Even as it moves to the vanguard of film studies pedagogy, Harvard lags decades behind other universities in recognizing cinema studies as a discipline.
“The Ivy League has been—outside of Dartmouth—very far behind the times in recognizing film studies as a legitimate course of study,” Rentschler said.
But according to Jenkins, “being close to the last, we have certain advantages. We’re coming up with something more enlightened.”
While Harvard has long offered a variety of film-related courses, “we haven’t been able to bring them all under a programmatic umbrella,” Rentschler said.
Cinema scholars now are looking to launch a graduate program in film studies at Harvard.
VES academic services coordinator Michael Lawrence said the film studies committee aims to complete a proposal for a graduate program by the end of the academic year.
—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.