Skip to Content
  • Browse
  • Past Issues
  • Search

Arts and Letters

Wagner History

Wagner News

Inside Sports

Alumni Stories

Obituaries

Alumni Events

From the President

Feature Stories
Winter 2022
Winter 2021
Fall 2021
Summer 2019
Winter 2018–19
Summer 2018
Fall 2017
Summer 2017
Fall 2016
Winter 2015-16
Summer 2015
Fall 2014
Winter 2013-14
Summer 2013
Fall 2012
Summer 2012
Fall 2011
Summer 2011
Fall 2010
Summer 2010
Fall 2009
Summer 2009
Fall 2008
Summer 2008

Introducing the Film and Media Studies Major

SHARE
PRINT
BACK TO TOP
Introducing the Film and Media Studies Major
In Memoriam Peter Pellegrito ’07 M’08
Chris Fourman head shot
Chris Fourman ’09 M’11 Named Director of Alumni Relations
pGwcj89Ac1s

There’s a lot of buzz on campus about the new major in film and media studies, says Laura Morowitz, chair of the Department of Art and Art History, in which the program is housed.

Created by the Wagner faculty in 2014, the major was approved by the state and launched in January 2015 with the hiring of a new faculty member, Sarah Friedland, assistant professor and director of the film and media major.
The excitement is audible in the voices of students like Shane Ertter ’16, who this semester is taking Introduction to Video Production with Friedland.

“I’m taking this course and am interested in this major because I see the value of media and communications in everything we do,” he says. “I think the film and media studies major is going to help a lot of students convey their stories and open them up to a whole new world.”

Professor Sarah Friedland
Professor Sarah Friedland

It’s not just the students who are excited; Friedland is equally enthused. “Building a new program is a thrilling and exciting project anywhere; it’s a creative endeavor,” she says. And there are several factors that make it especially exciting at Wagner, she adds, such as the involvement of departments across the College, the nexus of civic engagement and documentary filmmaking, and the prospects for international exchanges.

A documentary filmmaker as well as an educator, Friedland taught video production part-time at Wagner previously and loved the experience. “The students were so excited and invested in their projects,” she says. “You don’t always have that experience as an educator, so it was really refreshing.”

“I’m so thrilled to be here,” she adds.

A Glimpse into the Film and Media Studies Major

“One of the things that is so fantastic about teaching film,” Friedland says, “is that everybody, in some way, is an experienced film watcher and an experienced filmmaker. We’ve all picked up a camera at some point in our lives; we’ve all made moving images. But, we don’t always have the opportunity to look at that pastime and take it apart. What does it mean to see film?”

Just one session of the class Introduction to Video Production demonstrates the range of skills that students can acquire — from seeing and analyzing film to using those techniques themselves.

The class of 14 students sits in a semi-circle in the third-floor Main Hall classroom, newly equipped as a screening room for the film program. An array of camera bags sits in the middle of the room. (A new computer lab for the program is coming as well.)

classroom shot
Professor Sarah Friedland, director of the film and media studies major, teaches in the new screening room. The latest camera equipment is available for film and media students.

After reminding the class of their upcoming field trip to the Meerkat Media Collective’s production house in Brooklyn, Friedland introduces the students’ next assignment: the one-shot. They are to tell a story, as simple or as complex as they can manage, using only one camera shot, no edits.

“You think it’s really simple, but this is going to be more difficult than it appears,” she says.

Friedland cues up two film clips, from the 1964 Soviet production Soy Cuba and from this year’s multi-Oscar nominee Birdman, that make masterful use of the one-shot technique. The class discusses what effects it produced on the storytelling and the viewer. Clearly, as Friedland mentioned, these students are careful observers of film.

They are not necessarily as adept with the next lesson: Using the cameras and tripods — all brand-new equipment acquired for the program and made available for the students’ use.

But, between Professor Friedland’s instruction and the help of a few more experienced students, the class is on its way to making their one-shot videos, and much more.

A Distinctive Program

Wagner’s program in film and media studies is distinctive for a few reasons, says Department Chair Laura Morowitz. First is the focus on documentary filmmaking. The major was designed to promote that type of filmmaking not only because it fits well with the College’s existing facilities, but also because it meshes so well with its mission of civic engagement. Documentary filmmakers often come to the medium from a background in journalism, social justice, and history, Morowitz notes.

Friedland strongly agrees. “As a filmmaker and a documentarian, most of my films are focused on communities, and I’m focused on doing that in a responsible and meaningful way. And there’s a lot of space to bring that into the program here,” she says.

Film’s interdisciplinary nature is also a good fit for the interdisciplinary core of the Wagner Plan curriculum, and the widespread interest of Wagner faculty in film.

The film and media studies major offers three concentrations: filmmaking/digital arts, focused on production and creation; film studies and criticism, focused on film theory; and media studies, which incorporates the context of civic engagement, non-profit, and community-based careers.

For More Information

Request information on undergraduate programs

Learn more about the film and media studies major

 

  • Wagner News
  • art
  • media
SHARE
PRINT

Related Stories

image description

What's Outside

Mar 12, 2021 When Wagner College announced plans for an on-campus semester last fall, one of the big questions was, “Will we be able to stage live thea
image description

Farewell, Seahawks!

Feb 14, 2020 After 13 years as Wagner Magazine editor, the time has come to say farewell to you.
image description

For Bill Murphy, Art Never Ends

Aug 07, 2019 His post-retirement summer 2019 show featured a host of new images.
CLASS NOTES
OBITUARIES
CONTACT US

LATEST NEWS

image description

Pride Collection comes to Horrmann Library

The Horrmann Library is the home of a unique collection of over 2,000 titles on …

image description

Yuliya Johnson: Global Health Guardian

Alumna Yuliya Johnson helps keep her adopted country safe from pandemics, bioterrorism.
by Tim O’Bryhim

image description

Chris Cappelli: Global Health Guardian

If nothing happens, it means alumnus Chris Cappelli has done his job right.
by Tim O’Bryhim

image description

President Araimo makes Staten Island Power 100

City & State N.Y., a magazine dedicated to New York’s local and state politics and …

  • About the Magazine
  • Give to Wagner
  • Wagner Newsroom
  • Wagner Home
FOLLOW US

© 2025 All Rights Reserved