UWW Film Studies NOI 2 1 17

Pre-Authorization: Notice of Intent UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER College of Letters & Sciences BACHELOR OF ARTS in FILM STUDIES

Name of Proposed Program: Film Studies (B.A.)

Institutional Setting: University of Wisconsin–Whitewater

Mode of Delivery: On-campus, in-person instruction

Institutional Contact Information: Dr. Greg Cook, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, [email protected] , (262) 472-1077

Description of the new program, with anticipated program learning outcomes: The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater seeks to expand an already successful interdisciplinary Film Studies minor program into a major. The Film Studies major would capitalize on the courses already offered in the minor to provide students with skills necessary to participate in rapidly expanding fields related to the creation and presentation of visual media such as entertainment journalism and critical commentary, television industries, social media, and web applications. Film Studies students come to understand how visual narratives are created, the cultural contexts that inform them, and how to effectively and persuasively analyze and write about them. The Film Studies major proposed here provides an interdisciplinary background in writing and analysis skills as well as creative and critical thinking skills that will serve a number of practical approaches to media industries. Program learning outcomes include:  demonstrated knowledge of the historical development and cultural impact of visual narratives;  demonstrated familiarity with the material processes through which visual narratives are constructed;  ability to critically interpret visual media and express those interpretations orally and in writing;  ability to employ the specialized vocabularies and methodologies used by media scholars;  ability to engage with questions of ethics and social justice through representations of culture; and  ability to analyze a range of visual styles, narrative conventions, and genres.

Existing or anticipated resources required to deliver the program: UW-Whitewater anticipates that the implementation of a Film Studies major combined with the continued growth of the existing Film Studies minor will require additional instructional resources in the short and long term. This will likely result in the eventual need to divert resources from English or other programs that are most likely to see a concurrent decline in enrollments. Nevertheless, growth in the scope and frequency of Film Studies offerings will remain driven, as it is currently, by the demand for cross-listed courses that serve not only the Film Studies program but also programs such as General Education, Electronic Media, Professional Writing, Creative Writing, English Literature, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Media Arts and Game Development. In the short term, the only staffing adjustment requested upon the implementation of a Film Studies major is a course reassignment for the Coordinator. The Coordinator will replace the faculty and staff currently overseeing the Film Studies minor, continuing and expanding upon their duties, which include advising all students in the program and maintaining all program operations (e.g. course scheduling, website development, assessment initiatives, coordinating faculty meetings, coordination with other programs, community outreach, and vetting course proposals). In the long term, within three to five years of the launch of the major (depending on enrollment rates), UW-Whitewater anticipates the need for one additional full-time faculty member in Film Studies. Other required approvals beyond the Board of Regents: No approvals are required beyond the Board of Regents.

Alignment with institutional mission, strategic plan, and existing academic degree program array: Film Studies responds to the first goal of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater mission statement, “to provide a range of undergraduate programs and degrees, including interdisciplinary programs, in letters, sciences, and the arts….” As an interdisciplinary program, Film Studies uniquely blends methods and learning goals from the humanities, social sciences, and arts, capitalizing on expertise from faculty members in the College of Letters and Sciences and the College of Arts and Communication. With its interdisciplinary breadth, Film Studies would provide students with a strong, broad-based background in writing and analysis skills as well as critical and creative thinking skills that can facilitate a number of practical approaches to media industries. These learning outcomes are highlighted in the new campus academic plan (see draft plan at http://www.uww.edu/acadaff/initiatives ), and the plan also specifies that new interdisciplinary programs will emerge from collaborations across current academic departments.

Film Studies addresses multiple goals in the campus strategic plan, in particular the goal to create programs that promote diversity and global perspectives. Film is a powerful medium for depicting worlds beyond our own, carrying the potential to expand student contact with American diversity as well as global cultures. Film Studies students think critically and creatively about global cultures, preparing them to communicate and collaborate in an increasingly global environment and fostering skills that both the National Education Association and the American Management Association have recently described as crucial for effective participation in the 21st Century economy (http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide- to-Four-Cs.pdf, http://www.amanet.org/news/AMA-2010-critical-skills-survey.aspx ).

Market demand: According to estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Endowment for the Arts, “in 2013, arts and cultural production contributed $704.2 billion to the U.S. economy, a 32.5 percent increase since 1998,” which is 4.2% of the U.S. gross domestic product. The arts and cultural sector employed 4.7 million wage and salary workers, earning $339 billion. Industries employing the largest number of arts and cultural production workers include government (including arts education), retail trade, broadcasting, motion picture industries, and publishing ( https:// www.arts.gov/news/2016/arts-and-cultural-production- contributed-7042- billion-us-economy-2013). Arts, entertainment, and media occupations account for over 34,000 jobs in Wisconsin ( http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_wi.htm ). More specific to the kinds of jobs that an aspiring film analyst might target, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook lists “media and communication occupations” as a growth area, projected to grow 4% from 2014 to 2024 ( http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/home.htm ). This area of the economy includes many specific occupations, such as writers and authors, film and video editors, and correspondents. Furthermore, the kinds of jobs available in this field— subject as it is to rapidly evolving technologies and patterns of production and consumption— are changing at an ever-increasing pace. Given these economic movements, Film Studies hopes to harness the power of its interdisciplinary approach to provide students with broad backgrounds and useful skill sets that will not simply train them for one specific kind of job, but instead train them in transferrable skills that they can apply within an ever-changing market.

Student Demand: The Film Studies minor was implemented three years ago. The program has grown consistently each year and now enrolls 75 students. We have implemented ten new courses in three years, almost all of which fill to capacity every semester. In spring semester of 2017, for instance, 550 students will be enrolled in courses included in the UW-Whitewater Film Studies program. In addition, six students have pursued individually designed majors in Film Studies. Two have already graduated, two are currently completing their majors, and two more have submitted proposals. This reception indicates a strong demand for Film Studies programming at UW- Whitewater.

Local, Regional, and UW System Programs: Any meaningful comparison of UW-Whitewater’s Film Studies program to similar programs in the University of Wisconsin System requires that we first make a distinction between analysis- based and practice-based programs. While programs may involve elements of each, programs based in the practice of film and video production primarily teach students skills such as camera operation, video and audio editing, and production techniques. Analysis-based film programs primarily teach students critical and creative writing in multimedia contexts, interpretive and persuasive argumentation, the history of media industries, and cultural analysis. UW- Whitewater’s Film Studies program is analysis-based, complementing the practice-based emphasis in Electronic Media that our campus already has within the Communication major.

Four universities in the UW System offer practice-based film programs: UW-River Falls offers a “Stage and Screen Arts” major, UW-Superior offers a “Digital Cinema” track, UW-Stout also offers a “Digital Cinema” concentration, and UW-Oshkosh offers a “Radio, TV, Film” major. Because these are based in the practice of filmmaking rather than analysis, they are not comparable to what UW-Whitewater is poised to offer. Only two Universities in the UW System offer analysis-based Film Studies majors: UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. No regional comprehensive institution in the UW System currently offers an analysis-based Film Studies major. We are uniquely positioned to be the first. Only one private university in Wisconsin (Lawrence University) offers an analysis-based Film Studies major. Several private universities in Chicago or its environs offer analysis-based Film Studies degrees similar to the one proposed here, including Loyola, DePaul, Benedictine, and University of Chicago. Northern Illinois University offers a Master’s degree in “Film and Literature.”

Offering a Film Studies degree at UW-Whitewater would potentially benefit students in the region who want this degree but, for a variety of reasons, cannot or choose not to attend either an expensive private college or one of the large research universities in the UW System (Madison or Milwaukee).