Department History

The history of the Cinema and Media Studies Department demonstrates how fields of study at the UW grow and evolve in response to new ways of examining and understanding our world. In 1982, the Department of Comparative Literature was established: the field previously had been a specialty within the English Department. In the 1990s as new student and faculty interests emerged, Cinema Studies became a track within the major of Comparative Literature, receiving its official designation in 1998. 

Interest and research in the field of cinema and media studies has continued to expand. In 2015, to recognize the department’s notable strengths in these fields, its name was changed to the Department of Comparative Literature, Cinema & Media.

A distinct B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies was launched in autumn 2017, and in late 2019, the unit’s name changed to the Department of Cinema and Media Studies to reflect the further development of this area at the UW. At the same time, the department began offering graduate degrees, an M.A. and Ph.D., in Cinema and Media Studies for the first time.

The legacy of comparative literature endures at UW. Its influence is seen in the global scope of the Cinema and Media Studies course offerings, which explore and examine underrepresented perspectives and voices in contemporary media. As the comparative literature faculty lead the way to develop a new major in global literary studies, the Department of Cinema and Media Studies and its advisers are supporting students pursuing the Comparative Literature major.