirit, we share the first Capstone projects with you now via our website. I encourage you to explore all of the 2012 student Capstone work on our website and to view our short video about the Capstone learning experience.

We look forward to an outstanding new academic year and invite you to follow our progress on the FMST website.

Sincerely,
Bernie Cook, PhD
Director, Film and Media Studies