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DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA ARTS

The Department of Media Arts is dedicated to the study and practice of film and video as art. In the hope of understanding and enhancing the immense role of film and video in the modern world, the program offers the student a broad foundation in the purposes of art and culture. Although one may study film and video for commercial purposes with little commitment to artistic and cultural standards, in the Department of Media Arts, as in the College of Fine Arts, aesthetic criteria prevail. The Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Arts provides a liberal arts background which will enable the student to pursue further education and professional training.

Media Arts students establish ties to disciplines in Arts and Sciences as well as in Fine Arts. One reason is that a number of disciplines contribute to current practices in the history, criticism, and theory of the media arts. These disciplines include cultural and literary theory, critical analysis of the visual and performing arts, philosophy, psychology, and political theory.

Lata Mangeshkar

Furthermore, the Department of Media Arts fosters in the student an outlook that is international as well as interdisciplinary. Major films arise in every region of the globe. To learn about these films is to explore diverse cultures. The Media Arts curriculum includes courses devoted to various national and regional cinemas. Here and in other courses, the Department of Media Arts seeks to collaborate with other academic units that have strong transcultural interests.

DEGREE AND MAJOR

The Department of Media Arts offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Media Arts. The BA degree requires 48 credit hours in the major and 80 credit hours outside the major from the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Fine Arts. Of the 48 credit hours in the major, between 30 and 39 credit hours are in history, criticism, and theory; between 9 and 18 are in production. Of the 80 credit hours outside the major, 15 credit hours focus on a cultural or practical perspective relevant to media arts history, criticism, theory, or production. Possible areas of focus, to be defined by the student with the advice of a Media Arts faculty member, include postcolonial theory and creative writing. Finally, as part of general education requirements, each student must complete the fourth semester of one foreign language.

FACILITIES

The Department of Media Arts utilizes various studios, classrooms, and theatre spaces in The University of New Mexico Center for the Arts and in adjacent structures. At the Southwest Film Center in the Student Union Building Theatre, Media Arts students are able to view films in 35mm from all over the world Wednesday through Saturday nights throughout the academic year. The ASA Gallery, next to the Student Union Theatre, offers screenings of video art.

Film and video draw upon numerous art forms, including photography and other visual arts, music, and theatre. Consequently Media Arts students are encouraged to utilize the excellent theatres, the art museum, the library, and other facilities within the Center for the Arts in order to learn more about the various arts that relate to film and video. As appropriate, Media Arts also encourages its students to become interns at production studios and television stations in Albuquerque, including KNME-TV, which is affiliated with our university. The Department of Media Arts expects to move into new facilities in the old UNM bookstore as soon as construction is completed in January 2004.

Maya Deren in
Meshes of the Afternoon

FACULTY

FALL 2006 VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: click here (submit application by June 16, 2006)

Media Arts faculty members have produced notable books and essays, and have created experimental films and video art recognized at major festivals around the world. Curriculum Vitae of full-time and part-time Media Arts faculty members may be reviewed in the Media Arts office in the Center for the Arts.

SPECIAL LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS

The Department of Media Arts organizes the International Cinema Lecture Series, which brings celebrated film and video artists and scholars from around the world to our university to present lectures and workshops.

Buster Keaton in Cops

You may call the Department of Media Arts at 505/277-6262 or call the College of Fine Arts Advisement Office at 505/277-4817 to speak to the advisor about Media Arts. If you request that information be sent to you, please leave your complete mailing address and phone number.