THE SELZNICK GRADUATE PROGRAM IN FILM AND MEDIA PRESERVATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER:
The Selznick Graduate Program in Film and Media Preservation at the University of Rochester is an innovative curricular development administered jointly by UR and the George Eastman House. FMS faculty are instrumental in the planning and implementation of the curriculum for this two-year interdepartmental and institutionally integrated course of study housed in the English Department.
FMS faculty participate jointly with GEH staff members in fielding applications to the program, which is an academically accredited extension of GEH’s pioneering and award-winning one-year certificate program in Film and Media Preservation (the L Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation). This school was the first permanent school in North America dedicated to teaching motion picture preservation, restoration, and conservation, and has currently sent over 100 specialists into the field of film preservation. As the first of its kind, it has become the model and standard-bearer for other programs that have cropped up in response to the new demands of film and media studies in the 21st century.
The goal of the jointly administered UR-GEH MA program (the first collaborative program joining the resources of a university and an archive) is to bring a new level of professionalism to film restoration and preservation, which is particularly critical now that the medium of film is becoming a technology of the past. This collaboration marks an important and essential joining of forces between the archival and academic worlds that are so vital to film culture, and will allow the program to produce alumni with a solid foundation in both areas of work and study, each complementing the other.
During the first year of this program, the bulk of student coursework is carried out at GEH, but the students are required to attend a two-semester (2 credits per semester) Colloquium administered and taught by FMS faculty. The Colloquium meets six-eight times during the academic year. Coursework at GEH for first year students encompasses pedagogy in: Museum Practice; Curatorial Theory and Practice; Film Conservation and Restoration; Archive Management; Laboratory Work (techniques, standards and practices of motion picture laboratory conservation procedures); and a Personal Project (individually chosen and planned restoration project carried out under faculty advisement and supervision). The ongoing (full two-year) required UR Colloquium is a critical link for Program students to UR faculty research and teaching, and the UR academic environment and intellectual community.
During their second year in the program, students in this new MA program are based at UR, attending UR courses and working closely with UR faculty just as any other UR graduate student.