Major and Minor

Explore and Discover. The CMA major trains students to be critical media analysts and creative media producers. Courses explore thinking, expression, and technique across media platforms, film and media theory, and history.

Course List

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The Major in Cinema & Media Arts

The Cinema & Media Arts major trains students to be critical media analysts and creative media producers. Courses explore thinking, expression, and technique across media platforms, film and media theory, and history. The curriculum is balanced between production and studies courses to provide a broad foundation of knowledge and skills as students look towards their future career options.

The Cinema & Media Arts major will have different requirements starting in Fall 2023. Students who declared the major prior to Fall 2023 can elect to stay in the previous version of the major or re-declare for the new requirements.

The revised major consists of 33 hours.

Requirements for the revised version of the major:

Foundations (6 credit hours)
- 1500: Fundamentals of Film and Video Production
- 1600: Introduction to Film and Media Studies
Core (12 credit hours):
Students must take two courses from among the following: 2240, 2250, 2260, 2270, and 2280 and two courses from among the following: 2300, 2301, 2302, 2370, and 2400.
- Production (6 hours):
  - 2240: Narrative Filmmaking
  - 2250: 16mm Filmmaking
  - 2260: Digital Production Workshop
  - 2270: Documentary Filmmaking
  - 2280: Alternative Forms
- Theory (6 hours):
  - 2300: Film and Media Theory
  - 2301: Race in Film and Media
  - 2302: Global Queer Cinema
  - 2370: Film and Media Aesthetics
  - 2400: History of World Cinema
Electives (12 credit hours):
Students must take four additional CMA courses or cross-listed courses, including ones in the “Core” category that are not being used to satisfy the Category 2 requirement and Special Topics courses.
Senior Seminar (3 credit hours):
All seniors must take either 4961 or 4962.

The Minor in Cinema & Media Arts

A minor in Cinema & Media Arts is an excellent accompaniment to many majors and can prepare you for a variety of careers or post-graduate study. The curriculum is balanced between production and studies courses.

The Cinema & Media Arts minor will have different requirements starting in Fall 2023. Students who declared the minor prior to Fall 2023 can elect to stay in the previous version of the major or re-declare for the new requirements.

The revised minor consists of 18 hours.

Requirements for the revised version of the minor:

Foundations (6 credit hours)
- 1500: Fundamentals of Film and Video Production
- 1600: Introduction to Film and Media Studies
Core (6 credit hours): Students must take one course from among the following: 2240, 2250, 2260, 2270, and 2280 and one course from among the following: 2300, 2301, 2302, 2370, and 2400.
- Production (3 hours):
  - 2240: Narrative Filmmaking
  - 2250: 16mm Filmmaking
  - 2260: Digital Production Workshop
  - 2270: Documentary Filmmaking
  - 2280: Alternative Forms
- Theory (3 hours):
  - 2300: Film and Media Theory
  - 2301: Race in Film and Media
  - 2302: Global Queer Cinema
  - 2370: Film and Media Aesthetics
  - 2400: History of World Cinema
Electives (6 credit hours):
Students must take two additional CMA courses or cross-listed courses, including ones in the “Core” category that are not being used to satisfy the Category 2 requirement and Special Topics courses.

Honors in Cinema & Media Arts

The Honors Program offers students opportunities for high-level independent research or the production of a creative project during their senior year.

For admission to the Honors Program, students must:

have and maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 and a grade point average of 3.5 in courses counting toward the major
have a CMA faculty member agree to serve as honors thesis advisor
submit a 300-word proposal outlining their intended project with a bibliography and filmography of at least ten works that will inform the research for the project
enroll in CMA 4998 and CMA 4999

See our CMA Honors Guidelines for more details.

Declaring a Major or Minor in Cinema & Media Arts

To declare a major or minor in Cinema & Media Arts, please fill out a Declaration of Major Form and email it to our office. We will help you connect with an advisor from among our faculty. Once your form is complete with your new advisor’s signature, you will need to file it electronically following the instructions on page 2 of the form.