The department
of English is considering adding a film concentration within the
bachelors program for undergraduate students.
Dr. Craig J. Fischer, an assistant professor in the department of
English, proposed the plan at a meeting last semester.
“I am acting as the architect for the construction of the concentration,”
Fischer said Tuesday.
The proposal must go through several committees before actually
becoming a reality, department of English chairman Dr. David P.
Haney said Tuesday.
After going through the literature and undergraduate committees
within the department, the department faculty must approve the plan,
as well as the Arts and Sciences Council.
It will then go through the Academic Policies and Procedures committee,
which holds final approval of all new courses.
“I think the chances are pretty good [of being approved],”
Haney said. “I have not heard much, if any, opposition.”
The entire process will probably take a year, with the earliest
time for the official start of the concentration in the fall of
2004. Some course work may be started earlier than that, as selected
topics courses, Haney said.
The department hopes to add very few new sections but rather offer
fewer sections of courses like ENG 2170: Introduction to Film. They
hope to have the new classes still be humanities designators.
The current budget crisis also plays a factor.
“The budget crisis makes us very cautious about adding new
courses,” Haney said. “We will try to do it with as little
new resources as possible.”
Haney expects no new faculty to be added, at least in the beginning.
Many professors in the department already teach film classes.
John McElwee, a retired lawyer from North Wilkesboro who recently
donated the funds for Greenbriar Theatre, will prove to be an important
resource in this process.
“I am teaching Advanced Studies in Film right now, concentrating
on the history of Warner Brothers Pictures, and McElwee has proven
to be an invaluable resource [with that course],” Fischer said.
Both Haney and Fischer agree the film concentration is a natural
extension of the English department.
“I feel that films and TV are just as much text as literature,
but more people watch movies and TV,” Fischer said.
“[Film] is one of the most artistic mediums in our culture,”
Haney said.
Haney said the concentration would focus on the theoretical practices
of film rather than the hands-on aspect, which the department of
communication covers.
Fischer wrote his dissertation on film, has written works about
film and has taught film classes for years.
“Craig Fischer is an expert in film,” Haney said.
The department also offers concentrations in creative writing and
professional writing.
Not all English majors are excited about the possibility of a new
concentration.
“Before they institute a film concentration, they should upgrade
the creative writing one,” Kimberly A. Glanzman, a junior English
major with a concentration in creative writing, said Tuesday. |
