Every City College student and employee has access to more than 30,000 films on the online streaming service Kanopy for free, thanks to the Film and Media Studies Department.

As classes have become adapted to the online format, many new tools and online services have been added to simulate and assist in the new virtual learning environment. Kanopy offers a variety of films, documentaries, and TV series ranging from world cinema to indie-darlings, and the content is often used in Film Studies courses.

Now, it’s all accessible to students by signing into Kanopy through their Pipeline account, even for students enrolled in non-film related courses.

“I’ve been requesting a subscription for the college for a few years, and last fall, with the help of our Dean Elizabeth Imhof and with Learning Resource Center Media Tech Julio Martinez, we were able to get a subscription that all students, faculty, and staff can use,” Film and Media Studies Chair Nicolas Maestu said. “It’s an excellent resource for our Film and Media Studies students but also for students in all departments.”

“Kanopy is great because it’s interdisciplinary,” said Film and Media Studies instructor Michael Albright. “There’s films, documentaries and resources for just about every subject that we teach.” 

Albright said that although there are pros and cons between teaching online and in-person, teaching online has allowed for a number of unexpected silver linings that were not visible prior to switching to the fully-online format.

He mentioned that besides Kanopy, using other tools such as Google Slides, YouTube videos and promoting Canvas discussions helps foster a sense of community while learning from home.

The discussions feature gives every student a chance to respond, communicate, and ask questions. As compared to previous semesters, it would usually only be a handful of the more extroverted students that would be participating during lectures.

For instructors, teaching film courses in the online format also gives students time to digest and analyze a film, then time to discuss to share a screengrab of their favorite shots, and every student has the opportunity to examine and dissect the content.  

For students that are not in the area, or even the country, learning online has been an opportunity for them to continue their higher education, while remaining safely at home. This form of online learning gives a lot of flexibility to students who may have personal responsibilities such as children or work.