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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)
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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.
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Film Studies Professor Goulding Retires
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