University degrees: Postgraduate
Course length: 2 years
Course city: Toronto
Part of the Faculty of Communication and Design
Film and photography preservation has been redefined by digital technologies. Responding to these dramatic changes, Ryerson’s F+PPCM program provides a rigorous and intensive professional education of applied and theoretical courses in the history, technology and intellectual organization of image and audiovisual collections. The only program of its kind in the world, F+PPCM offers a curriculum developed and delivered by a range of specialists, from historians and practitioners of photo- and film-based media to museum, library and archive professionals. The two-year course of study includes an internship and a second-year residency in a growing list of international partner museums and institutions.
Fueled by the dramatic changes taking place in the world of both photography and film with the advent and growth of digital technology, our master of arts (MA) program in Film + Photography Preservation and Collections Management now offers specializations in both film and photo preservation. Our unique curriculum is developed and delivered by a range of specialists, from historians of photography and film to library and archival professionals. The two-year course of study will prepare graduates to meet the challenges faced by institutions and organizations that strive to manage, maintain and develop object- and digital-based collections.
The intensive, two-year (6 term) graduate program assumes that a film or photographic preservation specialist or collections manager must be acquainted with the materials of film/photography, with its history, the social and cultural conditions of its production, and the critical and theoretical conceptions that inform its reception. Thirteen half-year courses, an internship, and a professional practice project/thesis are designed to provide students with a graduate program in which historical knowledge, practical experience, and professional education are fully integrated.
Course offerings in the graduate program include seminars in photographic and film materials and history, and issues of curatorial practice and practicums taught by Ryerson faculty who are preservation and conservation specialists. Students complete an internship using archives and special collections in the third term of the program.
