Marsha Gordon, coordinator of the film studies program, is impressed with the quality of the students here at NC State. Gordon describes the open-mindedness of students in her film classes and the maturity with which they discuss films in intercultural contexts, adding that the film studies department helps hone these types of skills.

“I think the most powerful thing you can do as an undergraduate is to develop your critical thinking and your analytical skills,” Gordon said. “Our program does a really good job of preparing people in that way.”

Gordon said that because the program has an interdisciplinary bent, it challenges students to look at the world around them in a different way and gain a deeper understanding of it as a result.

“We interact with moving images and to understand how they manipulate us,” Gordon said. “That’s a life skill that can then be used in a lot of different ways. To study something that allows you to understand the world and to enrich your thinking and writing skills is the most valuable thing you can do in your undergraduate role.”

The film studies program provides students with a wealth of opportunities to enhance their academic experience. There are internship opportunities both on and off campus, student-run filmmaking societies, impressive faculty and access to the many film festivals that are in the Raleigh area.

Cole Smith, a fourth-year majoring in art studies and a member of the program, said that he transferred to NC State from UNC-Chapel Hill. Smith now runs the Filmmaking and Storytelling Society at NC State.

“This is our third year,” Smith said. “I joined right out [of] the gate. I’m very production-focused, so I thought I’d stick around with it. It felt important to me.”

As far as the academics go, Smith said he likes the program at NC State better than UNC-CH for the professors, the people and the overall culture on campus.

“The film studies classes are really varied,” Smith said. “I just think the film studies department is really unique, and the professors really know their stuff. The professors are absolutely fantastic. Marsha Gordon is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had.”

Gordon also spoke on the faculty associated with the film studies program.

“We have a lot of faculty members that are accomplished in publishing and public speaking,” Gordon said. “We have faculty that are engaged in the international film festivals and that have great local networks in terms of the film culture that is so rich here.”

The program publishes a weekly digest that lists local events for students, and it is supplemented by the networks that the film studies program has established over the years. There are so many opportunities that it would be impossible for students to attend them all.

“There’re so many chances to see films, talk to filmmakers, go to workshops, to do some aspect of production or post-production,” Gordon said. “Anyone who has an interest will find themselves in a rich universe of choice.”

One of the opportunities that is especially highly valued by the film studies program is their relationship with the Full Frame Documentary Festival which allows students full access free of charge. They can attend workshops to learn from other students from across the country. The program also has an exchange program with the University of Surrey that gives students the chance to spend a term studying in the United Kingdom.

Because of all of the variety, students graduate with many new strengths.

“All of our students leave the university with a sophisticated intellectual framework for thinking about film,” Gordon said. “They leave this institution having taken really strong courses to learn how to interact with film and media of all sorts in a lot of different contexts.”

After graduation, there are graduate programs in film available alongside the professional opportunities.

“We’ve been very successful in placing our students in excellent master’s and Ph.D. programs,” Gordon said. “We’ve had a number of students go on to work in video production, camera work, editing and some of them are doing freelance work. A lot of the students in the film studies program go on to do great things.”

Even if students at NC State are not necessarily interested in pursuing a career in film, this program gives them the chance to cultivate a passion. Plenty of students graduate and do not go into film, but they still have video production as a hobby. Ultimately, it is all about taking advantage of every opportunity available during the undergraduate experience.

For those who are interested in learning more about the program, they are invited to email Marsha Gordon at marsha_gordon@ncsu.edu or visit the program’s website.