Cinema Studies

Geoffrey B. Pingree, Professor of Cinema Studies; director

Grace An, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies and French
Elizabeth U. (Rian) Brown-Orso, Professor of Cinema Studies
William Patrick Day, Professor of Cinema Studies and English
Jay Johnson, Instructor of Cinema Studies
Jeffrey S. Pence, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies and English
Joseph E. Rizzolo, Instructor of Cinema Studies and Media Engineer
Joshua D. Sperling, Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies and Creative Media Director of Arts and Sciences

Affiliated Faculty/Staff
Hsiu-Chuang Deppman, Professor of East Asian Studies

Visit the program web page for up-to-date information on program faculty, visiting lecturers, and special events.

The Cinema Studies Program at Oberlin College offers courses in filmmaking, screenwriting, and critical studies. Our program deals with cinema as an artistic practice and as a dynamic part of cultural and social history, placing cinema in the contexts of other media as well as viewing it through the perspective of a global network of the moving image.

As a program in a liberal arts college, we believe that studying cinema and making movies is an important way of learning about the world and how we live and act in it today. The moving image in all its forms and manifestations-from traditional theatrical movies and television to digital streaming platforms-represents, mediates, and shapes our understanding of the world, our own experience, and our experience of others. Studying and creating cinema enhances our vision-in every sense of the term-of our world.

See information about Research, Internships, Study Away, and Experiential Learning (RISE).

Explore Winter Term projects and opportunities.

Departmental Policies

Transfer of Credit for Content Taught by the Program

For approval of transfer credit toward meeting prerequisites for upper-level courses, students should consult with the program director, preferably with syllabi in hand.

Majors and Minors

Cinema Studies Major

Curriculum

Cinema studies courses at the 100- and 200-level cover critical studies topics and are open without prerequisites and available to students regardless of major.

First-Year Seminar Program

Although first-year seminars (FYSP) do not count toward the major, FYSP related to cinema studies are regularly taught by program faculty. These small, intensive courses provide one means of preparation for the study of cinema, and are invaluable to first-year students in the college as they develop skills in critical and creative thinking, reading, viewing, analysis, writing, and discussion.

Production Courses

Students in production courses are required to purchase their own external hard drives and A/V supplies, including memory cards, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. Production courses require a lab fee. In addition, students must sign and abide by a Facilities Use Contract to gain access to cinema studies production facilities.