Fonds F2299 - Queen's University. Department of Film and Media fonds

The Department of Film Studies at Queen's began in the 1960s when Dr. George Whalley, Head of the Department of English, saw a need to give academic attention to the important place that cinema had come to take in modern life. He appointed the Canadian film critic and scholar, Peter Harcourt to teach film classes in the English Department. A separate Department of Film Studies was established in 1969, and by the mid-1970s, offered students a BA (Honours) program in film. The Department combines historical and critical studies with production courses in film and video, on the premise that graduates should be well-versed in both the contexts and the techniques of the art. The two converted Victorian houses at 154/160 Stuart Street that house the Department contain classrooms and offices, cinemas, workshops, and viewing rooms packed with editing machines, advanced computing technology, laserdisc hardware, digital editing technology, and video cameras. A growing archive of films, video cassettes, video discs, and DVDs that includes significant collections of work by Canadian filmmakers such as Michael Snow, Allan King, and Atom Egoyan, provides material for instruction and research. At its 26 April 2007 meeting, the University Senate approved the proposal to change the name of the Department of Film Studies to the Department of Film and Media, effective 1 May 2007.