A new special topics class is on the horizon at Waynesburg University. The class is called Women in Film and is going to be offered for the first time during the 2023 spring semester.

The class will be taught simultaneously by Dr. Cory Goehring, associate professor of English, and Dr. Jamie Dessart, professor of English.

Goehring described having an internal discussion and that he and Dessart, “agreed that a Women in Film class would be appropriate.”

“This is another way of showing that we can approach these texts and engage with them and analyze them and hopefully learn from them in the same way that we do with our traditional novels, or poetry, or creative non-fiction or the other texts that we engage with,” Goehring said.

Goehring said that the class may potentially be part of a new major, minor or certificate in film studies.  

“The idea to introduce a film studies program here at Waynesburg was mine,” said Goehring. “We were thinking about a way to respond to student interest or a need in the community and to attract more majors to the university and I know that film studies courses are popular.”

Goehring also hopes to make a connection with the Waynesburg University Department of Communication to offer a major in film studies along with the minor. 

“We’re hoping that it is going to be part of the menu of classes that we offer in the English Department and that we are going to hopefully include it as part of a new field of study, either a major or a minor or a program,” Goehring said. “If everything works out the way we are hoping it will work out.”