MA in Cinema & Media Studies
The MA degree may be earned in one of four ways:
- By completion of 7 half courses and a Major Research Project (MRP) of 40-50 pages. The majority of MA students are expected to elect this option.
- By completion of 7 half courses and a Research-Creation major research project supplemented by a support paper of approximately 20 pages.
- By completion of 7 half courses and a Field Placement major research project supplemented by a support paper of approximately 20 pages.
- By completion of 6 half courses and a Thesis (80-100 pages). MA Students may be granted permission by the Program to pursue a thesis option on the basis of a rigorous and well-structured thesis proposal.
Students should consult with the Graduate Program Director (GPD) to determine which model best suits their interests and abilities. Students wishing to complete the degree under option 4 must make certain that they have the supervision in place as well as the research tools to complete a Thesis.
Please see the Graduate Program course offerings. Note that the list of courses offered varies each year.
Required Courses for MA in Cinema and Media Studies:
- Film 5400 3.0 Graduate Seminar
- Film 6220 3.0 Methods and Research in Cinema & Media Studies
- Film 6230 3.0 Contemporary Cinema & Media Studies Theory
Graduate Seminar (FILM 5400): All first-year students in the Cinema and Media Studies, Production, and Screenwriting & Creative Producing graduate programs are required to attend the Grad Seminar. The Seminar presents opportunities for interdisciplinary discussion, gathering students for workshops on professional development (e.g., grant writing, applying to conferences and festivals), and screenings and presentations by faculty and visiting artists, filmmakers, and scholars. All second-year students will present a detailed and developed synopsis of their Thesis/MRP project at a Graduate Symposium to be held during the fall term of their second year of study.
Cinema & Media Studies students are eligible to take some Production and Screenwriting courses, but in most cases must receive the explicit permission of course directors to enroll.
Additionally, MA students may take up to six graduate credits outside the Film program. Permission is required from the course director, the director of the graduate program in which the course is taken, and the Graduate Program Director of Cinema & Media Studies. Students should consult the 91ÑÇÉ« website for cognate departments such as Communication and Culture, Humanities, Social and Political Thought, English, Art History and Visual Culture, Dance Studies, Digital Media, Theatre and Performance Studies, Anthropology, and Environmental Studies, among others.
All courses must be taken during the full-time residency of five consecutive terms or the part-time residency of ten consecutive terms.
Program Entry
The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
Program Length
The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 5 terms. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 5 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 5 terms of full- time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.
MFA in Film & Media Arts
Our graduate production area features a team of award-winning faculty members whose expertise, and ongoing research/practice spans fiction, alternative and documentary filmmaking and new media. We are dedicated to helping our students achieve their highest creative potential.
The principal goal of our program is to immerse students in a program of study that best meets their overall academic, creative and professional goals. The required courses are intended to enhance the range and depth of a student’s skills and knowledge. The program is committed to providing the opportunity for students to enhance their experience by choosing from a selection of elective courses.
Required Courses:
- FILM 5010 3.0 — Production
- FILM 5400 3.0 — Graduate Seminar
Our highly motivated Screenwriting faculty (whose awards range from the Governor General’s Award to multiple Gemini nominations for both writing and directing and a Canadian Screenwriting Award) guide students through an intensive immersion in the craft and art of writing dramatic screenplays.
All those earning an MFA Degree must complete 6 half courses and a thesis screenwriting project.
Screenwriting students must complete at least one Cinema and Media Studies 3.0 credit course. This course may include Film 6230 Contemporary Film Theory or Film 6210 Theoretical Issues.
Required Courses:
- Film 5110 3.0 — Graduate Screenwriting
- Film 5130A 3.0 — Selected Topics in Screenwriting [this requirement will be waived for 2026-27]
- Film 5400 3.0 — Graduate Seminar
All graduate students earning an MFA Degree must complete 18 graduate credits (six 3.0 credit courses) and a thesis, during their full-time residency of five terms or part-time residency of ten terms. Acceptable MFA thesis formats are complex digital or multimodal, in line with Faculty of Graduate Studies Regulations.
MFA students must take at least 3 credits in a Cinema & Media Studies graduate-level course, or an equivalent approved by the Graduate Program Director. Additionally, students may normally take up to 6 credits from outside the Film program. Permission is required from the course director, the director of the graduate program in which the course is taken, and the Graduate Program Director.
Production students are eligible to take some Screenwriting courses, and Screenwriting students are eligible to take some Production courses, but in most cases must receive the explicit permission of the course directors to enroll.
Please see the Graduate Program course offerings. Note that the list of courses offered varies each year.
Program Entry
The MFA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
Program Length
The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 5 terms. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 5 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 5 terms of full- time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.
MBA/MA | MBA/MFA Joint Program
MBA/MFA/MA Program—Option 1
Year 1: MFA/MA Core Requirements
Students take the core course requirements in their Fine Arts area. In addition, students will take GS/ARTM 6301 3.00 during the Winter Term of their first year of study for degree credit in Fine Arts. They may also take ARTM 6300 3.00.
Year 1 Required Course:
ISSUES IN ARTS & CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Year 1 Recommended Elective:
CULTURAL POLICY
Year 2: MBA 1 Requirements
MBA 1 Core Courses (27.00 credits of the Required Foundations of Management 5000 level Core Courses)
3.00 credits of Schulich electives
Students may also take a course in their Fine Arts field for degree requirement in the MFA or MA
Year 2 Summer (optional)
Students generally undertake an internship after completing their second year in the program, (and having fulfilled their 5000 level core MBA requirements).
Year 3: MFA/MA and MBA Requirements
Students will complete the requirements in both programs during this final year of study.
- MBA 2 Core Courses (6.00 credits)
- 6.00 to 9.00 credits of Schulich electives
- The balance of required courses in the student’s fine arts specialization in either the MFA or MA streams in the Arts, Media, Performance & Design in the Faculty of Graduate Studies
- Students will also complete their Master’s Research Paper (MRP) or thesis and the balance of their course requirements in each program over the two terms
MBA/MFA/MA Program Option 2: Schulich Start
Year 1: MBA 1 Requirements
- MBA 1 Core Courses (27.00 credits of Required Foundations of Management 5000-level core courses)
- SB/ARTM 6301 3.00: Issues in Arts and Cultural Management
- Students may also take a course in their Fine Arts field for degree requirement in the MFA or MA
Year 1 Required Course:
ISSUES IN ARTS & CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Year 1 Summer: optional
Students may choose to undertake an internship after completing their first year in the program.
Year 2: MFA/MA Core Requirements
- Students will take the core course requirements in their Fine Arts area.
- In some cases, students may take Strategic Management (SB/SGMT 6000 3.00) and may complete their Strategy Field Study (MGMT 6090 0.00 and MGMT 6100 3.00) in this year of study.
Year 2 Summer (optional)
Students may choose to undertake an internship in this term, if not already completed.
Year 3: MFA/MA and MBA Requirements
Students will complete the requirements in both programs during this final year of study.
- Students should take MBA 2 Core Courses (6.00 credits) in the Fall term, if not already completed
- 6.00 to 9.00 credits of Schulich electives
- The balance of required courses in the student’s fine arts specialization in either the MFA or MA streams in the Arts, Media, Performance & Design in the Faculty of Graduate Studies
- Students will also complete their Master’s Research Paper (MRP) or thesis and the balance of their course requirements in each program over the two terms.
For more information please visit the Joint degree page on the .
PhD in Cinema & Media Studies
Doctoral students must successfully complete 18 graduate credits (six 3.0-credit courses).
Required courses:
- FILM 7000 3.0 — Key Concepts in Cinema and Media Studies
- FILM 7020 3.0 — Advanced Methods and Research in Cinema & Media Studies
- PANF 7500 3.0 — AMPD Advanced Research Doctoral Colloquium
- Students may count a maximum of two 3.0-credit courses as an electives outside the Program towards their degree requirements. Extra courses may be counted upon appeal to the Graduate Program.
- Students may count a maximum of two 3.0-credit independent study courses towards their degree requirements (FILM 5600, FILM 5700, FILM 5800). The Graduate Program must approve these courses.
For a list of other courses offered in the Graduate Program in Film, please visit the Courses page.
The objectives of the comps are to equip students with the specialized knowledge they need to undertake research for their doctoral dissertation and to prepare and qualify students to teach at the university level.
Each doctoral student is responsible for forming a Comprehensive Exam Committee (comps committee) composed of three faculty members, normally in PhD1, and no later than the end of term 4 (Fall PhD2).
Students are expected to complete the comprehensive exam (comps), normally by the end of PhD2, and no later than the end of term 7 (Fall PhD3). The required Essay comp shall normally be submitted by the end of term 5 (Winter PhD2); students in each cohort are urged to form writing groups to meet this deadline.
Students must complete three comps, including at least one 3000-word Essay (plus endnotes); the remaining two comps will be chosen from the following options:
- Recommended: A Dissertation Proposal (see guidelines in PhD Handbook)
- A Syllabus for an advanced undergraduate course
- A second or even a third 3000-word Essay (plus endnotes)
- A Prototype (this option is available only to students undertaking research-creation dissertations)
There are multiple combinations of these options open to students, the configuration of which must be discussed with the comps supervisory committee. The students will work closely with the comps committee to build reading lists for each of the three areas they have selected. The written/prototype sections are defended in an oral examination, adjudicated on a pass/fail basis. Should the student fail the comps, the student will have two terms to resubmit the comp materials and retake the oral examination in the area that might be of specific relevance to the student’s future dissertation work.
Detailed information on the Comprehensive Examination can be found in the PhD Handbook.
Students shall submit a dissertation proposal, including Ethics Approval (if applicable), for approval by their dissertation committee, the Program, and FGS normally no later than two months after completion of the comprehensive examination.
Dissertations will be evaluated by standard FGS humanities oral defence procedures. When the Supervisory Committee is satisfied that a dissertation is ready for oral examination, it will send a signed oral defence examination notification form to FGS. The Supervisor, working in conjunction with the GPD, will form an examination committee according to the standards of the FGS. A complete copy of the dissertation shall be sent to all members of the oral examination committee at least four weeks before a scheduled oral defence date. All 91ÑÇÉ« FGS procedures for dissertation examination shall apply.
Students in the CMS PhD program have the option of developing a research-creation dissertation. Research creation dissertations must contain a written component in addition to other components. All components of the dissertation must be readily accessible by the oral exam committee for the dissertation defence. For more information, please see the FGS Guidelines on Dissertations. Students producing a multimedia thesis/dissertation should consult with the on the Library and Archives Canada website for advice on formats supportable for preservation.
A multimodal thesis/dissertation in Cinema and Media Studies is a work in which a key component is a media work, installation or film. A Research/Creation dissertation in Cinema and Media Studies must clearly demonstrate how the media work is implicated in and contributes to the exploration of a set of conceptual and theoretical concerns raised by the written component of the dissertation. The balance between the written and media component of a Research-Creation dissertation will be determined by individual committees with the understanding that the written component will remain a significant aspect of the work. Students working toward a dissertation in research-creation must provide a detailed outline of the logistics and equipment needs as part of their thesis proposal. Access will be determined in negotiation with the Studio Manager and is dependent on Studio priorities.
Learn More
The Graduate Program in Film & Media Arts at 91ÑÇÉ« is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.