Major in Screen Studies

Why Choose Screen Studies at Clark?

Beyond traditional film studies: Clark’s screen studies major incorporates the history and theory of television, along with other new forms of digital media.

Engage in hands-on, practical, collaborative work in digital video production and make narrative films, experimental films, and/or documentaries.

Gain experience as an intern at a respected media organization — based locally or in New York or California.

Create and collaborate in the wider context of Clark’s Visual and Performing Arts Department (V&PA), a tight-knit community that includes students majoring in art history; media, culture, and the arts; music; screen studies; studio art; and theatre arts.

The Major Path

Thirteen courses, at least 10 of which are in screen studies, are required to complete the major. You’ll enroll primarily in courses on the history, theory, and criticism of film, television, and other forms of motion picture media, as well as courses on screenwriting and video production. In addition to four foundation courses, three survey courses — covering the history of film in the U.S. and internationally, and one national or regional cinema — are required. Also required is one course each on screen genres, the theoretical nature of screen arts, and a creative medium relevant to the screen arts. Two additional courses of your choice (which can include an internship) and a capstone seminar complete your program.

Skills you will learn include:

Film and media history (both U.S. and international, in all periods)
Film and media theory (both traditional and contemporary)
Video production (including sound, lighting, editing, set design, etc.)
Screenwriting (including the writing and revision of a 100-page, feature-length screenplay)
Interdisciplinary collaboration (at all levels, but especially in advanced production courses)

Jason Michael Simpkins Memorial Endowment for Screen Studies
The Jason Michael Simpkins Memorial Endowment for Screen Studies was established by Larry J. and Michelle Simpkins in memory of their son, Jason Michael Simpkins, a member of the class of 2005. The award is to assist undergraduate students with the expenses incurred in completion of a film and/or a piece of written research. The recipients should possess high academic ability in Screen Studies and exceptional character, with an intention to pursue a career or higher education in screen studies.

Patricia M. Plamondon Undergraduate Award in Visual and Performing Arts
The Patricia M. Plamondon Award is given to juniors and seniors who have demonstrated their talent in and commitment to the arts and for whom the award will serve to enhance their studies, research, or project-related travel. The award is made annually by a vote of the full-time faculty of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

Based in the Traina Center for the Arts, the screen studies program funds and maintains its own extensive library of films on Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, and 16 mm film, as well as a well-stocked video production equipment room and dedicated video editing suites. Cinema 320, in residence at Clark University, offers semester-long series of foreign, offbeat, and classic films, shown multiple times per week in Jefferson Academic Center, room 320.

During your junior year, you might be approved to pursue Honors in Screen Studies. An honors project entails working closely with a professor to develop a thesis on a topic of your choice. Examples of recent honors theses topics are:

Raised on Promises: An Investigation of the American Coming-of-Age Film
“Rat Girls,” a four-episode teleplay for an animated series
Postmodern Pleasures: Bollywood’s Relevance in the Global Age
“westing,” a student-created experimental documentary film
Overcoming Sorrow: The Struggle of Peruvian Cinema and Its Promise of Progress in Claudia Llosa’s ‘The Milk of Sorrow’

The LEEP difference

An education merging knowledge, action, and impact

With Liberal Education and Effective Practice, lessons begin in the classroom but never end there. Your learning includes world and workplace experiences that forge your skills and shape your path.

Learn more

At Clark, your education extends beyond the classroom. LEEP Center advisers can help you choose from a range of opportunities that complement your coursework and put your screen studies knowledge into practice.

The screen studies major is designed to help you learn outside the classroom. Many students take advantage of internship opportunities during the academic year or over the summer to connect what they’re learning with their professional development.

In addition, screen studies majors may be eligible for the Sara Bickman Music and Arts Summer Internship for Undergraduates, which provides financial support for summer internships for undergraduate students majoring in the Visual and Performing Arts, as well as the Jason Michael Simpkins Memorial Award for Screen Studies, which provides funding for film productions, research travel, and other needs for students developing advanced projects.

Other opportunities include:

In alignment with Clark’s LEEP philosophy, participation in a Study Abroad and Away program is an opportunity to gain world and workplace experience to complement your on-campus work. Clark approves semester, yearlong, and summer opportunities to earn credit through academic coursework, internships, community-based learning, or research. Explore our Study Abroad and Away page, where you can search programs by academic interest, location, and language; after you’ve identified some appropriate programs, ensure they fit into your four-year plan by talking with your faculty adviser as early as possible.

You can also complement your academic work by participating in Clark’s many clubs, organizations and athletic teams. Here are some student organizations that might be of interest to you as a screen studies major:

Internships

Florentine Films
MyMollsEye Productions
LogoTV
The Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum
Legendary Pictures

Clark is committed to action-based learning, which means as an undergraduate you can join faculty and graduate students in their research and creative work. Faculty from other programs, including art history, women’s and gender studies, and language, literature, and culture, often join screen studies faculty to offer international and cross-cultural perspectives on screen media.

You can also apply for funding to support your own research on a project of your choice during the academic year or during the summer.

Present your work

Clark’s annual Fall Fest and Academic Spree Day are opportunities to share your research or creative work with the Clark community while you hone your presentation skills. Some projects screen studies students and recent alumni have presented are:

This Isn’t a Dream; This is Actually Happening!: The Wake-Up Point in Contemporary Horror Cinema
“Paris of the 80s,” a Film Musical by the Students of the Spring 2013 course, Genre Production Workshop: The Musical
A Flaming Trail of Masculinity: Gene Kelly and His Hyper-Masculine Persona
Religion and Lust in the Mexican Melodrama: The Case of Luis Buñuel’s “Susana”
Repression and Resistance in Iranian Women’s Cinema

Visit Clark Screeners to see some of the work students in the major are doing.

You can also submit your research results for publication in our student-run Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal.

At Clark you’ll get more than a great education; you’ll also be prepared for a long, productive career and life of consequence. And once you’ve completed your degree, you can join other Clark alumni who have gone on to work for great organizations and attend some of the best graduate schools in the world.

Graduate School Placement
Graduate schools attended by screen studies graduates from Clark include:

Columbia University; M.A. in film studies
Ohio University; M.A. in film studies
George Mason University; M.A. in arts management
The Selznick Graduate Program at the University of Rochester; M.A. in film and media preservation

Career Outcomes

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Associate Producer of Digital Content
Technicolor-PostWorks N.Y.
Assistant Editor
Light of Day Production and Visual Effects
Senior compositor
Silvatar Media
President
Leopard Films USA
Producer/director

Feature Courses

MUSC 242

Soundtracks

Experience how sounds and music work with (and against) moving images while you explore elements of narrative sound and audiovisual analysis, postproduction techniques, and historical sound and music conventions.

GERM 250

German Film and the Frankfurt School

Use psychoanalytic and Frankfurt School criticism to gain insight into masterpieces of German-language cinema, including those by expressionists, Nazi, and queer German filmmakers, and post-WWII directors.

SCRN 214

POP

Social and Cultural Issue Documentary Production

Analyze the elements of effective nonfiction storytelling, and explore the realities and decisions faced by documentary filmmakers. Then, create your own short documentary on a contemporary social or cultural issue.

SCRN 114

PLS

Writing about Film: Methods of Film Analysis

Harness your inner film critic and challenge your writing skills by exploring and practicing the many ways of analyzing and interpreting film, including journalistic film criticism and analysis based in film theory.

SCRN 261

Critical Perspectives on Television

Use various analytical approaches to examine the implications of television as a form of social communication, and develop an understanding of the ideological and structural dynamics that constitute popular culture.

Why Choose Screen Studies at Clark?

Our Stories

The Major Path

Skills You Learn

Academic Achievement Awards

Facilities

Honors Program

Related Programs