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Graduate Certificate in Film and Media Studies

Chair
Fatima Naqvi

Director of Graduate Studies
John MacKay

Faculty
For faculty listings, see Film and Media Studies under Degree-Granting Departments and Programs in this bulletin.

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 one hundred 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 a wide range of course offerings—from history of art to comparative literature, from Slavic to American studies, from music to theater 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, a professional school, or a terminal master’s degree at Yale. The aim is to provide graduate and professional students in other programs, departments, divisions, and schools 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.

Special Requirements for the Graduate Certificate in Film and Media Studies

Students who wish to receive the certificate must complete the following:

• FILM 601, Foundations of Film and Media.
• 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.
• The FMS Certificate Workshop (FILM 605 and FILM 606), courses only offered to certificate students which will meet bi-weekly over two terms and count as one regular course credit. Students are required to present a qualifying paper demonstrating their capacity to do interdisciplinary work.
• 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 or school, and an FMS adviser. 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.

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. 

Film and Media Studies Program invites applications for the graduate certificate from students already enrolled in a Ph.D. program, professional school, or terminal master’s at Yale. The number of students admitted each year will not exceed five. 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. Information on the certificate, requirements, and application process can be found at https://filmstudies.yale.edu/graduate-certificate-film-and-media-studies. Please send inquiries and applications to: Francesco Casetti (francesco.casetti@yale.edu), Oksana Chefranova (oksana.chefranova@yale.edu), and Katherine Kowalczyk (katherine.germano@yale.edu)

Additional certificate program information is available on the Film and Media Studies website (http://filmstudies.yale.edu). For information on the Ph.D. program in Film and Media Studies, see Film and Media Studies under Degree-Granting Departments and Programs in this bulletin.