About PhD Program,
The Department of Cinema and Media Studies (CMS) is recognized among the finest doctoral programs in our field, with a curriculum that focuses on the history, theory, and criticism of film and related media. Faculty are drawn from a wide range of departments and disciplines primarily in the humanities. In addition to offering its own doctoral degree, CMS offers courses and guidance to students who specialize in film and related media within departmental graduate programs or might be pursuing a joint degree.
Centering on the cinema, the graduate program provides students with the critical skills, research methods, and an understanding of the debates that have developed within cinema studies as a discrete discipline. At the same time, the study of cinema and related media mandates an interdisciplinary approach in a number of respects. The aesthetics of film is inextricably linked to the cultural, social, political, and economic configurations within which the cinema emerged and which it in turn has shaped. Likewise, the history of the cinema cannot be separated from its interaction with other media. Just as it is part of a whole new culture of moving images and sounds that includes television, video, and digital technologies, the cinema draws on earlier practices of instantaneous photography and sound recording and, in a wider sense, those media that are more often described as the fine arts (painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, theater, and music). Finally, the interdisciplinary orientation of the program entails an emphasis on the diversity of film and media practices in different national and transnational contexts and periods and thus an understanding of the cinema as a historically variable and rich cultural form.
Students admitted to the PhD program receive full funding for the duration of their program, along with opportunities for supplemental funding both from within the department and the Humanities Division as a whole. Students also gain pedagogical experience as teaching assistants and lecturers to prepare them for life beyond their dissertation.
PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
you need to supply TOEFL or IELTS scores to meet these requirements, your scores must no more than two years old at the time you submit your application.
The Division of the Humanities does not have minimum required GRE scores or GPA to be considered for admissions. Average GRE scores and GPA vary from department to department, so it is best to contact individual departments with this question.
The GRE is not required for applicants to programs in the Division of the Humanities.
Should you choose to share your GRE scores, self-reporting your scores in your application allows us to better review your application while we await the arrival of your official scores from ETS.
PhD Funding Coverage,
Doctoral students who matriculate in Summer 2020 and after will be guaranteed to have funding support from the University of Chicago, external sources, or a combination of the two for the duration of their program to include the following:
Full tuition coverage
Annual stipend
Annual premiums for the University Student Health Insurance Program (U-SHIP)
Graduate student services fee
Additional fellowships and awards are available to support language study, conference attendance, and research travel.
Application Requirement,
- A statement of purpose which describes the intellectual issues you hope to explore at the University of Chicago.
- A writing sample of approximately 20 pages in length; this could be an undergraduate thesis, research paper, or a section of your MA thesis that best demonstrates your critical thinking and scholarly writing.
- Three letters of recommendation submitted by persons able to describe your academic achievements and promise.
- Transcripts from all previous colleges and universities.
- Application fee of $90 (fee waivers are available to applicants for whom the fee represents a financial hardship).
- English Language Proficiency
Application Deadline,
Dec 02, 2024
Application Fee,
Application fee of $90 (fee waivers are available to applicants for whom the fee represents a financial hardship).
