Film and Media Studies, MA

To earn a master’s degree at Washington University, a student must complete all courses required by their department; maintain satisfactory academic progress; pass certain examinations; fulfill all academic and residence requirements; and apply for program completion (graduation) via Workday Student.

For the details of master’s degree general requirements in Arts & Sciences, including an explanation of Satisfactory Academic Progress, students should review the Master’s Degree Academic Information page of the Arts & Sciences Bulletin.

Program Requirements

Total Units Required: 36
Degree Length: Four semesters/two years
- Note: Students must be enrolled in 9 graduate credits each semester to retain full-time status. As students complete their coursework, if enrolled in fewer than 9 graduate credits, they must enroll in a specific Arts & Sciences graduate course that will show 0 units but does count as full-time status. Students should connect with their department to ensure proper enrollment prior to Add/Drop.
Grade Requirement: The minimum grade required for a course to count toward the MA is a C. Students are expected to maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in courses that count toward their credit units.

Master of Arts in Film and Media Studies

Course of Study

Students must fulfill the general requirements for the Master of Arts (MA) degree as set forth in this Bulletin by the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences. In addition, MA candidates must take the course of study described below, which consists of 36 units of credit and a comprehensive examination.

There is one course of study for the MA in Film and Media Studies (FMS). There is no thesis option for this degree. Students complete 36 semester units (12 courses) that consist of required courses, electives and a practicum. During their final semester of courses, students complete a comprehensive written examination and meet with the examining committee for an oral defense. The examining committee will consist of the director of graduate studies (DGS), the student's advisor, and one other faculty member who is either core or affiliated with FMS. These exams are based on reading and screening lists as well as on courses. The student must meet expectations for broad knowledge of the field appropriate for a master's degree student in the humanities. Normally, if the student expects a May graduation date, they must complete the examinations earlier in the spring semester. All courses should be completed by the end of the semester in which the examination is scheduled.

Students should consult with the DGS during their first semester in the program to obtain the master's students' reading and screening list, and they should also consult regularly with their advisors. Students entering the program from outside the university should expect to take two years to finish the master's degree if they take 9 units per semester; it may take less time if they take more units per semester.

Students may select up to 6 units of FILM 5000 Independent Study, which involves study in an area of film and media that is not ordinarily covered by regular course offerings. Any instance of FILM 5000 Independent Study must be approved by the DGS. With permission of the DGS, students may also satisfy up to 6 units of elective requirements by taking courses at the 5000 level offered through other departments or programs that are relevant to the FMS degree's intellectual focus.

Students must complete one course (3 units) that consists of professional experience that brings to bear academic knowledge and skills associated with the study of FMS. Every student presents a written proposal/plan to the DGS and to the faculty mentor/advisor they select for their practicum. Both faculty members must approve the plan.

The practicum may take a number of forms, but in every case, the experience must be planned in a way that contributes to the student's professional development. It might consist of curating films for a screening or mini-festival accompanied by screening notes, a website, or other forms of writing that enhance the academic value of the event. The student might organize a scholarly symposium or lecture to further the understanding of a particular aspect of the moving image at Washington University. The practicum may also consist of archival or curatorial work in film, television or other forms of the moving image (e.g., digital art) at an archive, a museum or another nonprofit organization (e.g., a film festival) where the student will have an on-site supervisor.

Students interested in combining primary research with their development as a "public intellectual" might write a book proposal and develop a bibliography in anticipation of writing a book. Alternatively, they may develop a website with consistent and significant critical, historical or theoretical usefulness to those interested in film and media studies, such as one that offers critical analyses of current films or bibliographic information addressing one area of research in the field. The practicum student might participate in other activities related to moving image exhibition, archival preservation or grant application writing. The practicum may also be oriented toward teaching, with the creation of a course syllabus and sample lectures delivered by the graduate student in a venue organized by faculty.

Students may initiate other projects, but any practicum requires a faculty mentor and, in circumstances in which there is a collaborating organization, a letter of endorsement of the practicum from the student's on-site supervisor at the organization. This supervisor will also provide a letter upon completion of the practicum detailing the student's work and its quality. The faculty advisor will award the grade for the practicum.

Required Courses (18 units)

Visual Analysis

Students complete the following course (3 units):

Course List
Code	Title	Units
FILM 5010	Advanced Moving Image Analysis and Criticism	3

Moving Image Theory

Students complete one of the following courses (3 units):

Course List
Code	Title	Units
FILM 5419	Theories of Mass Media	3
FILM 5420	Film Theory	3

Historiography of the Moving Image

Students complete one of the following courses (3 units):

Course List
Code	Title	Units
FILM 5421	Film Historiography	3
FILM 5423	Histories of Media Convergence	3

Television & Digital Studies

Students complete any of the following 5000-level FMS courses in television or electronic media (3 units):

Course List
Code	Title	Units
EALC 5300	Topics in Chinese Media Culture	3
FILM 5424	Broadcasting Equality: Radio, Television and Social Change in Postwar America	3
FILM 5425	Seminar in Video Games: Video Games, Gender and Sexuality	3
FILM 5451	American Television Genres	3
FILM 5453	Experiential Design for Immersive Media	3
FILM 5457	From Vitaphone to Youtube: Popular Music and the Moving Image	3
FILM 5478	Topics in Transmedia Franchises	3

Cinema and Television Beyond the United States

Students complete any of the following 5000-level national, regional, or transnational cinema or television studies courses offered in FMS (3 units):

Course List
Code	Title	Units
EALC 5300	Topics in Chinese Media Culture	3
FILM 5431	Renegades and Radicals: The Japanese New Wave	3
FILM 5432	Global Art Cinema	3
FILM 5443	Memory, Tears and Longing: East Asian Melodrama Film	3
FILM 5444	Topics in Chinese Language Cinema	3
FILM 5445	Horror in Japanese Media	3
FILM 5446	The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Through Cinema	3
FILM 5458	Major Film Directors (rotating topics; depends on topic)	3
FILM 5479	Seminar in Interdisciplinary Approaches (rotating topics; depends on topic)	3

Practicum