Requirements for the PhD
General Requirements. The PhD requires 72 credits. All Film and Media Studies PhD students will be required to fulfill the requirements of their associated department as well as the Film and Media Studies requirements. These required courses will bring together students from all six associated departments so that they will have an opportunity to interact with each other. This core of required courses will also ensure that students have a common and coherent thread in their Film and Media Studies doctoral experience. PhD students must take three core courses in Film and Media Studies (7 credits): A two-course (6 credit) sequence taken in any order (Film History/Theory I ENGFLM 2451 and Film History/Theory II ENGFLM 2452) and a one credit Film Studies Proseminar FILMG 2905, as well as four elective Film and Media Studies courses (in any department). Of the total six required seminars, the student must take at least two courses taught by a member of the faculty outside of the student’s associated department. These courses can include the two required core courses as well as any of the four electives. Language and teaching requirements are determined by associated departments.
Comprehensive Exam. The comprehensive exam will be taken in the student’s associated department. While the exam structure will differ from department to department, in all cases:
- one component (or more) of the exam will focus on Film and Media Studies
- a second component of the exam will focus on the departmental field (including its relation to cinema)
- at least one member of the exam committee in the student’s associated department will be a
member of the graduate faculty in Film and Media Studies.
The Dissertation. The dissertation will be completed in the associated department and must involve film and/or media studies as subject matter incorporated with the student’s area of concentration (as determined by the dissertation director). The chair of the dissertation committee will be a graduate faculty member in the student’s associated department who is also member of the interdisciplinary Film and Media Studies graduate faculty. The external member of the committee will be a member of the Film and Media Studies graduate faculty from outside the associated department.
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