# Best MA Critical Studies Programs



## Max Keller (Mar 26, 2009)

Hey guys, I'm new to the board, but it seems that everyone is incredibly knowledgeable.

I'm going to be applying to grad schools in about a year and a half (I'm gonna graduate from UC Berkeley next spring and then take a year off so I can do really well on the GRE and my applications) and I wanted to know:

1-how many people here are non-production people.  I'm much more of a critical studies kinda guy, so who's with me?

and 

2-what are some of the best schools with MAs in critical studies or other non-production related film degrees?

So far, I'm planning on applying to UCLA, USC, NYU, SFSU, Ohio University, Chapman, Florida State, Columbia.  Any other recommendations?


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## hman13 (Mar 26, 2009)

I think your Berkeley has a critical studies program, but PhD only.  That should be something u consider in addition to the other places.  I dont know what the best schools are, but I applied to all the big names for critical studies.  ONly place i got into so far is usc.  Im hoping that their reputation for critical studies is as good as it is for other areas of film.


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## Jayimess (Mar 26, 2009)

There is no such place as the University of Ohio...did you mean Ohio State?

I know University of Miami has a Critical Studies MA, one of my classmates here in the writing program has one.

And hman, as I understand, our CS program is real fancy pants. Drew Casper, Todd Boyd, those are names this SCREENWRITING student knew coming in...I'm pretty sure Rick Jewell is a biggie, too?

Also, Leonard Maltin, Howard Rosenberg...

From what I understand, they fund the CS graduate/doctoral students almost entirely after the first year.


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## tabbycat (Mar 26, 2009)

I know I've mentioned it before on this forum, so excuse me for being a cheerleader  but my alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, is great for film studies and they have a masters program.  I actually can't remember if it's an MA or a pHD, I think it is MA.  But they are a great critical studies school


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## eiithan (Mar 26, 2009)

Max,

As a fellow Bear and film studies graduate, I hope you have consulted to your professors and GSIs. You'll like to have a deep level conversation of what you really want to focus if you want good recommendations. I do not know if you are close to any of big name professors, but going to the theory track, you're already in a good place. You know the names: Linda Williams, Kaja Silverman, Kristen Whissel...(well, Kaja is notorious for being difficult to approach, I know). Go to Marilyn Fabe to get some referrals. She's incredibly nice.

In my opinion, the strength of Berkeley Film Studies is its relationship with the Rhetoric department, especially if you want to stay on critical studies. You may not be aware of the fact that Berkeley is one of a few universities in the US that offer degrees in rhetoric. We film studies folks do call them rhetoric brats, but studying critical theories (not just film criticism) and philosophy will build a finer ground for your academic career. Not many school offer a seminar for Stanley Cavell, or european intellectual history, for instance.

In case you're wondering, Berkeley PhD program does not require a prior MA. A good friend of mine is a PhD student at Cal and he straightly went to the PhD program after he finished his BA. And have you looked at University of Chicago? They are traditionally strong in film history. A lot of Berkeley GSIs came from the Chicago school.


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## Michael Tom (Mar 30, 2009)

Chicago, definitely - Tom Gunning ("The Cinema of Attractions," etc.) is there.  

I've also heard a lot of good things about the CUNY schools for film studies - Hunter, in particular - but I'm not exactly sure what kind of programs they offer.  

We had a lot of visiting lecturers from CUNY Baruch in my undergrad program (Cinema Studies at UPenn); I took a really interesting course on "the rise of digital cinema" with one of the visiting professors (he was more interested in television and mass media than cinema, to be exact).  I'm not sure if Baruch has a graduate program in film, but it's probably worth checking out.


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## Max Keller (Mar 30, 2009)

Jayimess, I didn't mean to post University of Ohio, it was a typo lol.  Sorry about that, you're right.  However, if I could get in anywhere, your school would be my choice.  I'll definitely look into University of Miami as well, thanks for the heads up.

Tabbycat, unfortunately UCSB is a PhD program only now.  UCSB would be up there as a choice too (it's really close to home and I have family in the area), but I'm not sure how interested in a PhD I am.

Elithan, nice to see another Golden Bear on here.  Yes, I've been doing a lot to connect with all of my professors, and I have very good relationships with all of them.

Thanks to everyone so far for all the help, it's greatly appreciated.


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## Michael Tom (Mar 31, 2009)

Max - even if a PhD isn't your thing (or at least, not what you're hoping to get into right now), funding is much easier to come by for a PhD than for a Master's, so keep that in mind.

I've also heard of some free Master's programs in Europe; a friend of a friend went to a free Master's program in film archiving/preservation somewhere in the Netherlands and said it was a great program, so that might be worth looking into as well.


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## eiithan (Mar 31, 2009)

Max, 

I am glad you have good relationships with professors. Since you mentioned you are not interested in getting a PhD in film studies, I am curious what aspect of film scholarship you would like to pursue. Most of film scholars go to teaching and having a PhD is almost a must option nowadays. When I read your list of schools I couldn't quite figure out your interested area in the film scholarship. That was why I suggested to talk to professors for suggestions (I apologise if my suggestion sounded patronising). I sensed that you have some knowledge from mentioning schools like Ohio State, but the rest of the list seemed rather generic without showing a chosen area of concentration.

Since Michael Tom mentioned Europe, check out grad programs in UK also. Personally, I'm heading in the direction of new media theory/practice, preparing for the MFA/PhD admissions.


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