As students register for their spring courses they may notice some new English classes that are available; ENG 303A Screenwriting and ENG 371A Literature and Film.

These classes could be the foundation for the developing Film Studies major and minor being discussed.

The investigation of the creation of the program is the work of Ashland’s only full-time film studies professor, Dr. Maura Grady, who was brought to Ashland University two years ago to help develop new film courses.

Grady believes a film studies program could fit neatly into Ashland University’s curriculum.

“The great thing about exploring the possibilities for a film studies program at Ashland would be that practically all of the classes for it already exist and the qualified faculty are already here,” Grady said.

The program could involve English, creative writing, theater, art, music, philosophy, psychology, journalism and digital media and other departments.

“The idea is that film is a multi-disciplinary art form,” Grady said.

Only three film courses are offered right now. The first is ENG 303, a screenwriting workshop class in which students will learn the ins and outs of writing a complete screenplay.

It will incorporate elements of character, dialogue, story structure and culminate in a screenplay presentation. The course is open for all students and has no prerequisite courses so it can be taken by freshmen. It also fulfills a requirement for creative writing majors and minors.

Also offered in the spring is English 371 Literature and Film, taught by Professor Gary Levine. It will focus on the visual narratives and their relation to written literary narratives. It will feature both modern and classic films from many different genres and will examine lighting, shot composition, editing and sound. ENG 371 is an aesthetics core course.

The other film class only offered during the fall semester is ENG 332 Global Film, which fulfills both an Aesthetics and GPS requirement and focuses on film of a particular country. The class will focus on a different country each semester and focused on Germany this semester.

Despite economic uncertainty in the job market, Grady believes that film studies can still be a rewarding field of study. With the rise of the Internet and popularity of independent filmmakers on Youtube, it has never been easier to break into film.

“In a way there’s never been a more exciting time to get into film studies,” Grady said.

The film studies program is still in its developmental stages and is being collaborated on by several different departments. Students interested in seeing more film courses at AU can contact Dr. Grady with questions and suggestions.