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Department of Cinema & Media Arts

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.

 

The Major in Cinema & Media Arts

The major consists of 30 hours, balanced between production and studies courses. This provides a broad foundation of knowledge and skills as students look towards their future career options.

Core Requirements:

  • 1500 (Fundamentals of Film and Video Production)
  • 1600 (Introduction to Film and Media Studies)
  • 2250 (16mm Filmmaking)
  • 2260 (Digital Production Workshop)
  • 2300 (Film and Media Theory)
  • 2400 (History of World Cinema)
  • 3891 (Special Topics in Film and Video Production)
  • 3892 (Special Topics in the Study of Film)
  • Senior Seminar: 4961 or 4962
  • One elective: 2600W (Advanced Screenwriting); 3891 (Special Topics in Film and Video Production); 3892 (Special Topics in the Study of Film); or 3893 (Special Topics in National Cinemas and Movements). 3891 and 3892 may be repeated for elective credit provided there is no duplication in topic.

Your path through the CMA major can look something like this –

CMA Major Flowchart - Introductions & Fundamentals are 1000 level courses, next Digging Deeper are 2000 level courses, and finally Specializing & Creating are 3000 level courses and electives

The Minor in Cinema & Media Arts

The Cinema & Media Arts minor consists of 15 hours balanced between production and studies courses.

Core Requirements:

  • 1500 (Fundamentals of Film and Video Production)
  • 1600 (Introduction to Film and Media Studies)
  • One course in intermediate filmmaking: 2250 (16mm Filmmaking) or 2260 (Digital Production Workshop)
  • One course in intermediate cinema studies: 2300 (Film and Media Theory) or 2400 (History of World Cinema)
  • One elective: 2600W (Advanced Screenwriting); 3891 (Special Topics in Film and Video Production); 3892 (Special Topics in the Study of Film); or 3893 (Special Topics in National Cinemas and Movements)

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.