Core Faculty
Professors: Neil Lerner, Maggie McCarthy, Mark Sample (Chair)
Associate Professors: Joelle Dietrick, Jakub Kabala
Professor of the Practice: Owen Mundy
Visiting Assistant Professor: Jon Heggestad
The Film, Media, and Digital Studies department cultivates in students a deep understanding of the digital, screen, and media landscapes that are central to contemporary culture. The program is structured around three pillars: (1) creativity, encompassing art, digital storytelling, filmmaking and media production, and game design; (2) culture, which explores the expressive potential of the internet and media of all kinds; and (3) methodology, in which digital tools are used to quantitatively or qualitatively narrate, represent, analyze, map, and share text, audio, video, and data.
Emphasizing both theory and practice as the foundation for analytic and creative endeavors, this major fosters the formation of sensitive critics and makers of film, computational media, and other forms of media. Students delve into visual rhetoric, media history, and ethical data and production practices. They explore entrepreneurial thinking and design, participatory culture, and the implications of digital citizenship. Situated at the intersection of the arts and the humanities, Film, Media, and Digital Studies challenges students to express themselves digitally while simultaneously questioning emerging technologies.