The Film and Screen Studies major that has been offered at Pace for almost ten years as a program through the English department has recently grown enough to become their own individual department.

As their own department, the Film and Screen Studies program is able to offer new courses and opportunities for students as well as hire new professors who bring expertise from the diverse media industry. Over time, the independence of this department will offer an abundance of more resources for students.

The new faculty members, Dr. Lauren Cramer and Dr. Colin Williamson are teaching two brand new courses at Pace this semester. Cramer is teaching a course on Hip Hop Cinema and Visual Culture, which has been added to the new Critical Race and Ethnicity studies minor. Williamson is teaching a course on Special Effects and Cinema, which will be counted as an elective for the Digital Media Studies minor.

“Both of these exceptional scholars and teachers bring with them proven success in developing and winning grants for such projects, and their own unique ways of opening up spaces for students to experiment with technology, culture, and creativity,” Catherine Zimmer, the chair of the new Film and Screen Studies department said.

Students in this department have 12 credits of required courses focused on the analysis of film with 21 credits of electives to fulfill. This allows students to easily double major or minor if they are interested in an area of concentration with their film studies.

“It’s important to us that we continue to allow students to determine what the FSS major means for them individually. And with new options for electives, new faculty, and new resources coming down the road, they will have even more choice in how to do that,” Zimmer said.

The opening of this new department is just the first step forward for opportunities to come for students. New faculty, new courses and more resources for students will allow students the chance to succeed more than ever before.