Visiting Artists
You will draw inspiration and insight from the resident and visiting artists and alumni who come to the Department of Film and Media Arts each year. Past visiting and resident artists have included AP (Martin Howse and Jonathan Kemp), Art21, Shimon Attie, George Awde, Jeremy Bailey G’06, Shary Boyle, Elinor Carucci, Kelli Connell, EMMI (Expressive Machines Musical Instruments), LaToya Ruby Frazier G’07, Mark Hosler (Negativland), Marisa Jahn, Seitu Jones, Zora Murff, Richard Renaldi, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Amy Stein, Mark Steinmetz, Zoe Strauss, Bill Viola ’73 H’95, and Carrie Mae Weems.
Past guests from the film industry have included filmmaker Khalik Allah; actor/producer Daniel Baldwin; actor Tom Bower; director Bryan Buckley ’85; composer Patrick Doyle; actor/director Giancarlo Esposito; director Abbas Kiarostami; screenwriter Dale Launer; filmmaker Irene Lusztig; filmmaker Dani Menkin; filmmaker Sayeeda Moreno; Jim Morris ’77 G’78, president of Pixar Animation Studios; filmmaker Rob Nilsson; director/producer Joel Schumacher; Cynthia Slavens, director of post production at Pixar; filmmaker Sasha Waters-Freyer; actor/director Peter Weller G’05; filmmaker Susan Youssef; and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond.
Canary Lab
The Canary Lab is a hub for research-based, interdisciplinary art and media focused on ecology. Housed within the Department of Film and Media Arts, it hosts a variety of programming and offers courses open to students across the University. Each semester we focus on a particular topic (food, shelter, animals, climate change, etc.). Students read, research, and make projects in response to that research, often in collaboration with each other. The cross-pollination of ideas results in publications, exhibitions, events, or public interventions designed by the class.
The Lab creates additional programming related to each semester’s themes, including workshops, sponsored speakers, symposia, visiting artists, and events. Further, the Lab supports relevant student projects beyond the semester and carries out multiple collaborative projects both within the University and with outside partners.
Global Study
Students in the Department of Film and Media Arts may take advantage of global study opportunities offered through VPA and Syracuse Abroad. Study may take place over a semester, during the summer, or in short-term programs.
Global Programs
- Italian Film Studies and Filmmaking in Bologna, a summer program for film students in Bologna, Italy
- The semester-long Film Studies Program with FAMU (the Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts) in Prague, Czech Republic, for film students
- Art photography courses at Syracuse University Florence in Florence, Italy
- The Venice Biennale Intensive, a ten-day summer immersion in Venice, Italy
- Other study abroad experiences through Syracuse Abroad
Domestic Programs
Opportunities in Los Angeles include:
- The Turner Semester, a residency program in Los Angeles for M.F.A. students generously supported by Marylyn Turner ’56 G’57 and Chuck Klaus G’05
- The VPA LA Semester, an immersive professional development program that provides undergraduate students with a unique opportunity to work as interns in Los Angeles while taking academic courses taught by LA professionals with expertise in their given discipline