Film and Media Studies

Director of undergraduate studies: Leighton Pierce (spring 2026); filmstudies.yale.edu/undergraduate

The major in Film and Media Studies integrates the history, theory, criticism, and production of moving-image media. Courses examine the broad international landscape of cinema and all audiovisual media as art forms that have had, and will continue to have, enduring social significance as cultural and communicative practices. As an interdisciplinary program centered in the humanities, Film and Media Studies offers students latitude when charting their course of study. Because of the special demands of Film and Media Studies and the diversity of its offerings, potential majors are encouraged to consult the director of undergraduate studies soon after declaring the major.

Requirements of the Major

See Links to the attributes indicating courses approved for the Film and Media Studies requirements.

The Film and Media Studies major requires students take twelve term courses, including the senior requirement. Students are required to take FILM 1501, FILM 1601, and FILM 3201, preferably in their first or second year. In addition, students are required to take at least one course in each of the following three categories: international cinema (YC FILM World Cinema), critical studies (YC FILM Critical Studies), and the practice of producing cinematic or digital time-based media (YC FILM Production). Majors must also write a senior essay or produce a senior project with a conceptulazing essay. Occasionally, courses in other YC departments or programs may be substituted with the permission of the director of undergraduate studies.

The intensive major Students of substantial accomplishment and commitment to film and media studies are encouraged to pursue the intensive major. Students in the intensive major complete a senior project in production and also write a senior essay. The intensive major in Film and Media Studies is intended for students who are not pursuing two majors. Students must request approval from the Film and Media Studies Committee at the end of their junior year by submitting a proposal that outlines their objectives and general area of study.

Credit/D/Fail A maximum of one course taken Credit/D/Fail may count toward the 12 credits required for the major with permission of the DUS; required courses may not be taken for Credit/D/Fail.

Outside credit Courses taken at another institution or during an approved summertime or term study abroad program may count toward the major requirements with DUS approval. 

Senior Requirement

During the senior year, each major takes one or two senior-level scholarly seminars, production seminars, or the equivalent to support the production of either a substantial scholarly essay, a senior video, or a senior screenwriting project that represents the culmination of work in the major and in Yale College. 

Senior essays or senior projects are due to the DUS by the last day of classes in the semester of graduation. A second reader, suggested by the student or assigned by the DUS, in addition to the senior project course instructor, participates in evaluating the essays and/or projects.

There are four options for Film and Media Studies majors to satisfy the senior requirement. For all four options, students should submit a brief prospectus, approved by a proposed faculty adviser, to the DUS by the end of reading week in their junior year.

Senior Essay

For the student writing a senior scholarly essay, three options are possible. 

  • Conduct independent research on a yearlong senior essay of at least fifty pages (FILM 4910 and 4920). Such research receives two terms of credit.
  • Combine one single-term senior-level seminar with one term of an independent research project (either FILM 4910 or 4920), resulting in a paper of at least thirty-five pages.
  • Enroll in two terms of relevant senior-level seminars (usually courses numbered in the 4000s) and write a substantial term paper of twenty-five pages in one of the courses.  
Senior Production/Screenwriting Project

Students hoping for approval to work on a cinema/media-making senior project are advised to begin taking relevant courses in their first three years at Yale to ensure that they will be adequately prepared to undertake such a project in their final year. Yale Course Search lists FILM offerings by semester and students should explore their course options broadly. For students opting to complete a senior project, there are three options.

A student intending to create either a senior video/media or screenwriting project must complete a brief prospectus form by the last day of classes in the second semester of their junior year. This form will be circulated to all juniors in mid-April. If the appropriate instructor and the DUS approve the prospectus, the student may register for their intended senior production workshop.

  • All students undertaking video or screenwriting senior projects must also produce a contextualizing essay of approximately fifteen pages. The expected form of this essay is intentionally loose and could include manifestos, diaristic writings, procedural analysis, etc., that place the senior project in a theoretical, cultural, or historical context, as well as articulating the production/developmental strategies. 
  • Students receive a total of two and a half credits for senior projects (two credits for their two-semester workshops and one-half credit for their accompanying contextualizing essay (FILM 4940). Such a choice effectively commits students to one extra half credit in addition to the twelve courses required for the major. FILM 4940 does not count toward the twelve required courses when taken in conjunction with production/screenwriting workshops.

The following options require co-enrollment in FILM 4940 (.5 credit) during the last term of enrollment.

  • Students write a feature-length screenplay (2 credits) in FILM 4870 and 4880, or the equivalent, during their senior year.
  • Students create a short non-fiction video (2 credits) in either FILM 4550 and 4560, or FILM 4800 and FILM 4810, or some combination of the two.
  • Students create a short fiction video (2 credits) in either FILM 4830 and 4840 or FILM 4800 and 4810, or some combination of the two.
  • Students create an experimental, hybrid, non-theatrical, or otherwise unconventional project, such as a video anthology or an installation (2 credits) in FILM 4800 and FILM 4810.

SUMMARY OF MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Number of courses 12 term courses (incl senior requirement)

Specific courses required FILM 1501, FILM 1601 and FILM 3201

Distribution of courses 1 upper-level international (non-US) or world cinema course; 1 upper level critical studies course; 1 cinematic/media production course

Senior requirement Senior Essay 2 terms of senior-level seminars, or 2 terms of senior essay (FILM 4910, FILM 4920), or 1 term of each;  Senior Production/Screenwriting Project FILM 4550 and 4560, or FILM 4830 and 4840, or FILM 4800 and 4810, or FILM 4870 and 4880 in addition to one term of FILM 4940 (FILM 4940 does not count toward major requirements)

Intensive Major Senior requirement includes both the senior essay and the senior production/screenwriting project

Requirements

12 courses (12 credits), including senior requirement

  • FILM 1501
  • FILM 1601 
  • FILM 3201
  • 1 upper-level national or world cinema course
  • 1 upper-level critical studies course 
  • 1 production course
  • 4 electives
  • senior requirement
    • 2 courses (2 credits) for the senior essay or 
    • 3 courses (2.5 credits) for the senior project (see Overview page)
      • this option requires students take FILM 4940 (.5 credit), which does not count in the 12 required courses

Requirements for the Intensive Major

  • Same as for standard major, however both the senior essay and the senior project are required

Film and Media Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts program that focuses on the history, theory, criticism, and artistic creation of cinema and other moving-image media. Courses examine cinema’s role as a unique art form that now spans three centuries, as well as the contributions of moving-image media as practices of enduring cultural and social significance. Film and Media Studies aims to develop critical and creative minds that can astutely view, analyze, and conceptually think about cinema within history and society. Majors complete required courses that introduce the breadth of film studies. They also pursue a concentration of courses in film studies or production leading up to the senior essay or project, which can include a film or a screenplay.

Students interested in the major usually begin with FILM 1501, which is a prerequisite for most production seminars and many critical studies courses. This survey of major films and methods of analysis should be taken during the first year or sophomore year. Majors must also take FILM 1601, FILM 3201, one course in a non-American national cinema, one course in critical studies, and a course in production.

As an interdisciplinary program, Film and Media Studies shares courses with a dozen programs and departments ranging from Art and Anthropology to Slavic Languages and Literatures and American Studies. Regardless of the departments from which the courses originate, students work closely with a dedicated group of faculty and with each other.

Beyond the classroom, Yale has a vibrant film culture. The archives of the Film Studies Center house over 20,000 motion pictures on DVD, VHS, and celluloid, which are available for study and classroom use. Rare and new films are frequently screened at the Whitney Humanities Center and other venues, sometimes accompanied by a discussion with the filmmaker. Production students can take advantage of the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM) or study in Prague at the Czech National Film School (FAMU). The department also regularly helps majors find internships and provides opportunities to network with alumni.

FACULTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROGRAM OF FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES

Professors *Marijeta Bozovic (Slavic Languages and Literatures, Film & Media Studies, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) *Francesco Casetti (Humanities, Film & Media Studies), *Marta Figlerowicz (Comparative Literature, English, Film & Media Studies) *Aaron Gerow (East Asian Languages and Literatures, Film & Media Studies), Brian Kane (Music, Film & Media Studies), *John MacKay (Film & Media Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures), *Millicent Marcus (Italian, Film & Media Studies), *Charles Musser (American Studies, Film & Media Studies), *Fatima Naqvi (German, Film & Media Studies), *John Durham Peters (English, Film & Media Studies), *Katie Trumpener (Comparative Literature, English, Film & Media Studies), Laura Wexler (American Studies, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies), *R. John Williams (English, Film & Media Studies)

Associate Professors Moira Fradinger (Comparative Literature), Zareena Grewal (Ethnicity, Race, & Migration)

Assistant Professor Neta Alexander (Film & Media Studies)

Professor in the Practice Thomas Allen Harris (Black Studies, Film & Media Studies)

Senior Lecturer Camille Thomasson (Film & Media Studies)

Lecturers Jonathan Andrews (Art, Film & Media Studies), Shakti Bhagchandani (Film & Media Studies), Oksana Chefranova (Film & Media Studies), Claire Demoulin (Film & Media Studies), Wanda Strauven (Film & Media Studies)

Senior Lector Krystyna Illakowicz (Slavic Languages and Literatures)

Visiting Professor Leighton Pierce (Film & Media Studies)

*Member of the Film and Media Studies Advisory Committee.

See the Roadmap Library for a visual representation of the major.

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