“It’s amazing, since Oberlin is so progressive and innovative, that there is no film studies program here,” Professor of Film Studies Geoff Pingree said. Pingree is part of the English department but is the first full-time Film Studies professor to be hired. Currently integrated into different departments such as English, African American studies, East Asian studies, Studio Art, Spanish, French and Anthropology, Film Studies has been gradually building in prominence and demand.
“For the past three or four years there has been an explosion of interest in film,” Pat Day, professor of English and chairman of the Cinema Studies committee said. “Right now we have a good course structure for a major, though new courses will be added with the addition of new faculty.”
The new Cinema Studies proposal includes plans for a major by the end of fall semester and a program by the end of spring semester. If passed by the EPPC, a committee consisting of faculty and student representatives, the proposal will then be reviewed by the college faculty as a whole.
The major will include a curriculum with two core courses and some upper-division electives. Production will be integrated into the major with connections to the film scene in Cleveland, including film festivals, internships and possibly filmmaking winter term projects.

“I’d heard rumors and was hoping they were true,” sophomore Georgia Cool said. She says that she would like to double major in English and Cinema Studies if it were available. “The classes that have been happening have been really good, and since they’re so popular they get filled up really quickly,” she said, adding that students would like to see smaller classes and more of them.
Cinema Studies was chosen as the title instead of Film Studies because the word “cinema” encompasses a broad spectrum of activities, including critical analysis, the sociological aspects of how film affects the audience and society and the production process.

“We envision a program that combines production with the traditional academic dimensions of film studies,” Pingree said. Previously, Pingree was involved in building film studies programs in Washington, D.C., as the director of the Documentary Filmmaking Institute at George Washington University and the director of Media Studies at Catholic University.
Currently, Oberlin’s Cinema Studies faculty, along with Pingree and Day, includes Assistant Professor of English Jeff Pence, who is in London at the moment, and Assistant Professor of German Elizabeth Hamilton, who is in Germany. There are hopes and plans to hire new professors within the next two years, although concern about the state of Oberlin’s budget weighs heavily on the College.