Film Studies Professor Goulding Retires
by Kari Wethington

The man behind film studies at Oberlin is retiring after 35 years of innovative service to the College in a variety of departments. Daniel Goulding, professor of film studies and chair of the art department, has witnessed myriad changes at Oberlin through the years and continues to assist in the introduction of many more. One of the main projects he has been involved in recently is the planned art building expansion, which Goulding says is "essential" to the educational experience of Oberlin students, especially the large number interested in taking art classes that are turned away every year due to lack of space. The project is in final stages of selecting an architect for the plan and should be completed in two to three years.


(photo by Lee Dolan)

Goulding reflects on the past as quickly as he forecasts the future, and insists that Oberlin remains on the forefront of liberal arts colleges in the area of film studies. In fact, he predicts that film studies, which is now dispersed among many departments, will come together as a major-offering program under the appellation Interdisciplinary Film Studies as early as next fall. 
Goulding insists that there is already a lot of support on campus for the program and it’s merely a matter of waiting to see how the curriculum shapes up next year to see if there’s enough opportunity to form a fruitful program. With the addition of new film studies professor Geoffrey Pingree, who will teach two courses in the English Department’s fall offerings, Goulding thinks there will be ample possibility. Additionally, film courses are already offered in many language programs and in the art department, adding to the complexity needed in forming a department for film studies.
These prospects must be especially gratifying for Goulding, who introduced the first film studies course at Oberlin in 1968 with his class on European cinema. After studying and teaching communications and related fields for years, his own research had focused on cinema studies, and specifically on the cinema produced in eastern European countries. In 1968 Oberlin already had a flourishing cinema “culture” and the reception of the course was exceptional. 

The film studies curriculum has only grown since the late ’60s and Goulding has become more involved with European film, especially that produced in the former Yugoslavia. Goulding says for a country that went through such national turmoil and political distress, directors from the former Yugoslavia produced a surprising number of exceptional films that garnered praise from critics the world over. 
Goulding himself has served as a juror for film festivals in eastern Europe, such as 1998’s International Film Festival in the Vojvodina region of Serbia, where he served as one of five jurors and was interviewed on a popular cultural television program with an estimated audience of 3 million.
Goulding, as a film critic, knows all too well that film throughout the world reflects the state of commerce in the sense that American films are easily accessible throughout the world, while in America finding a theater that shows foreign films — even well-received ones — is nearly impossible, even in the largest cities. With the downfall of many cities’ networks of art film houses, the film scene in America is in need of some rejuvenation.
Goulding will doubtlessly continue to play a pivotal role in both American and international film criticism and studies, but his plans are not set in stone. “I don’t plan to do anything. I look at retirement as a time to be, not to do,” Goulding says. 

 

Film Studies Professor Goulding Retires

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