Rice Cinema, a beloved site for screening films for almost 40 years -- and part of the Visual Arts & Dramatic Department -- will be reconfigured and incorporated into the film track. Although it will offer a smaller schedule of film screenings, there will continue to be symposia, film festivals, and visiting film makers with a new and invigorated eye toward creating conversations between the community of Rice and the great, diverse community of Houston. This harkens back to the Cinematheque approach integral to the facilities, when they were devised and built by James Blue, Gerald O'Grady and the de Menils in the early 1970s. But it also looks forward to the future, with a renewed idea of the function of cinema in our community.

This moment offers Visual & Dramatic Arts an opportunity to participate in what President David Leebron has called the "collaborative relationship" between Rice and Houston as part of the Vision for the Second Century. Through its exhibitions, its theatrical productions, and through its festivals, Visual and Dramatic Arts will be helping the University fulfill its potential as part of the academic world and part of Houston.

The Department of Visual & Dramatic Arts at Rice University is creating a new film track for its majors. The track will allow students to received a fully rounded education in film, including production, performance, and history. An inaugural event will be the interdisciplinary course involving theater, production, and screenwriting involving filmmaking professor Brian Huberman, acting teacher James Huston, and screenwriter Kim Henkel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) that the department will offer in the fall and spring semesters. Rice has long been in need of a way of concentrating and organizing its interest in cinema. We believe that this track offers the perfect approach for students who desire to learn about the great narrative art form of the last century.