Film and Video Studies Minor

Minimum number of credits required to earn minor: 18

GPA requirements to earn minor: Students graduating with a minor in a CLAS field must earn a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better in the courses in the minor field that are credited toward completion of the minor.

Minimum Grade requirements for courses to count toward minor: C-

Other requirements:  A minimum of 9 credit hours must be completed at the University of Maine.

Contact Information: Michael Grillo, Department of Art, 219 Lord Hall, 207.581.3252; grillo@maine.edu

The Film and Video minor provides a critical focus for interdisciplinary studies of core cultural issues, including those addressing the diversity of modes of conceptualization, social identity, questions on the cultural implications of technology, aesthetic development, and conceptualization of history, among others. The minor draws courses from several departments, including Art, Communication and Journalism, English, History, Modern Language and Classics, New Media, Political Science, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Students in the minor will have options of pursuing intersecting paths addressing history, theory, and practice, so that they could best focus the minor to their major and other studies. The minor requires a minimum of 18 credits, as follows (please visit catalog.umaine.edu for course descriptions):

Introductory course (total of 3 credits)


  • CMJ 245 – Film Criticism and Theory (Credits: 3)
  • ENG 280 – Introduction to Film (Credits: 3)
  • HTY 218 – History of Film (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 245 – Film Criticism and Theory (Credits: 3)

Two or more History and Theory (minimum of 6 credits, including any one of the four History and Theory Introductory courses)


  • ANT 448 – Ethnography Through Film (Credits: 3)
  • ARH 369 – Film and Video Theory Seminar (Credits: 3)
  • CMJ 370 – Visual Communication (Credits: 3)
  • CMJ 398 – Topics in Media Studies (Credits: 3)
  • ENG 249 – American Sports Literature and Film (Credits: 3)
  • FRE 430 – French Film Survey (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 358 – Documentary Film Criticism and Theory (Credits: 3)
  • POS 357 – Film and Politics (Credits: 3)
  • SPA 420 – Spanish Film (Credits: 3)
  • WGS 360 – Gender and Cinema (Credits: 3)

Two or more Practice courses (minimum of 6 credits)


  • CMJ 351 – Audio and Video Production (Credits: 4)
  • NMD 106 – Time-Based Media (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 324 – Introduction to Narrative Film Making (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 343 – SL: Digital Narrative Workshop I (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 344 – Time-Based Art and Design I (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 370 – 3D Modeling and Animation (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 424 – Narrative Film Making (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 430 – Topics in New Media (Credits: 1-3)
  • NMD 441 – Documentary Video and Storytelling (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 443 – Digital Narrative Workshop II (Credits: 3)
  • NMD 444 – Time-Based Art and Design II (Credits: 3)

Special topics and Capstone courses will be considered for the minor by request when these courses are centered on film and video.