About the Film & Media Ph.D. Program
Students in the Film & Media Ph.D. program are encouraged to situate moving images within the larger theoretical and analytical frameworks of a range of other disciplines. They bring the traditions of history, law, literature, political economy, and critical theory into conversation with film studies and digital media, applying approaches including post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, new historicism, Frankfurt School critical theory, feminist theory, queer theory, postcolonialism, and critical race theory.
Many students combine their doctoral study with a campus Designated Emphasis in New Media, Critical Theory, or Women, Gender, and Sexuality.
The Film & Media Ph.D. emphasizes film and media history and theory while also accommodating a digital-media production component that can be interwoven with students' other areas of study to create a blend of critical studies and critical practice.
Through a cooperative effort with the Department of Art Practice and the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, the Department of Film & Media helped establish the Digital Media Labs Consortium, a humanities-based initiative that pools production resources and coordinates instruction to expand opportunities for advanced digital-media production. The consortium provides shared production facilities, equipment, and curricular resources for students enrolled in eligible media-production courses.
Students begin the program with required graduate seminars in film theory, film historiography, and the Film & Media proseminar, together with additional Film & Media seminars. Students completing the M.A. requirements take the M.A. examination and participate in an M.A. Review at the beginning of their second year and complete any remaining M.A. coursework during the third semester. They then undertake additional Film & Media and outside-field coursework, fulfill the language requirement, and prepare for the Qualifying Examination and dissertation research.
Because interdisciplinary research is central to the program, students develop an outside field and work with faculty in other departments as well as with Film & Media faculty.
Detailed degree requirements and expected milestones are available on the Timeline & Requirements page and in the Film & Media Graduate Student Handbook.
Degree and Admission
The Department of Film & Media admits students to the Ph.D. program once each year for entry in the fall semester. The department does not offer a terminal master's degree. Students admitted without an equivalent master's degree in Film & Media complete the program's M.A. requirements and receive the M.A. en route to the Ph.D.
For current application deadlines, requirements, and instructions, see Graduate Admissions and the Admissions FAQ.