Sophie Bright is a staff writer of the Daily Titan. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Daily Titan as a whole.
The Cal State Fullerton Department of Cinema and Television Arts is home to future directors, cinematographers, producers and television writers. Despite being a study of subjectivity, the major for future Hollywood names currently resides in the College of Communications.
CSUF’s CTVA program comprises a variety of courses that combine core teachings from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Communications. However, the placement of CTVA is questionable given the program’s association with artistic skill and creative value.
The present classification of CTVA’s department is not representative of the work that is completed throughout the major’s coursework. Re-homing the CTVA major in the College of the Arts would enhance student creativity by shifting the major’s focus from mass communication to inspired passion.
Katie Wilson, the department chair of Theater and Dance, states that CTVA’s exclusion from the College of the Arts is not due to neglect of creative recognition, but to differences in creative philosophies between the two degrees.
“It’s not about not valuing them as artists,” Wilson said. “It’s about looking at the structure of their degrees. I think about how they are currently, and where it makes sense for that degree to live. Whether the students want it to be more of a film school is another question.”
Although a CTVA degree encompasses its own creative form, these teachings and philosophies are not deeply rooted in the College of Communications.
Despite CSUF’s designation of CTVA as a degree indicative of mass communication, the teaching methods within the major are distinct from those of the Communications department, emphasizing creative dissection.
Many of the film and television production elements taught in CTVA courses more closely resemble other art forms traditionally part of the College of the Arts, such as theater or music.
Hunter Hargraves, an associate professor of CTVA at CSUF, shared that the execution of the CTVA curriculum steers itself towards an artistic discussion not commonly found in other departments under the Communications umbrella.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that a lot of our department’s curriculum comes out of a communication studies trajectory,” Hargraves said. “The way in which our critical studies faculty teach a lot of classes doesn’t always subscribe to the kind of more social scientific method that we see in the COMM department.”
The separation of CTVA from other communications majors is highlighted through the similarities between the CTVA’s major requirements and the course requirements of many students in the College of the Arts.
Although registered under different course names, students in CTVA and students in the College of the Arts are required to complete courses such as scriptwriting, directing, drama and a myriad of production classes.
The stark similarities in subjects taught to both CTVA majors and students in the College of the Arts further exemplify an overlap between the two departments.
Robert Martinez, a CSUF alumnus who majored in CTVA, explained the core differences he noticed in the course structure of other majors in the College of Communications, as compared to CTVA.
“With mass communications, I feel that it deals more with journalism or more of reporting on things that are non-fiction, things that are in this reality, day-to-day or analysis,” Martinez said. “Versus with CTVA, I feel like it’s intentionally meant to be artistic through the form of subversion, fictional narrative and storytelling.”
CTVA does not foster the studies practiced in communication; rather, there is a larger emphasis placed on creative value, the essential core that is practiced and associated with the arts.
The College of Communication’s emphasis on civic discourse and social capital creates a subtext of commodity onto a major meant to highlight the artistry of screen entertainment. Categorizing CTVA as a communications degree neglects the creative eye necessary for the production of film and television.
“For many years, for decades, for as long as the medium has existed, film and television have always been seen as artistic,” Martinez said. “For it to be placed within the institution of communications, it feels the art is diminished.”
Relocating CTVA into the College of the Arts will provide students with the right inspirational environment where their creative potential can flourish. This change can offer greater expressive freedom and present opportunities for students to refine the skills they need to become the producers, filmmakers and directors they aspire to be.