Film Studies

The MA (Hons) in Film Studies offers a comprehensive study of global film cultures. Film studies uses a variety of critical, theoretical and historical approaches to examine one of the most significant cultural and artistic forms of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The course critically examines the history of moving images across time and cultures, looking at a diverse range of topics from race on screen to activist documentary, from silent cinema to social media. Engaging with the industrial, institutional and cultural contexts of global cinema, as well as analytical, media-historical and political approaches to film scholarship, you will emerge with a powerful set of scholarly tools. 

Course details

The MA (Hons) in Film Studies is a four-year course run by the Department of Film Studies. Film studies is a dynamic and growing discipline, drawing in students with a variety of interests. Students will examine the forms and histories of film in all their artistic, documentary and experimental variants, from early cinema to virtual reality, and will cover a range of topics including stardom, ecocinema, as well as numerous film genres and screen cultures from across the globe.

During the first two years, you will take four film studies modules (one per semester). These provide the historical, theoretical and methodological frameworks you will need for the more specialised and challenging Honours courses.

Careers

Film studies graduates are well placed to compete in today’s job market, having gained an extensive range of skills from written and oral communications to archival research and visual analysis.

A degree in film studies from St Andrews will provide an excellent foundation for a wide range of careers as well as for careers directly connected with cinema, such as:

• advertising and public relations
• arts administration
• cinema management
• education
• film distribution and production
• film festivals
• journalism and media.

French

As an MA (Hons) student of French, you will develop language and communications skills to a high level of proficiency through the study of French and Francophone language, literature and culture. You will have the opportunity to engage with a number of research-led specialist topics, which include:

• literature and culture from the Middle Ages to the present day
• French politics and culture
• performance studies
• intellectual history
• postcolonial literature and theory
• gender theory
• film adaptation
• modern French thought
• creative writing
• translation studies.