Graduate Opportunities in Cinema Studies:

Graduate Certificate Program

Increasingly, graduate students enrolled in a variety of different M.A. and Ph.D. programs at Rutgers are choosing to pursue advanced work in film.  The Graduate Certificate Program in Cinema Studies is designed to prepare these students to engage in rigorous research and teach within this field.  Students interested in pursuing the certificate should meet with the director of the Cinema Studies Program to discuss the requirements, which include:

Successful completion of nine graduate-level credits (three courses, with a grade of B or above in each), fulfilled through:

One core course, "Film Theory and World Cinema" (16:195:522). With prior approval from the director of the program, another graduate course in cinema which includes close textual analysis and a significant consideration of film theory may be substituted.

Two elective graduate courses in cinema, approved in advance by the program director. Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in scheduled seminars to fulfill this requirement. However, in some cases one of the electives may be a directed research/independent study course, supervised by a Cinema Studies member who is also a member of the Graduate Faculty, in consultation with a second member of the program and Graduate Faculty. 

Successful completion of a significant research project in cinema.  At the M.A. level, this may include a master’s thesis, if required by the student’s program, or an article-length seminar paper.  At the Ph.D. level, it is expected that the student pass a field exam in cinema, if one is offered in the home department, and/or that a substantial part of the dissertation will be devoted to cinema studies issues.  Alternatively, a scholarly article focused on film may also fulfill this component of the certificate.

Students satisfying these requirements will be awarded the Graduate Certificate in Cinema Studies upon completion of their degree.

Members of the Certificate Faculty:

John Belton, English; Ph.D., Harvard

Richard Dienst, English; Ph.D., Duke

Leslie Fishbein, American Studies; Ph.D., Harvard

Nicole Fleetwood, American Studies; Ph.D., Stanford

Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, English; Ph.D., California (Berkeley)

Hilary Hallett, American Studies and History; Ph.D., CUNY Graduate Center

Richard Koszarski, English; Ph.D., New York

Elizabeth Leake, Italian; Ph.D., California (Berkeley)

Susan Martin-Márquez; Ph.D., Pennsylvania

Fatima Naqvi, German; Ph.D., Harvard

Dianne Sadoff, English; Ph.D., Rochester

Derek Schilling, French; Ph.D., Pennsylvania

Alan Williams, French; Ph.D., SUNY (Buffalo)