Pratt Institute’s Media Arts Department has been renamed the Film/Video and Photography Department, effective July 1, 2009. The department, which is one of 15 degree programs within the Institute’s School of Art and Design, is located on Pratt’s Brooklyn campus.

Pratt’s Film/Video and Photography Department encompasses photography, film, video, and animation in one academic program in which students elect a specific field of concentration while surveying the department’s other areas.

“We feel that the new name more clearly describes our curriculum and will better represent our programs,” said Deborah Meehan, acting chair of the Film/Video and Photography Department.

The Film/Video and Photography Department emphasizes an awareness of fine arts traditions and the professional disciplines of the contemporary media artist. Within the fields of film, video, and photography, about a third of the students work in documentary, a third in experimental, and a third in narrative fields of study.

Within the curriculum, artistic development is coupled with critical thinking, historical analysis, and communication skills. Graduates are expected to demonstrate excellence in artistic vision and professional skills, innovation, and a contextual understanding of their work in contemporary culture.

The film/video curriculum includes courses in documentary, traditional and digital filmmaking, contemporary issues in film and video, animation, storyboarding, and screenwriting. The photography curriculum is designed to create a broad-based knowledge of photography from traditional photographic techniques to the digital darkroom, including aesthetics, history, and artistic and professional practice.

For more information on the Film/Video and Photography Department of Pratt Institute, please call 718.636.3633.