The Cold Open, Ep. 8

April 29, 2013 by Annie Petersen

 In The Cold Open #8, Annie Petersen, special guest Will Witwer, and myself start with a discussion of what has intrigued us most in recent media, which includes the arrest of America’s Sweetheart, Reese Witherspoon, and the varying ways we followed the events surrounding the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt and capture of the suspects.  We then break down the premiere episodes of the Sundance Channel’s news series, Rectify.  This eventually leads us into contemplating the future of TV distribution before magically turning […]

Categories: Podcast

About FMS

September 28, 2012 by Annie Petersen

Media’s omnipresence in our daily lives has changed the landscape of our innovation, understanding, and communication.  Indeed, it’s changed the way we live, and that’s not without complications.  How does one navigate our overwhelming media landscape?  How does one make sense of it through theoretical interpretation and understanding?  How does one participate in it by producing work that can be distributed in the media firmament?  How can the ability to parse modes of media help one to compete in the […]

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Course Descriptions

September 28, 2012 by Annie Petersen

FALL 2013 FMS 150: Mad Men: Media, Gender, Historiography (Petersen; M/W 1-2:20) The critically acclaimed series Mad Men spans the years 1960-1967, during which the United States was coming to terms with its role as a world power and the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements coalesced.  The class will use Mad Men as a lens through which to investigate questions of gender, race, class, and the way that history is told and re-told through the media.  To do so, we will watch the entirety of […]

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The Major and Minor

August 28, 2012 by Annie Petersen

The Film & Media Studies Major A student who enters Whitman without any prior college-level coursework in film and media studies will complete 34 credits to fulfill the requirements for the film & media studies major including 160 and 170, 387, and either 491 or 498.  Students may substitute up to eight of the elective credits with advisor-approved film and media studies transfer credits, and/or credits from other Whitman departments (including cross-listed courses not taken under the FMS rubric). Department policy does […]

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Alumni

January 29, 2012 by Annie Petersen

  BEN KEGAN ’09  I spent a lot of time attending screenings in Kimball auditorium. But what the major taught me was how to transition from someone who watched and consumed media, to someone who thought critically and analyzed our visual culture: be it film, television, comic books, or a web-series. I remember conversations spilling out after classes, talking endlessly about everything from Bazin to the latest Blockbuster. I made connections between constructing an argument for my thesis and constructing a […]

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FMS Events

January 26, 2012 by Annie Petersen

Upcoming Events: 2/26/13 @ 7:30PM: Trouble the Water screens in Kimball Theatre, with director Carl Deal taking Q&A afterwards.   Previous Events: 11/14/12 @ 7:30PM: Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians screens in Kimball Theatre, with director Bryan Storkel taking Q & A afterwards. 10/17/12 @ 7:30PM: Small, Beautifully Moving Parts screens in Kimball Theatre, with director and Whitman alumna Annie Howell taking Q & A afterwards. 3/27/12 @ 7:30PM: Bringing King to China screens in Kimball […]

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FMS Cold Open Podcast

January 25, 2012 by Annie Petersen

Click here for the Whitman FMS Podcast, “The Cold Open,” featuring Professors Sickels and Petersen.

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Meet Dr. Robert Sickels

January 24, 2012 by Annie Petersen

Robert C. Sickels received his Ph.D. from the University of Nevada in Reno, Nevada, where he wrote his dissertation on the narrative role of landscapes in John Ford’s Westerns and spent a lot of time mountain bike riding and betting on sports.  At Whitman, he is a full professor and the Director of the Film & Media Studies Program and teaches filmmaking and film history courses.  He is also the father of two great kids, hopelessly addicted to popular culture, […]

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Meet Dr. Anne Helen Petersen

January 24, 2012 by Annie Petersen

Anne Helen Petersen received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, where she wrote her dissertation on the industrial history of celebrity gossip and spent a lot of time eating breakfast tacos.  At Whitman, she teaches classes in television, stardom, feminist media studies, and theory.  She has published articles in the Journal of Film and Video, Television & New Media, Feminist Media Studies, Celebrity Studies, and Film & History, authored several book chapters, and writes a regular column on classic Hollywood for The […]

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