Welcome

Welcome to Cinema and Media Arts at Vanderbilt!

We approach film as a modern aesthetic form and hands-on cultural practice. Our interdisciplinary curriculum combines filmmaking with the study of media theory and global film history. Courses cover diverse international cultures as well as critical and creative practices, including training in both 16mm and digital cinematography and production in fiction, experimental, and documentary modes. We encourage our majors to create work outside of the classroom and to submit senior projects to academic journals, film festivals, and conferences. Through the Vandy-in-Hollywood Summer Internship Program, coordinated through Vanderbilt’s Career Center, students explore pathways into the entertainment industry.  

Members of the faculty publish and/or screen work in national and international venues. Locally we foster intellectual community through the  International Lens film series. To enhance our understanding of cinema’s past and future, we routinely host scholars, critics, and filmmakers on campus. We also coordinate the Film Theory and Visual Culture Seminar at the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.