University degrees: Postgraduate
Course length: 2 years full-time
Course city: Los Angeles
The Cinema and Media Studies Program in the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media offers two tracks for completion of the M.A. degree, a Pre-doctoral Track (M.A./Ph.D.) intended for students who wish to continue their education at the doctoral level and a Professional Track (M.A. Professional) intended for students who seek careers in the entertainment industry, archives, film festivals and related fields.
Prospective students should indicate their preferred track, study rationale and career goals as part of the Personal Statement at the time of application. The tracks are described below:
Integrated Degree Track (referred to as the M.A.-I.D. track on the application): The M.A./Ph.D. track is intended for those planning to continue into a doctoral program and who wish to build careers in University teaching and research. The M.A./Ph.D. track emphasizes core area coursework in film and media history, theory and analysis as a preparation and foundation for doctoral study (at UCLA or another institution). This academically rigorous program is designed to move students into doctoral work after one year; however students can extend their studies for up to seven quarters.
Successful completion of at least nine courses is necessary to fulfill requirements of the M.A./Ph.D. M.A. degree. Three core courses are required, including a Capstone Seminar, which will produce a substantial research paper as the culminating project for the degree. The remaining six elective courses are elective seminars. Of the six electives, one must be in the area of Media History, one in Cinema and Media Theory, and two must be from outside the Cinema and Media Studies area, but within the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media. These courses allow students to firsthand experience in the practical areas of Film Production, Screenwriting, Producing and Animation.
Select, highly qualified applicants to the M.A./Ph.D. track may be directly admitted to a combined M.A./Ph.D. degree at their time of application to the M.A./Ph.D. M.A. program. Students admitted to the combined M.A./Ph.D. degree will be funded for five years of study and are guaranteed admission into the doctoral program at UCLA, pending satisfactory completion of the M.A.
Students admitted to the M.A./Ph.D. track, but who do not qualify for the combined M.A./Ph.D. degree at the time of initial application, are invited to apply for admission to Ph.D. program after completing at least one quarter of M.A. study. Students must adhere to posted Ph.D. application deadlines for internal Ph.D. candidates and must satisfactorily complete requirements of the M.A. degree prior to commencing doctoral study.
Professional Track (referred to as the M.A.-R.P. track on the application): The M.A. Professional track offers an M.A. degree for those seeking expertise in critical analysis and research in formal preparation for a range of emerging careers in public and professional fields. The M.A. Professional track directly responds to the new interdisciplinary and intermedial nature of contemporary film, television and digital media and provides support for those interested in careers in film festivals/media programming, film/media criticism, media archives and media industries research.
Students in this track are encouraged to enroll in internships and proseminars, which are courses specifically tailored to building the skills necessary for work in the field and are highly encouraged to take advantage of our professional internship opportunities which capitalize on UCLA’s unique geographical position within the film and media industries in Southern California.
Successful completion of at least nine courses is necessary to fulfill requirements of the M.A. Professional M.A. degree. Three core courses are required, including a Capstone Seminar, which will produce a report on the experience in a Professional internship or a research paper as the culminating project for the degree. The remaining six elective courses are elective seminars. Of the six electives, one must be in the area of Media History, one in Cinema and Media Theory, and two must be from outside the Cinema and Media Studies area, but within the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media. These courses allow students to firsthand experience in the practical areas of Film Production, Screenwriting, Producing and Animation.
The M.A. Professional track is aimed primarily at students who do not currently intend to go on for the Ph.D. However, students in the M.A. Professional program are not prohibited from applying to the Ph.D. While possible to complete the M.A. Professional track as a one-year degree, students can extend their studies for up to seven quarters.
. Area: M.A. Cinema and Media Studies (See sections I to V for all requirements)
II. Summary:The M.A. in Cinema and Media Studies has the following time-to-degree requirement: a minimum of four quarters; maximum of seven quarters. The minimum total units required to graduate is 36 units (nine courses). Five courses must be 200 level courses in film and/or television history, theory, and criticism. Of the Five Courses, four specific courses, FTV 200, 206C, 208B and 217A are required. All five of the graduate-level courses must be completed with a grade of B or better.
Only eight units of FTV 596A, B, C and 598 may be applied towards the total course requirement, and none of these may be applied towards the minimum graduate course requirement.
III. Courses:
A. Required Courses:
A minimum of nine courses is required for the M.A. degree, five of which must be 200 level courses in film and/or television history, theory and criticism. Of the five courses, four are required M.A. Core Courses and should be taken in the first year of residence:
Elective Courses: Three courses should be taken outside the M.A. program. At least two of these must be from other programs in the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media, in consultation with the M.A. advisor that is assigned to you. All students admitted to the M.A. program must demonstrate basic competence in the areas of scriptwriting, television production or film production. Normally, competence is demonstrated through coursework, which may be used to fulfill the non-Cinema & Media Studies course requirements. However, students may also petition to use prior work to demonstrate their basic competence. Prior work may not be used to fulfill M.A. course requirements.
Seminars vary from year to year, but are selected from the following list of courses:
** – Core classes for M.A. students only
IV. Comprehensive Exam In order to earn an M.A. from the UCLA Department of Film, Television and Digital Media, students must satisfactorily complete a Comprehensive Examination. The M.A. Comprehensive Exam is a take-home exam that is given in the spring quarter only, generally in the sixth week. Candidates will have several days to complete the exam, which will be evaluated by the Cinema & Media Studies faculty.
