What is Cinema & Media Studies?
From our smartphones to the movie theater, human experiences across the globe today are shaped by the media we view and create. Visual media are entwined with culture, art, politics, and entertainment. Understanding these relationships is at the core of Cinema & Media Studies.
Our department offers undergraduate and graduate programs in Cinema & Media Studies and is the home to the Comparative Literature major for undergraduates. These students and our department’s alumni actively engage with contemporary media as critical observers, analysts, researchers, and industry experts. They communicate their findings clearly and persuasively. They interpret and utilize the tools of visual communication to affect and influence the world.
Highlights of Cinema and Media Studies at UW
- Excellence in teaching and scholarship: Our faculty members are dedicated teachers and award-winning researchers, recognized as leaders in their field.
- Diverse subject expertise: We cover the expected (world cinema, television studies, film history, and screenwriting) and the surprising (cell phone culture, surveillance, media labor). See our faculty’s research fields and our undergraduate and graduate course offerings.
- Abundant Resources: In addition to UW-affiliated opportunities, our department offers close ties to the Northwest’s film and media community.
- Meaningful outcomes: Alumni of both our undergraduate and graduate programs find success in their chosen fields. Learn more about the careers of our undergraduate alumni and academic placements of graduate alumni.
Department Research
Research in our department reflects the diversity of our faculty’s and students’ areas of expertise and interest. Recent faculty projects and publications have covered such topics as global art cinema, feminist approaches to silent film history, and history of production design in Hollywood. Recent dissertations have included studies of the history of animation in Eastern Europe, queer perspectives in contemporary East Asian cinemas, and transnational heritage films.