Courses - CMS Spring 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.

Spring 2026

CMS 240 A: Writing in Cinema and Media Studies

MW 8:30am - 10:20am

SLN: 12287

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

MW 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 12288

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 271 A: Perspectives on Film: Great Directors

TTh 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12289

Department Requirements Met:

Pre-req to Declare Cinema & Media Studies Major

GE Requirements Met:

Introduction to authorship in the cinema. The work of a major director or directors.

CMS 272 A: Perspectives on Film: Genre

MW 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 12290

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 275 A: Perspectives on Visual Culture: Sex, Race and Power

MW 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 21534

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

An introduction to the study of visual texts such as film, television, comics, or digital media. Focus on the representation of cultural differences including, but not limited to, sexuality, gender, ability, and race. Topics vary.

CMS 295 A: Study Abroad

to be arranged

SLN: 12291

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

MW 1:30pm - 3:20pm

SLN: 12292

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

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

CMS 302 A: Media Arts and Cultures

MW 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 21199

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Examines cultural expressions and aesthetic formations across media forms, with an emphasis on electronic and digital media. Media arts analyzed vary, including but not limited to comics, cell-phones, mash-ups, games, electronic literature, video installations, photography, and soundscapes. Topics vary.

CMS 302 B: Media Arts and Cultures

F 10:30am - 2:20pm

SLN: 21535

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

CMS 303 A: Genre Studies

MW 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 21204

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 A: History of Film: 1895-1929

TTh 8:30am - 10:20am

SLN: 12293

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 311 A: History of Film: 1930-1959

MW 8:30am - 10:20am

SLN: 12294

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Film history from the introduction of sound through the late 1950s. Focuses mostly on the golden age of the Hollywood studios and on alternative developments after World War II in Italy (Neo-Realism), France (the New Wave), and Japan.

CMS 312 A: History of Film: 1960 - 1988

TTh 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 12295

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Covers the vast changes in filmmaking since 1960. Topics include the continuing influence of the French New Wave, the New German Cinema of the 70s and the "New Hollywood" of the 70s, American independent film of the 80s, and the resurgence of Chinese filmmaking since 1980.

CMS 320 A: Cinema and Nation

TTh 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12297

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 2:30pm - 3:50pm

SLN: 12298

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

CMS 320 C: Cinema and Nation

TTh 2:30pm - 4:20pm

SLN: 21467

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

CMS 395 A: Study Abroad

to be arranged

SLN: 12299

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

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

CMS 397 B: Special Topics in Cinema and Media Studies

TTh 2:30pm - 4:20pm

SLN: 12300

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Varying topics relating to film in social contexts. Offered by resident or visiting faculty.

CMS 423 A: East European Film

TTh 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12301

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 480 A: Senior Capstone

MW 12:30pm - 2:20pm

SLN: 12302

Department Requirements Met:

Capstone for Cinema

GE Requirements Met:

Capstone course in cinema and media studies. Includes research, creative, and/or reflective project. Topics vary. Prerequisite: CMS 301.

CMS 480 B: Senior Capstone

MW 3:30pm - 5:20pm

SLN: 12303

Department Requirements Met:

Capstone for Cinema

GE Requirements Met:

Capstone course in cinema and media studies. Includes research, creative, and/or reflective project. Topics vary. Prerequisite: CMS 301.

CMS 490 A: Directed Study or Research

to be arranged

SLN: 12304

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: 12305

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 A: Special Topics in Cinema and Media Studies

TTh 10:30am - 12:20pm

SLN: 12306

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

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

CMS 572 A: Historiography

W 2:30pm - 5:50pm

SLN: 12307

Department Requirements Met:

GE Requirements Met:

Assessment of processes through which film and/or media histories are constructed. Incorporates methodologies for retrieving and analyzing primary materials relevant to course subject matter. Content varies. Offered: AWSp.