15 February 2013
TO:
FR:
RE:
Faculty in English
David Fenimore
Continuing Lecturer IV
Two strategic planning proposals
for Undergraduate Studies
1) PROPOSAL: Replacing the Literature & Environment and Dramatic Literature
undergraduate minors with a “Film Studies” (or similarly titled) minor.
With English undergraduate enrollment failing to keep pace with overall undergraduate enrollment
growth, we need to replace moribund programs with new ones designed to attract and keep first-year
students, as well as seize the opportunity to create an exciting new interdisciplinary minor in the
liberal and allied arts and sciences.
a) HISTORY. The L&E minor will almost certainly be terminated with the phasing out of the L&E
graduate program. At any rate, in its decade or so on the books, this minor has never attracted
more than one or two students. Likewise the Dramatic Literature minor has been offered for
even longer and for most of its existence has not had a single student enrolled. This leaves
English with four active minor programs. Some of the reasons for the failure of these two minors
are as follows:
i.
L&E: this requires a foundation course, ENG 265: Nature & Literature, which is seldom
taught and has almost never made when it was. Aside from ENG 298, 303, 433A/B and
ENG 475B, the courses are seldom or irregularly offered. In addition, L&E was primarily a
graduate and research program with little or no undergraduate emphasis. The demise of
UNR’s Center for Environmental Arts and Humanities and the Academy for the
Environment also played a role in sidelining this minor before it got off the ground.
ii.
Dramatic Literature: this requires THTR 210: Theater: A Cultural Context, which has
seldom been offered and is currently inactive. In addition, there are very few courses in
drama regularly offered in English aside from Shakespeare and the occasional section of
Drama Before Shakespeare . There was little or no collaboration between Theater and
English that might have solidified this minor, and at any rate student interest in dramatic
literature seems to be slight. Theater majors focus mostly on performance.
iii.
Overall Undergraduate Enrollment: whereas UNR’s total undergraduate numbers
increased by 14% between 2009 and 2012 (latest figures available for this report),
English undergraduate major enrollment increased by half that rate, 7%, and minor
enrollments have dropped by almost 40%.
Semester
Fall 2009
Spring 2012
Change
Overall UNR UG
12,878
14,412
+14%
English Major
312
334
+7%
Minor
129
80
-40%
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b) MARKET. First- and second-year English majors frequently express interest in film and
screenwriting (as well as other dynamic visual media such as video production and gaming) as
platforms for their creative writing. This entry-level interest extends well beyond English majors
to those majoring in other fields and minoring in English, and represents a vital and attractive
option to replace the L&E and Dramatic Literature minors.
i.
A minor in Film Studies – with suitably up-to-date title and an accessible set of course
offerings – could attract a wide range of UNR undergraduates and serve as an entry
point for new majors, as their interests diversify into more traditional literature and
other writing genres.
c) RESOURCES. The department has no specialists in film or media studies and is not likely to hire
in this field for some time, if ever. However, while to my knowledge no faculty member in the
department professes film or media studies as a primary research interest, some do study and
write about film, and use film extensively in their courses, as do other faculty in the liberal and
allied arts and sciences at UNR.
i.
This proposal is conceived neither as a graduate program of study nor as an
undergraduate major, but as an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor, therefore
extensive depth of expertise would not be required. It should emphasize the critical
study of film, and perhaps other media, as narrative, and not focus on filmmaking or
media production per se, although a handful of courses relevant to the latter are
gathered in the second part of the list of current catalog courses below.
ii.
Teaching across disciplines at UNR has always been fraught with administrative barriers.
However, a campus conversation regarding interdisciplinarity is now in full swing, due in
part to the Commission for the Future of UNR recently recommending that “UNR should
invest its scarce resources primarily in initiatives that connect across two or more of
its missions and units. “
iii.
An interdisciplinary film or media studies minor could encompass (in consultation with
these departments and colleges) existing courses in many of the Liberal Arts as well as
electives drawn from Journalism, Geography, and even Computer Science, in addition to
a core and electives in English. The following is one way of many that an 18- or 21-credit
minor could be configured from courses currently on the books. Some courses, such as
those in Foreign Languages and Philosophy, are unofficially retired. But this
interdisciplinary minor might revive at least some of them, perhaps as interdisciplinary
or team-taught courses with English:
CORE
 English 298: Reading and Interpreting Literature
 English 303: Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism
 Art 252 R/253/353: History of Cinema I/II/III
(or 2 of 3?)
(offered every semester)
ELECTIVES (some courses only when the topic is film or film-related):
 English 333/425B: Topics in Literature (when topic is film)
 English 400A: Topics in Writing (when topic is screenwriting)
3 credits
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3
9-12
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Criminal Justice 417/433: Police in the Cinema/The Prison in the Cinema (every
summer)
French 406: Francophone Literature & Films in Translation (currently inactive)
Geography 477: Geography and Film (every other fall)
History 408A: World War II Goes to the Movies (every spring)
Italian 494: Italian Cinema (currently inactive)
Philosophy 201: CAP: Philosophy Goes to the Movies (currently inactive)
Political Science 400F: Film in Politics (every other spring)
The following courses, more relevant to film production than film criticism, are listed
here to show some more far-flung interdisciplinary possibilities:
_____________________________________________________________________
 Art 251R/355R: Videography (and related courses, e.g. “Image & Sound”; every
year)
 Computer Science 281 R: Intro to Computer Game Development (which welcomes
Art and English majors; every fall)
 Journalism 108/208: Media Production I/II (and upper-division courses; every
semester)
 Journalism 318: Narrative: The Art of Storytelling (with prerequisites or permission;
every fall)
 Theater 452-455: Playwriting & Directing workshops (every semester)
A FEW EXAMPLES FROM PEER INSTITUTIONS, with some relevant samples of descriptive language:

UC San Diego (21-credit undergraduate minor In Film Studies): “… focuses on the analytical,
historical, and academic assessment of cinema. Cinemas from various periods, or respective nations, or an
array of genres help direct the topic of study. Film Studies brings in gifted faculty from many departments
on campus to cover a rich tapestry of cultural interests. Unlike film specialization within the Visual Arts
Department, Film Studies at this time does not include courses in film or video production, in editing, or
any other film workshop capacity. In short, Film Studies at UCSD is a scholarly enterprise rather than a
hands-on, art-making endeavor.”


University of Arizona (24-credit undergraduate minor in Film & Television)
University of Oregon (multi-disciplinary BA in Cinema Studies, with English heavily
represented, and currently chaired by a faculty member in English): “… gives students the
opportunity to study moving-image media as multicultural, transnational, and humanistic phenomena.
Because cinema is inherently multidisciplinary, the major spans the College of Arts and Sciences, the
School of Architecture and Allied Arts, and the School of Journalism and Communication, and includes a
diverse array of courses in the history, theory, and aesthetics of cinema as well as in film production.”

UC Berkeley Department of Film Studies (BA & PhD): “ … teaches students to think
historically, theoretically, and analytically about film and media within the broad context of humanistic
studies. Students and faculty engage with all forms of moving-image culture, including film, still
photography, television, and digital media. The Department also offers courses in screenwriting, curating,
and digital video production.”

University of Colorado (BA in Film Studies): “… emphasizes the critical study of film as an art
form. The critical studies BA is designed to give students a solid knowledge of the history and aesthetics of
international film, as well as exposure to the various methodological approaches of cinema studies as an
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academic discipline. Critical studies courses take a multi-faceted approach comprised of film screenings,
readings, and lectures, while students are expected to practice their film analysis skills in writing
assignments and class discussion. Like many programs in the Arts and Humanities, the BA Program in
Film Studies aims more broadly to teach two fundamental skills: critical thinking and writing ability. These
skills are developed in our program specifically through the examination of films, but they are also broadly
useful well beyond the realm of film studies.”
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2) PROPOSAL: Establishing a Living/Learning Community (LLC) in a residence
hall to gather, serve, and incubate incoming first-year English majors.
Incoming English majors need to be nurtured and their sense of identity cultivated early. Either as a
community of English majors, or as a community of liberal arts majors with a significant component of
English majors, a living & learning community in one of the residence halls would give our incoming
students an immediate identification with the department and its mission by close association with
faculty in English, a collective experience in a special section of English 101 and 102, and group
activities designed to socialize first-year students into the intellectual and artistic life at UNR.
a) HISTORY. UNR Residential Life & Housing has established living/learning communities (LLCs) in
some of the more recently constructed residence halls, each one a complex of dorm rooms,
classrooms, and a faculty office. Each is dedicated to nurturing students in certain academic
fields and specialties, e.g. honors, women in engineering, et al. (full details here).
b) MARKET. The majority of first- and second-year students interested in English or entering with
English as a declared major identify themselves as writing majors; they frequently mention
"creative writing" and "screenwriting" as career interests. However, the LLC would include at
least some literature and linguistics majors at first, and over time more of them, as budding
interests mature and diversify. Potential residents of this LLC could also include students
interested in English Education, from K-12 through university teaching.
c) RESOURCES: An already-existing Core Writing TA or lecturer position could be redirected to the
LLC, perhaps someone with interest in teaching creative writing and a modest amount of
administrative experience. Some effort would be needed to plan and execute the initial startup,
and some continuing degree of department oversight required thereafter. Residential Life &
Housing would cooperate in this process, manage the residence hall itself, and offer additional
resources as well.
i)
Our student organizations – the Linguistics Club, the English Honors Society, and the UNR
Creative Writing Club – may be willing and able to lend a hand.
d) STRUCTURE. First-year English majors in this LLC would take the same section of ENG 101 and
102 from a TA or continuing faculty member who could live even work at least part-time on-site.
i)
These students could be tracked as a group into the various sophomore courses such as
English 281, 298, and 311. (Possibly also into a dedicated section of English 205, as a
gateway into the creative writing workshops.)
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ii) Assessment of these students would be built into the program.
iii) It would be easy to incorporate a slate of extracurricular activities to initiate and socialize
lower-division students into the scholarly and artistic culture on campus and around Reno:
from visiting-writer/scholar events and readings, to seminars, service learning projects, and
publications of all kinds on many different platforms.
A FEW EXAMPLES FROM PEER INSTITUTIONS:

At the University of Colorado, Boulder these themed academic living and learning
arrangements are called RAPs (“Residential Academic Communities”) and work well for both
faculty and students, as Western Literature Association past president Karen Ramirez will attest.
Karen has successfully taught on and off for many years in CU’s RAPs. Three of their RAPs –
Farrand, Sewell, and Libby – are designed to nurture liberal arts majors in various disciplines.
When I visited the campus five years ago as a prospective parent, students told me there was a
waiting list to get into RAPs.
Living-learning communities at University of Idaho, University of Oregon and UC Santa Cruz seem to be
trending towards interdisciplinary groupings of undergraduate majors, rather than major-specific LLCs
like Colorado and UNR, and as I am recommending here for English.
o
Along these lines, another possibility would be for English to take a lead role in
facilitating an LLC with a “Humanities” theme, and fold in the smaller number of
students entering with majors declared in History, Philosophy, and Foreign Languages.
Floor plan of typical LLC showing student suites, faculty office, and classrooms.
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