The record group collectively deals with the operations of the Department of Film, Television and Media, formerly known as the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures, and the Program in Film and Video Studies, mostly during the period of time Gaylyn Studlar served as its director. The record group encompasses the years 1988-2005, but the majority of materials fall within the years 1995-1999. It includes four series: Administrative, Curriculum, Funding, and Publications.
Before the establishment of the Program in Film and Video Studies, courses dealing with film, television, and video were spread out across different university departments. The English, Communications, American Culture and Art History departments each offered film classes. Each developed courses as the subject of film pertained to their discipline and no centralized major existed that focused on film studies. In 1972, several faculty and staff members recognized the need for the centralization of film studies. They hoped to establish a liberal arts concentration recognizing the ever growing discipline of film as an academic subject. The Program in Film and Video Studies was developed as an undergraduate program to train students in the history, theory, and analysis of film, with an emphasis on liberal arts as opposed to production.
According to the 1988 program review, the program initially was housed in one room of Lorch Hall and a part-time director was assigned, who did not receive any additional compensation for the role. (Given the informal nature of the early program the name of said director could not be positively determined). A part time administrative assistant also was hired to assist the director and counsel students. The program drew on faculty from different departments to teach its classes. Early on, the program was simply an interdisciplinary concentration and received little recognition. In the summer of 1976, the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) approved it as one of their undergraduate programs giving it cohesion and focus. It also marked the first independent course taught by the program.
The curriculum initially offered two classes in film and video. By the end of the 1970s, ten additional classes had been added to the concentration to bring the total classes offered to twelve. By 1987, the program had shown significant growth in its initial sixteen years and in 1988, a formal review of the program was undertaken. The review was intended to raise university awareness of the program, its growth, and its importance. The faculty and staff hoped the review would establish the Program in Film and Video Studies as an autonomous unit able to make its own decisions about faculty, curriculum, and budget. The review's report asked for the commitment of the university to establish the Program in Film and Video as an academic discipline. In doing so, the program gained a full time director, faculty, and administrative staff, as well as a yearly budget of $60,000 and some say in LSA decisions about equipment, technology, and faculty.
In 1993, a second program review was launched. The 1993 review looked at recommendations to improve and strengthen the program and interdisciplinary major. The review's report recommended the establishment of the program into a department outside the purview of the LSA so the program could focus on production courses as well as a liberal arts approach to film.
The program took a step towards autonomy in July 2001 when it received the ability to appoint faculty to tenured positions and to serve as a tenure home. In May 2005, the Board of Regents approved the establishment of the Program in Film and Video Studies as its own department to be called the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures. In September 2018, the name became the Department of Film, Television and Media.
Department/Program Heads
| Date |
Event |
| Fall 1977 | Diane Kirkpatrick |
| Spring 1978-Fall 1978 | Alfredo Montalvo |
| Winter 1979-1980 | Hubert Cohen |
| 1981-1988 | Herbert Eagle |
| 1989-1990 | Ira Koingsberg |
| 1991-1992 | William Paul |
| 1992-1995 | Ira Koingsberg |
| 1995-2005 | Gaylyn Studlar |
| 2005-2009 | Richard Abel |
| 2009-2014 | Markus Nornes |
| 2014-2017 | Caryl Flinn |
| 2017- | Yeidy Rivero |
Name Changes
| Date |
Event |
| 1976-2005 | Programs in Film and Video Studies |
| 2005 | Department of Film, Television, and Digital Arts |
| 2005-2018 | Department of Screen Arts and Cultures |
| 2018- | Department of Film, Television and Media |
