Film Studies MA (Hons)

In the first two years of your degree (known as sub-honours) you will take the required modules in Film Studies alongside modules in at least one other subject.

Typically, you will take one Film Studies module per semester during your first two years, and two modules per semester during your third and fourth year

1st Year

Students will take the following compulsory first-year modules:

• Film History and Historiography: introduces key movements and moments in film history across the first 50 years of film.
• Key Concepts in Film Studies: examines key concepts and approaches that are relevant to the study of film.

Students will take the following compulsory second-year modules:

• Film Culture, Theory, Entertainment: explores a range of political, philosophical and cultural approaches to the cinema, centring on the key insights and breakthrough critical ideas that have informed the study of film and its role in society.
• Modern World Cinemas: introduces significant cinematic developments across the second half of the 20th century, providing exposure to the work of some of the most significant cineastes in the world.

If you decide to take Film Studies in your third and fourth years, you choose from a wide variety of advanced module options. These range from film theories covering gender, national and transnational, and philosophical approaches to particular topics such as war and cinema, cinemas of India, and the European science fiction film. Students are encouraged to choose and develop their own specialisms and interests within the discipline of Film Studies.

Modules available will reflect current staff specialisms and therefore may vary year to year. Here is a sample of Honours modules which have been offered in previous years:

• Film and the Archive
• Sensory Cinema
• Silent Cinema
• Asian Cinemas
• Documentary Cinema
• Cinema and Politics
• Cinema and Media in the Digital Age
• Feminist Film Studies

In fourth year, students also undertake a 10,000-word dissertation on an advanced topic in Film Studies. This independent project enables you to develop key research skills which are desired by both prospective employers and by graduate schools offering postgraduate degrees.