Jerome Liebling Center for Film, Photography & Video

Visual artists at Hampshire College explore film, video, and photography in a way that distinguishes Hampshire’s program from those at many other undergraduate institutions. Here, students learn primarily through independent experimentation with many forms of analog, digital, and electronic media, as well as installation and performance. This individualized process of creation, along with our internationally recognized faculty, excellent technical facilities, and staff support, ensures that Hampshire students can develop their fullest artistic visions along with the tools to produce them.

The emphasis at Hampshire is on project-based learning with an increased focus on content. Students are given the necessary foundations in form, technique, and production skills, while being encouraged to examine the theoretical and critical contexts and the current practices and debates that will inform their artistic expression. In addition to course offerings, the film, photography, and video program offers a series of lectures and internships meant to expose students to a wide variety of visual artists and their work. Through their interactions with successful artists from around the world, students are inspired to pursue their own passions with the confidence that a life in the arts is a valuable and fulfilling one.

All students interested in concentrating in the field begin by learning the histories and key critical issues of their particular area of interest. As they make sounds and images, they also study in other disciplines—from theater, politics, and philosophy to literature, media studies, and art history—so their work proceeds from an understanding of the broader arenas for the work they will create. Through their courses and independent production, students develop an artistic voice and style all their own. Most importantly, they learn the importance of critique in shaping their work. Students’ abilities as image-makers grow dramatically as they learn to articulate what makes a work effective, incorporating the feedback of professors and peers while remaining true to their own ideas.

DIVISION I
Division I students are encouraged to take Introduction to Media Production and courses in art history and media studies as prerequisites to 200 level film, photography, and video production courses.

DIVISION II
Although there is a clear emphasis on independent work in all media in Division II, students are required to try a range of approaches to their media including those involving collaboration. Each student must experiment with a variety of forms, building a portfolio of varied work by the end of Division II. Students will also do substantial reading and writing of critical texts as well as viewing and listening to a broad palette of historical and contemporary works.

DIVISION III
A student with adequate preparation in Division II may undertake a year-long Division III project in film, photography, video, installation, or performance centered on his/her own mode of working in consultation with a faculty committee.

APPLICATIONS FOR DIVISION II & III
Students who wish to find film, photography, or video faculty chairs or members for Division II or Division III must submit an application by a the deadlines in October and March. This process is designed to accommodate students in these areas and to facilitate the distribution of committee memberships. It is open to students who intend to concentrate in film/photo/video and to students whose concentrations are focused in other areas but wish to have a component in film, photo, and video. This process in no way takes the place of college-wide procedures, schedules, and planning meetings with faculty and advisors prior to and following the filing of a contract. A student should try to speak with prospective faculty about his or her proposed exam before filing an application.

Applications are available in Emily Dickinson Hall, Room 6; the Film/Photo/Video office; and by e-mail to mmalo@hampshire.edu.

Renovations and Additions
The Hampshire community is about to see a major facelift. The countdown is on for the construction of the Jerome Liebling Center for Film, Photography &amp; Video, which is being funded with gifts from alumni, faculty, and friends of the college.

This new and renovated space is an ambitious project that represents a milestone in Hampshire’s short but influential history as a producer of creative image-makers. From its beginning, Hampshire has produced an uncommonly high number of innovative and notable photographers, filmmakers, and videographers. The renovated Center will enable the college to meet the needs of these talented young people, and the faculty who teach them, by providing state-of-the-art facilities and technology for developing, producing, exhibiting, and screening their work.

The construction of this new 6,600sf building and the renovation of existing space responds to two needs identified in the last several years: 1) the integration of film/photography and video/digital arts into a single, larger collaborative unit; and 2) the constant advancement of digital technologies that increase the range of learning opportunities for students, rather than simply replacing older techniques. The Jerome Liebling Center for Film, Photography &amp; Video will include wired and wireless classrooms, new darkrooms, staff offices and soundproof studios space for rehearsals, exhibits, and multimedia presentations.

Fully digital classrooms with up-to-date workstations for ongoing student projects will augment current facilities. These stations will also support workshops for both the still and moving image. Small studio and editing suites will enable students to design and edit their work, create installations, build animation elements and adapt to emerging technical innovations in digital technologies and the visual arts.

Capital contributions will underwrite the construction of the new building as well as renovate the existing structure. Endowed contributions will ensure continuity and growth, and establish a permanent, dedicated fund to support maintenance of the building and essential film, video and photography equipment.