Syracuse University’s English department added two new tracks to the English and textual studies major. The major, one of the largest humanities majors, will give students the option to focus on creative writing or film and screen studies.

ETS has been attracting an increasing amount of students toward its offerings in creative writing and film, said Roger Hallas, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies of SU’s English department. After about two years of planning, the English department has opened the new tracks for students to pursue.

‘With recent faculty hires and the introduction of new courses, we thought it was the right time to establish specific emphases for students who want to concentrate their studies in the major in one of these two areas,’ Hallas said.

All ETS students are eligible for the new tracks, said Carroll Beauvais, an ETS professor. ETS students are not required to focus on either creative writing or film and screen studies, she said. The new tracks are optional concentrations for students who choose to study either field, she said.

There is no creative writing major, so the new track will allow students to concentrate on that subject, Beauvais said. In previous years, the only creative writing program was offered at the graduate level, she said.

‘The new creative writing track allows undergraduate ETS majors the option of emphasizing creative writing in their coursework while studying under the distinguished faculty in the creative writing MFA program, a program that was recently ranked fifth nationally by Poets & Writers Magazine,’ Beauvais said.

The film and screen studies track will focus on the study of film, video, television, gaming and other forms of screen-based media, Beauvais said.

‘The range of ETS courses in literary history, cultural studies, gender studies, ethnic studies, critical theory and creative writing allows students pursuing the film and screen studies track to more broadly develop their critical and creative skills,’ Hallas said.

The track differs from the film programs in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the television, radio and film major in S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, which are mainly designed to train students in film production.

The TRF major is specifically tailored toward students aiming to create content within the television, radio and film professions, whereas the new film and screen studies track is based on the critical studies of text, opening up a wider spectrum of disciplines, said Michael Schoonmaker, chairman of the television, radio and film department.

‘This track clearly demonstrates the increasing importance of understanding media texts and their role in shaping meaning in the world we live in,’ Schoonmaker said. ‘It’s refreshing to see that screen media are at last receiving the kind of intellectual attention traditional printed literature texts have enjoyed.’

The English department consulted with VPA and Newhouse when deciding the curricula for the new tracks. Cross-department consultations occur frequently, as students are constantly taking classes in more than one school, Schoonmaker said.

‘As some say it takes a village to raise a child, more than ever it takes a university — not just a school — to prepare a student for the amazingly complex world we live in,’ Schoonmaker said.

Students have already started signing up for the new tracks already, said Hallas, director of undergraduate studies of SU’s English department.

But not all students are interested in making the switch.

Anna Hider, a sophomore television, radio and film major in Newhouse, said she will remain in the Newhouse program because of what the program offers.

She said: ‘Newhouse has a lot of alumni in the business, and they tell us you can do whatever you want with a Newhouse degree.’

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Published on September 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm

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