CINEMA, TELEVISION, AND EMERGING MEDIA STUDIES
ON TOPIC:
The 2022 Emmy Awards is previewed by Stephane Dunn, chair of the Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media Studies Department (CTEMS)
Storytelling is the foundation for the intellectual and artistic study of film and television.
Students in the Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media Studies Program develop critical thinking, global awareness, and advanced skills in critical thinking, industry knowledge, global awareness and advanced writing and storytelling skills.
THE CINEMA, TELEVISION & EMERGING MEDIA STUDIES MAJOR FOCUSES ON FILM STUDIES AND FILM PRODUCTION WITH STRONG EMPHASIS ON SCREENWRITING
CTEMS also explores the history of national and international cinema, film production, African American cinema, and politics in Hollywood. The curriculum places a strong emphasis on screenwriting and students learn film and television history and culture, scriptwriting for film and television cinematic language, film production, film theory and criticism, African American film, classical Hollywood cinema, global cinema, and producing.
Students thus study how filmmakers utilize mise-en-scène, articulation of the cinematic space, sound, characterization, technology, and other essentials of compelling storytelling within moving media platforms.
The humanities provide context, depth, and perspective in the study of film, television, and new media that are grounded in a fundamental interest in the values and social practices that inform our lives and affect the human condition. The humanities perspective helps to frame questions about imagery and digital technology that helps to raise or develop a broader social or cultural context for incorporating a humanistic approach to the study of film and digital technology.
As a vital part of liberal arts studies in the Division of the Creative and Performing Arts, the CTEMS program offers an appropriate reflection on the past and the present to develop students’ critical perspective on how images have historically been used, are presently being used and the ways in which they might be used in the future to make sense of the world we live in. This also serves to augment the Morehouse College focus on internationalization and globalization. Through its interdisciplinary perspective, the program incorporates diverse frameworks and nurtures critical reflection and thoughtful analysis on the part of the film/media producers and their audiences.
Outcomes
Students who major in CTEMS are expected to gain an appreciation of the aesthetic, formal, historical, political, thematic components of film and strong screenwriting skills and upon completion of the program, pursue further study at the graduate level or professional entry into the industry and create compelling stories for the medium.
All courses in the CTEMS program are designed to support the instructional goals of the College, including developing critical thinking and effective writing and oral communication skills, value awareness, global awareness, computer literacy, and graduate education and professional preparation. They also embody the overall vision of the English Department that “a properly educated Morehouse student, trained through the medium of English, should read, write, speak, listen and reason with above-average skills and should understand and appreciate the ways human beings express themselves and their culture through literature and other arts.” Upon completion of the CTEMS program, students will understand the components of film and the process of shaping compelling narratives by moving from idea to the written page, and ultimately to the screen through the film production project in the last spring semester of the senior year.
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN CINEMA, TELEVISION, AND EMERGING MEDIA STUDIES
CTEMS is a highly selective and competitive intellectual and professional academic program with a limited admissions rate. Morehouse applicants who want to major in CTEMS must apply through a secondary application completed in the fall of sophomore year.
Transfer students must apply during the fall application period of their last year at their current school. Successful applicants generally have a cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher. The quality and relevance of the applicant’s original written application and the academic record and program capacity impact the admission decision.
Freshmen who plan to apply in the sophomore year will have a major designation such as undeclared-CTEMS intended or liberal studies. Applicants taking and passing introductory-level courses (e.g., Introduction to Film, or Introduction to TV) or any CTEMS elective open to multiple majors does not mean that a student is a major. Students may also apply to minor in the program during the fall application period of sophomore year and complete the designated part for the minor on the CTEMS application. The minor requires 18 hours. Minors do not take the screenplay courses, 365 Technologies in Storytelling courses, or the Senior Capstone Course.
General Education (Core) – 33-48 hours
Refer to the general education requirements for more information.
Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media Studies Major – 45 hours
- HCTM 235 Introduction to Film
- HCTM 237 Introduction to Television
- HCTM 255/258 Classic African American Cinema/Survey of African American Cinema (an additional one counts as a major elective)
- HENG 392 Creative Writing: Fiction and Drama (must be taken before or with Screenplay I)
- HCTM 300 Screenplay I
- HCTM 302 Screenplay II
- HCTM 303 Writing for Television
- HCTM 320 Film Criticism and Theory
- HCTM 325 The Great Films (Domestic and International)
- HCTM 348 Hollywood, Politics, Power
- HCTM 365 Special Topics: Digital Media/Technology in Film (Storyboarding, Editing and Photography for Film)
- HCTM 425 Senior Capstone: Film Production
Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media Studies Electives – Hours Vary
Sample of approved standing course electives include:
- HCTM 400 The Storyteller: Spike Lee
- HART 140 The Graphic Novel Art
- HENG 388 New Media Technology
- HAAS 210 Black Aesthetic of the 1960s
- HFLC 302 Chinese Language and Culture through Film and Literature
- HSOC 300 Gender and the Media
- HPSY 389 Black Men, Black Boys and the Psychology of Modern Media
- HENG 461 West African Fiction and Film
- HFLF 320 French Literature, Language and Culture through Film
CINEMA, TELEVISION, AND EMERGING MEDIA STUDIES MINOR
Students may also apply to minor in the program in the sophomore year during the fall application period and complete the designated part for the minor on the CTEMS application. The minor requires 18 hours. Minors do not take the screenplay courses, 365 technologies in storytelling courses, or the senior capstone course.
The minor in CTEMS requires 18 hours. Students must complete the following courses with the required C or above: CTM 235, 237, 255 or 258, 320, and 325.
CINEMA, TELEVISION, AND EMERGING MEDIA STUDIES FACULTY
Dunn, Stephane
• Professor
• Chair, Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media Studies Department
• B.A., University of Evansville
• M.F.A. University of Notre Dame
• M.A., University of Notre Dame
• Ph.D., University of Notre Dame
stephane.dunn@morehouse.edu
Williams, Avery O.
• Assistant Professor NTT
Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media Studies
• B.A., Morehouse College
• M.F.A., New York University
avery.williams@morehouse.edu
CTEMS SENIOR CAPSTONE FILMS
Former CTEMS students’ Senior Capstone short films created while at Morehouse.
The CTEMS Fall 2023 application period for the CTEMS major and minor is open now for current Morehouse sophomores and closes by SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2023 (11:59 pm EST.).
No late applications will be accepted. Applications only accepted via the designated link.
featured video content
On Topic: The Importance of Black Filmmakers is Discussed by CTEMS Asst. Professor Avery O. Williams, MFA ’86
Cinema, Television & Emerging Media Program Assistant Professor Avery Williams discusses the importance of Black directors, producers and screenwriters in accurately depicting stories that represent entire communities.
Here We Are: A Morehouse College CTEMS Production
In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, MTV Entertainment Group is handing over its massive platform to the Morehouse College Cinema, Television, & Emerging Media Studies (CTEMS) program to showcase the short film “Here We Are.” Based on one of Morehouse’s beloved expressions “a candle in the dark,” the film focuses on the legacy of King ‘48, its link to the present-day civil rights movement, and how his teachings have helped guide progress for the continued movement for Black liberation. Beginning today, the film will air through February on all nine MTV Entertainment Group channels: MTV, VH1, Country Music Television (CMT), Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Logo, TV Land, Pop TV, and Smithsonian Channel.
