Contact | Introduction | Admission Requirements | Application | Program Curriculum | Language Requirements | General Examination | Dissertation | Final Examination
Use the above links or scroll down for program information.
Students interested in applying for Autumn 2025, please read the following
message from our Director of Graduate Studies!
Contact
Director of Graduate Studies: James Tweedie (jtweedie@uw.edu)
Graduate Program Advisor: Yuko Mera (gradcinema@uw.edu)
Introduction
Our five-year Ph.D. program concentrates on scholarship and research as preparation for teaching at the university or college level in cinema and media studies. In addition, Ph.D. students will emerge with:
- ) an interdisciplinary understanding of the field from a humanistic perspective;
- ) the ability to assess and implement diverse pedagogical techniques;
- ) the ability to engage in primary research on a subject of their choosing;
- ) a sense of the role of cinema and media in national identity, globalization, and other forms of transnationalism;
- ) a familiarity with a range of historiographic practices in the field;
- ) an awareness of the importance of media technologies as objects;
- ) recognition of the crucial role of the aesthetic encounter; and
- ) advanced reading knowledge in at least one language other than English.
The faculty in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies have particular strengths in world cinema; silent-era film; documentary cinema; Chinese cinemas; South Asian cinemas; media technologies; television studies; new media; digital studies; race, gender, and media. For more information see our faculty list.
Admission Requirements
Master of Arts degree in Film Studies, Media Studies, or equivalent background.
Application
Click here for information on applying to the program.
Program Curriculum
(Enrolled students should consult the graduate student handbook for detailed policies and procedures.)
See chart below for expected progress through the program.
Course work
Ph.D. students in Cinema and Media Studies will be trained in the general methods and issues in the field, pedagogical techniques, as well as in various subfields of the discipline. Therefore, students are required to take CMS 525 Pedagogy and CMS 520 Methods and Approaches as well as three of the four core seminars: CMS 570 Media Lab, CMS 571 National Frameworks, CMS 572 Historiography, and CMS 573 Aesthetics. An additional 25 credits of graded coursework at the 500 level are also required.
Language Requirements
Advanced reading knowledge in one language other than English must be demonstrated before the end of the second year after entry into the program. Language competence is attested either by exams or by completion of satisfactory coursework in the language.
General Examination
The General Examination is normally taken in the Autumn quarter of the third year after enrollment. It consists of both a written and oral component, with emphasis on the latter.
Dissertation
Dissertation topics can be chosen from a broad range of areas with the field of cinema and media studies. Any member of the graduate faculty appointed in Cinema and Media Studies may supervise a dissertation.
Final Examination
Candidates must defend their dissertation via an oral examination administered by the dissertation committee.
Sample Progress Chart for the Ph.D.
| AUT QTR | WIN QTR | SPR QTR | |
| Year One |
CMS 525 CMS 570 Language Acquisition |
CMS 520 CMS 571 Language Acquisition |
CMS 572 CMS 573 Language Acquisition |
|
Year Two |
Elective Elective Language Acquisition |
Elective CMS 600 Language Acquisition |
Elective CMS 600 Language Acquisition
|
| Year Three |
CMS 800 General Exams |
CMS 800 |
CMS 800 Prospectus Meeting |
| Year Four |
CMS 800 Dissertation Writing |
CMS 800 Dissertation Writing |
CMS 800 Dissertation Writing |
| Year Five |
CMS 800 Dissertation Writing |
CMS 800 Dissertation Writing |
CMS 800 Dissertation Defense |