The Program in Film and Media Studies at Yale will be offering from the 2019-2020 academic year a new opportunity for students to obtain a Graduate Certificate in Film and Media Studies. The Program is currently receiving applications for the first cohort, with an application deadline of May 1, 2019.
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 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 and FILM 606), a yearlong course 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.
Program information and the requirements for the certificate are available on the Film and Media Studies website.
Students interested in the Certificate must submit an application to Aaron Gerow, the DGS of Film and Media Studies by May 1, 2019. There will be a limit of six (6) students in the first cohort and only students in their first year in a PhD program in the Humanities or Social Sciences are eligible to apply. Applications must include the following:
- A statement, less than 600 words, describing one’s interests, background, and goals in film and media studies
- A copy of one’s current Yale transcript
- A note of support from the DGS of one’s current department (a separate e-mail is sufficient)
Send applications to the Graduate Registrar of FSM: Katherine Kowalczyk (katherine.germano@yale.edu). Those admitted will be notified by May 15, 2019.
Those interested or who have questions are welcome to contact the DGS of FSM: Aaron Gerow (aaron.gerow@yale.edu).