Lehigh’s Film and Documentary Studies Program offers interdisciplinary training in the diverse fields of visual culture, storytelling, and documentary studies. Students explore film traditions from various nations and historical eras, learn to interpret visual narratives, and produce their own filmic projects. Our course offerings help students learn to appreciate the complexities of communicating in different mediums. Faculty emphasize the importance of learning to convey effective messages visually, audibly, and through written texts, and the study of film helps us appreciate the power of synthesizing these mediums.

Film and Documentary Studies prepares students for careers in the film, television, and visual culture industries. Several of our students have also gone on to graduate study in film. Lehigh’s students have enjoyed success in innovative film and television companies, and many of them have become active filmmakers, documentarians, or creative storytellers.

Film and Documentary Studies also readies individuals to convey stories and meanings in various ways. Our courses teach students to message visually as well as audibly, providing multiple avenues to reach potential audiences and clients. This training has become extremely valuable for today’s careers in business, including jobs in advertising and marketing, where professionals must communicate to clients in diverse manners and with various tools.

Careers

Training in Film and Documentary Studies, moreover, prepares students to analyze numerous visual and audible scenarios, helping us to read our increasingly multimodal culture in our day-to-day lives. Our students become conscious of complex meanings within visual and auditory situations and stories, and this skill translates extremely well into careers in journalism, education, engineering, politics, and various health care professions.