The Certificate in Film Studies is available to students matriculated in Ph.D. programs at the CUNY Graduate Center. The program is grounded in the conviction that film is related to and illuminates other academic fields and disciplines, and that prospective teachers in many disciplines are better equipped to teach aspects of that discipline if they have some knowledge of film and its modes of theoretical and critical discourse. The Certificate Program provides students with foundational knowledge of film history, theory, and criticism, while also introducing them to various approaches to the field: auteurism, genre studies, industrial studies, audience reception, and so on. Students ultimately acquire the critical skills and knowledge needed to comprehend cinema as a discrete discipline with its own methodology. The certificate is awarded when the Ph.D. is conferred.
Throughout the academic year, the program sponsors lectures and screenings featuring leading scholars, critics, and filmmakers. In addition, the Cinema Studies Group, a student-run organization, sponsors a variety of activities.
Although only Graduate Center based Ph.D. students can earn a certificate, our courses are open to students from other institutions via the New York City Interuniversity Doctoral Consortium, which includes Columbia, Fordham, New School University, NYU, Princeton, Rutgers, and SUNY Stony Brook. Likewise, our students may take classes at these universities.