The next Colloquium in Conceptual Studies, Sensorium, features Caroline Jones and Sissel Tolaas, and is scheduled for April 18, 2008. Click here for details.
Welcome to the Department of Film in the Peck School of the Arts
Our programs of study focus on the individual student. We nurture students to pursue their particular creative impulses and expand their curiosity so that they may transform into unique, expressive artists and thinkers with a mastery of creative, conceptual and technical skills.
Our dual purpose is to both prepare students for careers in making art of all kinds or working in the media industry while also providing a time and place for students to put aside the demands and constrictions of the professional world and thoroughly explore what it means to develop as an artist. Our faculty and staff are teachers and practicing artists who think of the university as a sacred place where art, ideas, technology and media converge — an environment where students should enjoy ample attention and freedom to flourish.
We offer three inter-related BFA tracks — Film/Video/New Genres, Conceptual Studies or Photography — that provide varied approaches to the study and making of art in the world today. All three tracks entice students to experiment and take risks, to draw inspiration from media and ideas outside the mainstream, and to move beyond traditional boundaries that might separate different kinds of art and media or inhibit creativity.
The Film/Video/New Genres Track of the BFA degree in Film is weighted toward production in film, video, and new media integrated with courses in conceptual studies that emphasize the intersection of theory and practice.
The Conceptual Studies in Media Arts Production Track of the BFA degree in Film offers a rigorous course of study in film history, theory, and criticism thoroughly integrated with production in film, video, and new media within courses and across the curriculum. Established in 2004, Conceptual Studies promotes visual thinking, media literacy and an historically informed approach to theory/practice.
The Photography Track of the BFA degree in Film offers training in photographic image production in a media arts context, integrated with theory/practice courses in moving image, new genres and conceptual studies.
We also offer a Master of Fine Arts in Film. The Graduate Program in film/video at UWM espouses the same values as our undergraduate program, but is a more intense, intimate, interdisciplinary, hands-on experience. Our students learn to express themselves with eloquence and authenticity in the classroom, in the studio and through exhibition. Students successfully make and present a wide variety of projects, from large print digital photographs hung on the walls of galleries to films that tour the festival circuit; from multi-channel media installations to digital projects presented online; from long-format documentaries that air on television to animated shorts that might employ hand-drawn or the latest motion graphics techniques. The graduate program is small to provide a community where students work closely with each other and with faculty to grow into self-sufficient, independent media artists.
Together, our programs attract talented individuals locally and from around the world, resulting in a learning and producing environment that is rich in inspiration and provides a variety of experiences.
For information on applying to UWM and the Department of Film, click here.
For further information
Annie Melchior, Program Manager
Mitchell Hall B70
3203 N. Downer Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53211
(414)-229-6015 filmwebsite@uwm.edu
