Graduate Certificate in Film and Media Studies

With the world awash in moving images, the Film and Media Studies Program gives students the tools necessary to grapple with the decisive media of the past 100 years: from film to television to the platform-agnostic digital images of today. That knowledge is critical and practical, analytic and experimental, historical and theoretical. As an interdisciplinary program, Film and Media Studies draws on courses from Art to Comparative Literature to Slavic to American Studies, taught by a dedicated group of world-renowned faculty.

The Certificate in Film and Media Studies is open to students already enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Yale. The aim is to provide graduate students in other programs, departments, and divisions with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate a degree of competence in the history and theory of film and media technologies. Interested students are strongly encouraged to register for the certificate by meeting with the director of graduate studies (DGS) during their first year. Students who wish to receive the certificate must complete the following:

(1) FILM 601: Foundations of Film and Media.

(2) two electives, one of which must be drawn from the FMS curriculum; the second may focus on media relevant to the student’s own research interests, but must be approved by the DGS of FMS.

(3) The FMS Certificate Workshop (FILM 605 & 606),  courses only offered to certificate students which will meet bi-weekly over two terms and count as one regular course credit. Students will be required to present a qualifying paper demonstrating their capacity to do interdisciplinary work.

(4) In approved cases, FMS Certificate students may TF courses in FMS. However, there is no formal teaching requirement for the Certificate program.

Each of these requirements will require approval from the DGS of FMS, the DGS of the student’s degree department, and an FMS advisor. A plan for fulfilling the requirements will be worked out in advance, in consultation with all three of the above. A student can apply to count a course they took during their first year.

Film and Media Studies Program invites applications for the Graduate Certificate from students already enrolled in a PhD program at Yale. 

During two years of work with an interdisciplinary program of Film and Media Studies, students will develop competence in the history and theory of film and media. This may be necessary to the completion of their dissertations and to academic careers beyond Yale. 

Applications to the Certificate are due by May 15, 2024. 

Prospective students should send on a letter of interest to the DGS of Film and Media Studies, Professor John MacKay).

Information on the Certificate, requirements, and application process can be found here:

https://catalog.yale.edu/gsas/non-degree-granting-programs-councils-rese…

Please send inquiries and applications to: 

Professor Francesco Casetti: francesco.casetti@yale.edu

Katherine Kowalczyk: katherine.germano@yale.edu