Ph.D. students in any Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania may enroll for the Graduate Certificate in Cinema & Media Studies. Students may apply to the certificate once they have been admitted to a graduate program at Penn. Students already enrolled in graduate programs at Penn may also apply to the certificate. Students cannot apply for the Graduate Certificate in Cinema & Media Studies without having first been admitted to a graduate degree program at Penn.
The Graduate Certificate in Cinema & Media Studies is designed to enrich students’ traditional disciplinary training and broaden their perspectives as most programs in humanities around the country often seek job candidates from traditional fields who can also demonstrate pedagogical and scholarly strengths in cinema studies. Responding to these intellectual and professional currents, Penn's Graduate Certificate in Cinema & Media Studies aims to prepare students with the skills to research and teach film and media in order to advance their own work and to provide them with clear evidence of their training and abilities when they seek positions at other universities.
For more information, please contact Nicola M. Gentili.
To complete the Graduate Certificate, students would fulfill the following requirements over the course of their Ph.D. work:
- Four seminars in Cinema & Media Studies. These seminars will introduce students to the major issues and debates in film studies.
- A research paper overseen by a faculty member affiliated with Cinema & Media Studies. Normally this paper would develop out of work in a graduate seminar. It might also be a version of a chapter of a dissertation.
- Attendance at six Penn Cinema & Media Studies colloquia over the course of graduate study. Colloquia are offered throughout the year, with papers by a film scholar from Penn or elsewhere.