I share your enthusiasm for a film and media major at Amherst; however, your report underestimated both the number and range of film courses already available at Amherst. Certainly, it is true that it is “now economically feasible to teach a class on the basics of digital camera work and editing;” in fact, such courses have been offered here for well over a decade. Amherst, as joint sponsor of the Five College Appointment in Film/Video Production, now (and for some years) has offered three production courses every two years, two beginning courses and one advanced. True, a number of slots (usually five) are reserved for Five College students, but at the other campuses, an equal number of openings in those courses are available to Amherst students. Professor Woodson has been teaching video production in her Theater and Dance 62, Performance Studio, for over seven years.

Your “few film history and theory courses ... scattered throughout different departments” must depend on how one defines “few.” (In my family, “few” means three.)

In the fall of ’06, for example, eight film studies courses were offered plus a section of Beginning Production; in the spring of ’07, six film studies courses, and an advanced production class. True, some research in the catalog might have been necessary to find them all (no longer true, since Film Courses now have their own catalog page), but it seems hardly possible that a second semester freshman could have already taken “most of Amherst’s serious film classes.”

The proposed major is an exciting prospect, particularly for those of us who’ve been teaching film studies for many years at Amherst; the ongoing commitment of Amherst faculty to film studies, and those students, past and present, who have pressed for more offerings in the field, have played a key role in bringing the proposal for a major to the forefront.

Helen von Schmidt

Senior Lecturer of English

Whether The Amherst Student accepts advertisements for the United States Army is a matter of editorial discretion. But, in the spirit of getting all of the facts on the table, I wanted to remind underclassmen of another advertisement that The Student once ran. Several years ago, an advertisement seeking an egg donor with particular attributes (Jewish heritage, height, musical ability and high test scores, if I remember right) ran quite a few times.

Note the similarity: the Army doesn’t want gays; the parents didn’t want gentiles. Note the difference: in the former case, The Student fell on its sword and changed its own institutional policy; in the latter, The Student published the same advertisement week in and week out, without complaint.

A question, then: Would The Student now reject the advertisement seeking a Jewish egg donor? If not, why?

James Montana, ’08