Silent films were part of the curriculum. I got into the whole world of movies through the AFI's top 100, and four films on that list were silent (5 considering Jazz Singer is practically silent). It was Griffith's Birth of a Nation though that really helped me to see the potential spectacle and awe of silent film. There was a grandiose quality to that among other silents that was never really duplicated in the sound era. Shame that sound had to push the evolution of cinema back about 14 years, because just as it was coming around some of the best films of all time were made. I mean just in 1928 was the Passion of Joan of Arc, The Wedding March, Steamboat Bill Jr, The Circus, Pandora's Box, The Wind and the Last Command.