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Bennet Schaber of the English
department, and Jill
Matyjasik ’08,
a junior majoring in cinema studies, look over
a copy of the book World
Cinema, a large
collection of essays about cinema. |
SUNY Oswego’s new cinema and screen studies major
will offer lessons far beyond making films, its co-coordinators
said.
Bennet Schaber and Amy Shore, the new major’s
co-coordinators in the English and creative writing
department, point to a 2005 New
York Times article headlined “Is a Cinema
Studies Degree the New M.B.A.?” The skills students
develop in these courses translate into many areas of
business, Schaber noted.
“Being a film major is not a bad way to get a
job,” Schaber said. He said the major, which received
final approval in December, teaches such in-demand traits
as organizational skills, resource management, technological
know-how, problem-solving experience and communication.
“There is recognition in several business sectors
that the skills of film majors involve similar tasks”
to what successful businesses need, Shore said. For
instance, the program emphasizes collaboration and creativity,
which are increasingly in demand in the business world,
she added.
“These are practical skills,” Schaber said
of the interdisciplinary, humanities-based curriculum,
which allows students to practice writing, critical
thinking and synthesizing information. Students learn
not only how to think creatively, but how to guide their
ideas into completion, he said.
Majors take eight core courses in English and creative
writing and broadcasting to learn literary, critical
and technological aspects of filmmaking.
This foundation is complemented by four three-credit
electives in anthropology, broadcasting, communication
and/or English and creative writing. The major culminates
with a one-credit capstone class in which they make
their own film.
One of the program’s first majors, Ed
Bosak ’07, had a longtime interest in film,
and took many of the component courses while waiting
for the major to become official.
“All the classes I’ve taken have helped
me in different ways,” the senior from Long Island
said. “They really gave me an interesting approach
to the theoretical aspect of the movies, and I think
that helped my writing.”
Those courses reaped rewards when Doug Smart, who taught
Bosak in a broadcast scriptwriting class, submitted
one of Bosak’s scripts to the Broadcast Education
Association’s national student scriptwriting competition,
where it took second place.
Another first major, Jill Matyjasik
’08, said the program caught her interest
at a time she was unsure what to pursue, and it has
paid off both with President’s List grades and
a wider worldview.
“What it’s done is given me an outlet to
a really broad field of careers,” said Matyjasik,
who is considering becoming a teacher. Courses “are
very much discussion-based rather than relying on what’s
written in a textbook,” stressing critical thinking
and communication, she added.
“You learn that film as a medium has its own place
in history as a tool to actually capture a moment in
time,” said Matyjasik, a junior from Liverpool.
“Anyone can learn what a close-up shot is, but
the classes also give you theory behind what you’re
watching. Filmmakers are artists and like any other
artists they have a message to get across.”
—Tim Nekritz M ’05 |
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