A Word from our Chair

In returning as FEA Chair after nine years in the classroom, I could not help but reflect on how much has changed in the media during the intervening years. The technologies of media production and methods of distribution and consumption of media products been dramatically transformed and continue to change at an accelerating rate. Even the term "television" seems somewhat quaint now, given the widespread popularity of on-demand video downloads (to set top converters from cable head-ends), computer-based electronic games (single and multi-player platforms), music video downloads, internet viewing of professional media on broadcast network, film studio and cable channel websites and amateur video via YouTube.com, Flickr, Facebook, Myspace, and developments that allow access on viewing destinations that range for plasma, LCD and LED monitors that can display images in two or three dimensions to handheld-viewing devices that include tablets, portable electronic game consoles, smart phones and advanced mobile phones.

These new realities bring students exciting opportunities to express their creativity and study the ways media are deployed in society for financial, political, and ideology effect. As educators, keeping up with these kinds of developments means refreshing course materials to stay current whether you are training young media producers or media critics and historians. FEA is dedicated to evolving our curriculum as the media ecology (technologies and techniques) develop, disseminate across all kinds of borders to potentially interconnect humanity.

Unfortunately, the other major thing that has changed since I last occupied this office is the budget crisis that our University is facing. These are challenging times for everyone in the arts. But the Department of Film and Electronic Arts has overcome economic recessions before as well as the shift from analog to digital media. An ancient proverb holds that change is both crisis and opportunity. That is in many ways the motto of this department, especially now. As difficult as our economy is today, FEA looks forward with hope that our fellow citizens of California, at large, will continue to fund higher education as an essential component to a commitment for future prosperity.

We take a great deal of pride in the accomplishments of our students and alumni and are grateful that our students' long record of creative accomplishments and prizes/awards helped secure the generous support of several key Hollywood individuals and entertainment companies and charitable organizations. Currently, about half of our student production budgets are supported by these private sources. Everyone here (faculty, staff and students) does everything we can to produce and deliver the kind of results that demonstrate the high quality of FEA media instruction. FEA's long history of support is a good testament to those efforts. It is my personal objective to raise the profile of FEA students – “their media and scholarly projects – on campus and off campus by putting them in high-profile competitions and festivals and venues. It's my hope that in this way the high-quality of FEA's media education and career preparation will continue to resonate with our individuals and organizational sponsors, on and off campus, and illustrate to potential new givers that their generosity and faith in higher education is warranted.

In future, please accept my invitation to return to the Film and Electronic Arts (FEA) Department website and explore it and see what we are doing. And, if what we are up to makes you a bit more curious, why not attend one of our scheduled media showcases and sample the creative faire.

We appreciate your interest and look forward to seeing you on campus soon.

Sincerely,

Micheal Pounds, Ph.D.
Chair, Film & Electronic Arts