Overview
By understanding how screen media works in terms of genre, style, and mode, students can interpret the different ways in which films, shows, series, documentaries, and social media can inform, entertain, manipulate, or captivate the viewer.
Available as a minor.
At a Glance
Curriculum
Screen Studies and Popular Culture at Mount Allison focuses on the study of media arts and popular culture and their impact on our world.
Students taking courses and/or the minor in Screen Studies will not only gain a breadth of knowledge about the critical and practical impacts film, television, streaming, vlogging, documentary, web series, gaming, social media and other forms of popular culture have on our world; they will also develop skills in critical thinking, analysis, creative problem solving, communication, and expressive interpretation.
Because of its focus on audio-visual media, Screen Studies is particularly beneficial to neurodivergent and visual learners for whom traditional ways of learning, often exclusively text-based, have been a barrier to higher education.
Students explore popular culture from interdisciplinary perspectives through courses in:
- Canadian Studies
- Drama Studies
- English
- Fine Arts
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Religious Studies
- Sociology
Screen Studies and Popular Culture is available as a minor only.
Not sure about the difference between a major, a minor, an honours, and a certificate?
SCRN 1001 — Introduction to Screen Studies
This course introduces the study of film and television from critical and technical perspectives. It explores how film and television are made, and industrial, cultural, political, and social factors that influence television and filmmaking, as well as various styles and genres. This course familiarizes students with the vocabulary of screen studies by examining topics such as directing, editing, mise-en-scene, costume, lighting, framing, composition, genre, and various modes of representation. By understanding how film and television work, students can interpret the ways that films, shows, series, and documentaries can inform, entertain, manipulate, or captivate the viewer.
ENGL/SCRN 2001 — Adaptation Studies: Page to Screen
This course is an introduction to adaptation studies: the study of how narrative is reinterpreted from one medium (often text-based) to another (often visual-based). It introduces the specific aesthetics of film and television as compared to other media, including text and stage. Students will identify and develop discourse around key features of adaptation such as interpretation, evaluation, point of view, and characterization. This course also broadens students' understanding of the historical, political, cultural, and social contexts that impact interpretation, and determine how narratives are re-evaluated, manipulated, and redeployed to reflect dominant cultural values across different moments in history. This course introduces aspects of interpretation that are generally overlooked in mainstream film studies by using a range of different media, including novel excerpts, graphic novels, stage plays, video games, film, and TV.
Students from the winter 2022 class produced a short film entitled, The Egg — A Short Story by Andy Weir.
SCRN 4001 — True Crime on Screen
This course examines a range of true crime events as depicted on screen. It explores the ways in which our understandings of real-life crime are habitually filtered through the media in the form of films, TV series, docuseries, podcasts, news and social media. Through various case studies, this course explores the ‘true crime’ phenomenon through a variety of critical frameworks, including the ethics of representation; the legal system; criminal profiling; criminal psychology; historical and contemporary journalism; fan culture; social history and discrimination. By interrogating the complex relationship between true crime and popular culture, students will gain critical insights into the field of true crime.
ENGL 3621 — Reading Films
This course focuses on affinities between printed and cinematic narrative forms, introducing students as well to some of the principles of semiotics, and to the place of film theory within the context of cultural studies more generally.
CANA 2211 — Media and Popular Culture in Canada
This course explores the key institutions and issues relating to media and popular culture in Canada. Topics include: film, television, state institutions like the CBC, state regulation of media, and the connections among media, consumerism, and public life.
FREN 2801 — Film from the French and Francophone World
This course studies films and film makers of the French-speaking world, ranging from screen adaptations of literary works to an exploration of cultural issues, and introduces film theory and aesthetics. This course is taught in French. Written work may be submitted in English.
SOCI 3451 — Dynamics of Popular Culture
This course investigates the processes and forms of contemporary popular culture. It introduces students to the major theoretical debates in the field of popular culture and examines the development of popular cultural expression.
Find a full list of screen studies courses in our Academic Calendar — Screen Studies.
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Sarah Fanning
Director, Drama Studies
» Director of Drama Dr. Sarah Fanning spearheads new screen studies and popular culture minor
Careers
Whether you're entering the job market or continuing your education, your Mount Allison degree will stand out.
Mount Allison has been recognized by Maclean's as the top primarily undergraduate university in Canada more times than any other university.
With experiential learning and career development opportunities available in every degree, you'll also graduate with hands-on learning and real-world experience.
The minor in Screen Studies prepares students for careers requiring broad, transferable skillsets with a particular focus on audio-visual application.
Screen Studies and Popular Culture gives students foundational skills to prepare for careers in:
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cultural history
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arts administration
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marketing and communication
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film critic/reviewer
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journalism
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archives
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advertising
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teaching
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exhibition design
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script reading/editing/supervision
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public relations
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editing
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acting
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filmmaking/documentary filmmaking
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storyboarding
Testimonials
Screen studies is not only an immersive program that teaches you to actively watch, but it also offers an exciting opportunity — a filmmaking project to set the ball rolling. A momentum. This is where your filmmaking career starts.
I’ve always loved movies, and screen studies taught me the ability to describe what I love about them and why. It also provided me with the freedom to design my assignments so I could demonstrate my knowledge in a way that worked best for me.
/current-students/drama-and-screen-studies-program
Admission Requirements
Academic Awards
Mount A is #2 in student awards
Maclean’s ranks Mount Allison second in student and faculty awards in its latest University Rankings. To date, 56 Mount Allison students have become Rhodes Scholars — one of the best per capita records in Canada.