Majors and Minors will achieve mastery of the close textual analysis of moving image media, a crucial form of visual literacy in the 21st century. They will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the history of the film medium and major international film movements and creative figures, and will gain familiarity with the conventions of narrative and genre in the cinema, as well as with more experimental forms of filmmaking.

Majors and Minors will employ critical thinking and basic theoretical concepts to achieve an understanding of the interrelationship of film with shifting social, political, and cultural trends. They will also develop their critical writing skills, and produce an extended analytical and/or research paper in a seminar setting in the program's capstone course.