FAS - Film Studies
The Film Studies Program was established at the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1970s in response to cinema's growing influence as a vital academic field. The focus of the program has been one of critical studies_the examination of cinema as a major art form and cultural force of the 20th century. From its inception, the Film Studies curriculum was formulated on an interdisciplinary model_drawing upon faculty expertise in such areas as literature, fine arts, social science, and foreign cultures. This approach is appropriate for a medium that circulates internationally (within a complex socio-economic context), and merges both visual and verbal discourses. Because of the program's vigorous interdisciplinary focus, it has built strength in several broad areas: (a) the consideration of crucial themes and theoretical issues that have come to dominate the Film Studies field; (b) the examination of issues related to film genre; and (c) the investigation of questions of national cinema and film and politics.
Graduate certificate programs in Film Studies were established in 1997 at both the master's and doctoral levels. The certificate programs address the needs of both the student who will focus on Film Studies (for example, in a dissertation or master's thesis) and the student who wishes training in Film Studies as a sub-specialty (while concentrating on another academic area). The courses and research paper delineated in the certificate requirements provide the student with a coherent program in Film Studies appropriate to his/her level of graduate study. For course offerings and advising, the graduate certificate programs draw upon faculty from various FAS departments, including Communication, History of Art and Architecture, East Asian, English, German, Hispanic, and Slavic.
Contact Information
- Director: Lucy Fischer
- Main Office: 526 Cathedral of Learning
- Phone: (412) 624-6564
- Fax: (412) 624-6639
- E-mail: SLRI@pitt.edu
- Web site: http//www.pitt.edu/~filmst/
Affiliated Faculty: BEVERLEY (Hispanic Languages and Literatures), BREIGHT (English), CLARK (Communication), CONDEE (Slavic Languages and Literatures), FEUER (English), FISCHER (English), HAKE (Germanic Languages and Literatures), JUDSON (History of Art and Architecture/Carnegie Museum of Art), LANDY (English), LOWENSTEIN (English), LU (East Asian Languages and Literatures), LUCKETT (English), MacCABE (English), McDONALD (East Asian Languages and Literatures), PADUNOV (Slavic Languages and Literatures), SHEON (History of Art and Architecture), STABILE (Communication), WATTS (French and Italian Languages and Literatures)
Research
The University of Pittsburgh's Graduate Faculty in Film Studies is highly published and has a strong national reputation. Most faculty members have written several books and numerous articles in scholarly journals. Most are regular participants in the national and international academic conference and lecture circuit. As evidence of its dynamic status in the field, the University has twice hosted the annual conference of the Society for Cinema Studies_the major academic organization in the discipline. Furthermore, several faculty have held prominent offices within the organization (president, vice-president, treasurer, executive council members, etc.). Others are renowned for organizing national and international conferences, symposia, and film exhibition events. Many serve on the editorial boards of established journals and university presses.
Facilities
Film Studies classes are taught in a variety of easily accessible, media-equipped classrooms on the University campus (David Lawrence Hall, Posvar Hall, Cathedral of Learning). Such rooms provide 16mm projection, videotape and laserdisk projection, 35mm slide projection, audiotape amplification, computer graphics, etc.
Hillman Library has an excellent collection of scholarly books and journals in the area of film studies. In addition, it houses a media center with a large collection of films, videotapes and videodisks that are available for viewing on the premises. The Film Studies Program also has a media room in the Cathedral of Learning that graduate students may use to view videotapes/disks for research or teaching. The media room also houses additional equipment (for example—computer, color scanner, tri-standard video player, slide projector, etc.).
Related Activities
The Film Studies Program sponsors (or cosponsors with other programs and departments) a series of lectures by scholars and visits by filmmakers during the course of the academic year. The program also sponsors the Pittsburgh Film Colloquium (run by graduate students) which organizes monthly film events in the broader Pittsburgh film community. Furthermore, many graduate students lead discussions of film with undergraduates as part of the Pitt Arts program.
Admissions
All students who wish to enroll in the graduate certificate programs in Film Studies (master's or PhD) must be matriculated for a graduate degree (master's or PhD) in a department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or in another school within the University. The certificates are awarded in conjunction with a degree through a University of Pittsburgh department. (Film Studies is a program.)
Eligibility for Master's Certificate
Students engaged in a master's program at the University can enroll in the Film Studies master's certificate program at any point in the course of their study by filing the proper form with the Film Studies Program Director.
Eligibility for Doctoral Certificate
Students engaged in a doctoral program at the University can enroll in the Film Studies doctoral certificate program at any point in the course of their study by filing the proper form with the Film Studies Program Director. The doctoral certificate is awarded only after the completion of all degree requirements for the PhD in the student's home department, school, or program.
Financial Assistance
There is no financial aid available specifically for the graduate Film Studies certificate programs. However, graduate students who enroll for the certificate program can apply for financial aid from their home department (that is, the department in which they will receive a master's or doctoral degree). Such aid typically takes the form of scholarships, fellowships, teaching assistantships and/or graduate student assistantships.
Advising/Oversight
The Film Studies Program Director will advise students and keep records. A Graduate Steering Committee will deal with ongoing curricular and administrative issues and evaluate special students.
Requirements for the Master's Certificate
The master's certificate requires 12 credits of course work and a research paper as detailed below:
Course Work
Four Film Studies courses (12 credits) including:
Core Course: Film History/Theory (ENGLIT 2451);
Three Electives: at least one outside the student's home department; representing at least two areas of study (for example-national cinema, theory/themes, genre, etc.)
Research Paper
The certificate requires the student to write a research paper in the field of film studies (approximately 25-30 pages) to be evaluated by a three-person committee comprised of Film Studies Program faculty appointed by the Director (including at least one person in, and one person outside of the student's home department). The paper should be developed from a course paper or from a section of the student's master's thesis (if one is required by the home department). If the student has worked with a Film Studies faculty member on an earlier version of the paper, that faculty member should be on the committee. Guidelines will be provided for the research paper and it is advised that students discuss this requirement with an advisor or the Program Director well in advance of submission.
Additional Conditions
Only one directed study course (supervised by a Film Studies faculty) may be counted toward the certificate.
All courses must be passed with a "B" or higher.
The Museum Internship (ENGLIT 2900-2901) is not applicable to the master's certificate.
Students should notify the Program Director of their intention to file for graduation at the beginning of their final term.
Requirements for the Doctoral Certificate
The doctoral certificate requires 18 credits of course work and a research paper as detailed below:
Course Work
Six Film Studies courses (18 credits) must be taken, including:
Core Course: Film History/Theory (ENGLIT 2451)
Five Electives: at least two outside the student's home department representing at least two areas of study (for example—national cinema, theory/themes, genre, etc.)
Research Paper
The certificate requires a research paper in the field of Film Studies (approximately 25-30 pages in length) to be evaluated by a three-person committee comprised of Film Studies faculty appointed by the Program Director (including at least one person in and one person outside the student's home department). The paper should be developed from a course paper or from a section of the student's master's thesis (if one is required by the home department). If the student has worked with a Film Studies faculty member on an earlier version of the paper, that faculty member should be on the committee. Guidelines will be provided for the research paper and it is advised that students discuss this requirement with an advisor or the Program Director well in advance of submission.
Additional Conditions
Only two directed study courses (supervised by Film Studies faculty) can be counted toward the certificate.
All courses must be passed with a "B" or higher.
Only three credits of the Museum Internship (ENGLIT 2900-2901_six credits) can count toward the certificate.
Students should notify the Program Director of their intention to file for graduation at the beginning of their final term.
Transfer Credits
Whether students who have transferred from another institution would be given credits in general (toward their University of Pittsburgh degree) would be decided by FAS Graduate Studies, Student Services (322 Thackeray Hall) and/or the department in which they were enrolled.
Whether such credits (if granted) would be counted toward the Film Studies certificates would be determined, on a case-by-case basis, by the Film Studies Graduate Steering Committee. For the master's certificate, no more than six (out of 12) credits could be transferred. For the doctoral certificate, no more than nine (out of 18) could be transferred.
Course Listings
NOTE: The following list does not take account of courses that might be developed in the future.
CORE COURSE
- English Literature
- ENGLIT 2451 Film History and Theory
ELECTIVE COURSES
Chinese
- CHIN 2065 Sources on East Asia: Chinese New Wave Cinema
- Rhetoric and Communication
- COMMRC 2226 Media and Cultural Studies
- COMMRC 2227 Media Theories: Feminist Media Studies
- COMMRC 2227 Media Theories: Postmodernism
- COMMRC 2227 Media Theories: Reading Television
- COMMRC 2229 Media and Global Cultures
- COMMRC 3325 Seminar in Mass Communication
- COMMRC 3326 Seminar in Media Studies: Barthes, De Certeau, and Bourdieu
- English Literature
- ENGLIT 2021 History and Spectacle
- ENGLIT 2043 Theory of Popular Culture: Sexuality and Representation in Fiction Film
- ENGLIT 2127 Shakespeare, Cinema and Society
- ENGLIT 2282 History of American Film 1
- ENGLIT 2460 Film and Literature
- ENGLIT 2461 Genre and Film
- ENGLIT 2463 Cinema and Nation
- ENGLIT 2464 Masculinity in Cinema
- ENGLIT 2465 Cinema, Comedy and Society
- ENGLIT 2466 Film and Modernism
- ENGLIT 2470 Women and Film
- ENGLIT 2471 Maternal Discourse in Film and Literature
- ENGLIT 2472 Black Images in American Cinema
- ENGLIT 2477 Classical Hollywood Cinema
- ENGLIT 2480 Film Directors: Pasolini
- ENGLIT 2589 Topics in English Studies: The Star, Performance and Fan Culture
- ENGLIT 2609 Melodrama
- ENGLIT 2882 History of American Film
- ENGLIT 2900 Museum Internship-Film/Video 1
- ENGLIT 2901 Museum Internship-Film/Video 2
- ENGLIT 3104 Made in USA: America in French Culture, 194568
- ENGLIT 3160 Film Theory/Literary Theory
- ENGLIT 3161 Cinema and Desire
- ENGLIT 3162 Authorship in Cinema
- ENGLIT 3165 Theories of National Cinema
- ENGLIT 3461 Genre and Film Melodrama
- ENGLIT 3475 The Body in Cinema
- German
- GER 2882 Topics in German Cinema
- GER 2884 Weimar Cinema
- GER 2886 Film in the Third Reich
- Spanish
- SPAN 2452 Contemporary Latin American Film
- SPAN 2580 Contemporary Hispanic Film
- Russian
- RUSS 2453 Thaw and Perestroika
- RUSS 2640 Russian Film: Lumiere to Lenin
- RUSS 2640 Post-Stalinist Russian Cinema
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