Courses - CMS Autumn 2026

Listings for future quarters are tentative and subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, including instructor and location, please consult the UW Time Schedule. For a listing of all courses potentially offered, see the Course Catalog.

Autumn 2026

CMS 240 A: Writing in Cinema and Media Studies

MW 8:30am - 10:20am

SLN: 12701

Department Requirements Met:

Composition and W-courses

GE Requirements Met:

A critical approach to film and/or media texts and a workshop on writing papers in English. Topics vary. Offered: AWSpS.

CMS 240 B: Writing in Cinema and Media Studies

TTh 8:30am - 10:20am

SLN: 12702

Department Requirements Met:

Composition and W-courses

GE Requirements Met:

A critical approach to film and/or media texts and a workshop on writing papers in English. Topics vary. Offered: AWSpS.

CMS 272 A: Perspectives on Film: Genre

TTh 2:30pm - 4:20pm

SLN: 12703

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Introduction to study of film and/or television genre. Literary, mythic, and historic aspects of film and/or television genre.

CMS 295 A: Study Abroad

to be arranged

SLN: 12704

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Equivalency for 200-level CMS courses taken on UW Study Abroad programs or direct exchanges.

CMS 297 A: Special Topics in Cinema and Media Studies

TTh 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12705

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Varied topics related to film and/or media. Offered: AWSpS.

CMS 297 B: Special Topics in Cinema and Media Studies

MW 10:30am - 11:50am

SLN: 12706

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Varied topics related to film and/or media. Offered: AWSpS.

CMS 301 A: Film and Media Studies: Analysis

MW 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12707

Department Requirements Met:

Cinema & Media Studies Core

GE Requirements Met:

Introduction to the analysis of film. Covers major aspects of cinematic form: mise en scene, framing and camera movement, editing, and sound and color. Considers how these elements are organized in traditional cinematic narrative and in alternative approaches.

CMS 303 A: Genre Studies

TTh 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12708

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Introduction to the history and significance of genre in film and/or television. May examine one or a selection of several genres, drawn from a list including, but not limited to, the western, melodrama, musical, thriller, sitcom, film noir, and documentary. Topics include form, ideology, authority, history, innovation, and parody. Offered: AWSp.

CMS 310 B: History of Film: 1895-1929

MW 3:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 22946

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Film history from its beginnings in the 1890s through the golden era of silent film in the 1920s. Topics include the invention of major film techniques, the creation of Hollywood and the studios, and movements such as expressionism, constructivism, and surrealism.

CMS 315 A: History of New Media

TTh 3:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 12710

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Study of new media histories and methodologies for research, with particular emphasis on new and emergent technologies such as the Internet and other digital forms. Specific media to be analyzed vary.

CMS 320 A: Cinema and Nation

MW 3:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 12711

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Examines the cinema of a particular national, ethnic or cultural group, with films typically shown in the original language with subtitles. Topics reflect themes and trends in the national cinema being studied. Offered: AWSpS.

CMS 320 B: Cinema and Nation

TTh 3:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 22589

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

CMS 320 C: Cinema and Nation

TTh 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 22733

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

CMS 320 D: Cinema and Nation

MW 3:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 22882

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

CMS 321 A: Oppositional Cinema and Media

TTh 4:00pm - 5:50pm

SLN: 22938

Department Requirements Met:

Cinema & Media Studies Core

GE Requirements Met:

Approaches film and related media as socially and politically engaged practice, with focus on screen media produced or received in "opposition" to dominant cultural and entertainment industry norms. Topics vary.

CMS 370 A: Basic Screenwriting

MW 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 12712

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Students develop collaborative critical and creative skills; studying screenwriting manuals and techniques; adapt stories for screenplays; and/or write synopses, treatments, and first acts of their own screenplays.

CMS 395 A: Study Abroad

to be arranged

SLN: 12713

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Equivalency for 300-level CMS courses taken on UW Study Abroad programs or direct exchanges.

CMS 423 A: East European Film

TTh 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12715

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Studies major East European film makers who left their countries at some point in their careers. Compares East European and Western production of those directors who worked partially in the West. Offered: jointly with SLAVIC 423.

CMS 490 A: Directed Study or Research

to be arranged

SLN: 12716

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Individual study of topics in cinema and media studies by arrangement with the instructor and the Comparative Literature, Cinema, and Media Department advising office.

CMS 491 A: Internship

to be arranged

SLN: 12717

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Supervised experience in local businesses and other agencies. Open to upper-division cinema and media studies majors with approval of departmental internship supervisor.

CMS 497 B: Special Topics in Cinema and Media Studies

MW 2:30pm - 4:20pm

SLN: 22866

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Varying topics in cinema studies. Offered by resident or visiting faculty.

CMS 525 A: Cinema and Media Studies Pedagogy

W 1:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 12719

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Pedagogical approaches to cinema and media studies. Introduces teaching tools, technologies and modes of practice. Offered: AWSp.

CMS 590 A: Master of Arts Essay

to be arranged

SLN: 12720

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Research and writing project under the supervision of a faculty member. Offered: jointly with C LIT 590; AWSpS.

CMS 599 A: Special Seminar or Conference

F 3:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 22980

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Group seminars or individual conferences scheduled to meet special needs. Prerequisite: permission of graduate program adviser. Offered: jointly with C LIT 599.

CMS 599 B: Special Seminar or Conference

to be arranged

SLN: 23165

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Group seminars or individual conferences scheduled to meet special needs. Prerequisite: permission of graduate program adviser. Offered: jointly with C LIT 599.

CMS 600 A: Independent Study or Research

to be arranged

SLN: 12721

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Offered: jointly with C LIT 600.

CMS 800 A: Doctoral Dissertation

to be arranged

SLN: 12722

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Offered: jointly with C LIT 800.