UMass Certificate in Film Studies - On-Campus and Online
The Certificate Program in Film Studies offers undergraduates a comprehensive course of study in the history, criticism, theory, aesthetics, and production of the moving image in the unique context of an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary program. Film Studies faculty and courses come from departments and colleges across the University, including Afro-American Studies, Anthropology, Art and Art History, Asian Languages and Literatures, Communication, Comparative Literature, French & Italian, Germanic Languages and Literatures, Music, Political Science, Spanish & Portuguese, Theater, the Commonwealth College, and the School of Management.
Enroll in the Certificate Program
Complete the Certificate in Film Studies Form
University undergraduates make an initial enrollment appointment with an advisor in the Film Studies office and are expected to update their files in the office every semester thereafter.
Requirements
A student who wishes to obtain the Certificate in Film Studies must fulfill the following requirements: complete a minimum of 6 approved courses (3 credits or more per course) in film and/or video and television from at least three different departments/programs or exclusively FILM-ST courses. These 18 credits are drawn from five categories of courses, including an introductory course in film language; one course in theory or history of film; one in genre or national cinema; one upper‑level seminar (400 or higher); and one elective, preferably a production course. Certificate students must maintain a Grade Point Average of 2.5 or higher within the Certificate Program; no courses with a grade lower than C will count toward the Certificate; no pass/fail courses may be counted towards the minimum requirements. In order to be awarded the Certificate, students must fulfill all criteria.
Core Courses
Minimum course requirements to obtain the Certificate: 6 courses (of 3 credits or more).
The following list by category constitutes the core from which these courses will be selected. Please note that in any semester, additional courses are offered in all, or nearly all, categories, but only a few courses are offered every semester. Please see the Undergraduate Advisor if you have any questions.
Please check also our ONLINE course offerings.
Choose one of these courses (please note that these are just some examples of courses that count). For the entire list please contact an advisor:
| COMM 140 | Introduction to Film Studies |
| FILM-ST 190F | Film Studies: FOUNDATIONS |
| FILM-ST/COMP-LIT 170 | Introduction to Film Analysis |
Choose one of these courses (please note that these are just some examples of courses that count). For the entire list please contact an advisor
| COMM 340 | History of Film I |
| COMM 342 | History of Film II |
| COMPLIT-382 | Cinema and Psyche |
| FILM-ST 252/COMP-LIT 337 | International History of Animation |
| FILM-ST 258 | Latinx Hollywood: Early Cinema in Spanish |
| FILM-ST 290V | Visionary Screens of the 1920s |
| FILM-ST 340 | History of Film I |
| FILM-ST 351 | Classical Hollywood Cinema |
| FILM-ST 440 | Women's Global Cinema |
| FILM-ST 470 | Film Theory |
| FILM-ST 490M | Cinema and Mind |
| FILM-ST 550 | Arthouse Cinema |
| FILM-ST/COMP-LIT 383 | Avant-Garde Cinema |
| FILM-ST/GERMAN 373 | Weimar Cinema: Experimentation and Entertainment |
Choose one of these courses (please note that these are just some examples of courses that count). For the entire list please contact an advisor
| COMM 494BI | Countercultural Films |
| COMM-345 | Contemporary World Cinema |
| COMP-LIT 350 | International Film |
| FILM-ST 330 | Film Auteurs |
| FILM-ST 380 | Horror Film |
| FILM-ST 382 | Film at the End of the World |
| FILM-ST 385 | Psycho Thrillers |
| FILM-ST 385 | Psycho Thrillers |
| FILM-ST 386 | Latin American Cinemas |
| FILM-ST 387 | The Western in Transnational Cinema |
| FILM-ST 497V | Video Essay in Film Criticism |
| FILM-ST 550 | Arthouse Cinema |
| FILM-ST 691R | Documenting the Real in Cont. Spain |
| FILM-ST/COMM 446 | Film Documentary |
| FILM-ST/COMM 493L | Experimental Film & Video |
| FILM-ST/COMP-LIT 391SF | International Sci-Fi Cinema |
| FILM-ST/COMP-LIT 425 | Greek Tragedy/Stage & Screen |
| FILM-ST/FRENCH 284 | The Undead Souths |
| FILM-ST/FRENCH 353 | African Cinema |
| FILM-ST/GERMAN 304 | German Cinema: From Berlin to Hollywood |
| FILM-ST/ITALIAN 427 | Comedy Italian Style |
| FILM-ST/ITALIAN 497L/697L | Fellini- The Liar |
| FILM-ST/JUDAIC 320 | The Comedy: Jewish Humor |
| FILM-ST/JUDAIC 344 | Film and Society in Isreal |
| FILM-ST/SPANISH 397V | Latin American Cinema/Special Topics |
| ITALIAN 531 | Fellini: Film as Veritable Lie |
| JUDAIC-364 | Cinema of the Holocaust |
Students are urged to take FILM-ST 190F and at least one course from category II or III before taking an upper‑level seminar. Choose one of these courses (please note that these are just some examples of courses that count). For the entire list please contact an advisor
| AFROAM 591C | Digital Video Production and Research in the Black Community |
| COMM 410 | Advanced Digital Cinematography |
| COMM 433 | Advanced Television Production and Direction |
| COMM 441 | Intermediate Digital Filmmaking |
| COMM 444 | Film Styles & Genres |
| COMM 445 | Screenwriting |
| COMM 447 | Advanced Documentary Production |
| COMM 490F | Super 8mm Film Art Production |
| COMM 494BI | Countercultural Films |
| COMM 544 | Advanced Digital Filmmaking |
| COMM 593D | Advanced Screenwriting |
| FILM-ST 411 | 16mm Filmmaking & Technology |
| FILM-ST 412 | Advanced 16mm Filmmaking |
| FILM-ST 416 | Untold Screenwriting |
| FILM-ST 417 | Short Documentary Filmmaking |
| FILM-ST 440 | Women's Global Cinema |
| FILM-ST 461 | Film Podcasting |
| FILM-ST 462 | Video Essay in Film Criticism |
| FILM-ST 470 | Film Theory |
| FILM-ST 490FE | Video Editing and Film Montage |
| FILM-ST 490M | Cinema & Mind |
| FILM-ST 494N | New York on Film |
| FILM-ST 494P | Practices of Film Studies |
| FILM-ST 497V | Video Essay in Film Criticism |
| FILM-ST 550 | Arthouse Cinema |
| FILM-ST 562 | Videographic Essay |
| FILM-ST 571 | Strange Engagements: Figural Realism in Film and Literature |
| FILM-ST 572 | Cinemas of Confluence and Alliance |
| FILM-ST 691R | Documenting the Real in Cont. Spain |
| FILM-ST/COMM 446 | Film Documentary |
| FILM-ST/COMM 493L | Experimental Film & Video |
| FILM-ST/COMP-LIT 425 | Greek Tragedy/Stage & Screen |
| FILM-ST/ITALIAN 427 | Comedy Italian Style |
| FILM-ST/ITALIAN 429 | A Window on the World: Neorealism and Beyond |
| FILM-ST/ITALIAN 431 | F. Fellini: The Liar |
| FILM-ST/ITALIAN 497L/697L | Fellini- The Liar |
| FILM-ST/ITALIAN 532 | Pasolini at 100 |
| FILM-ST/PORTU 408 | Brazil in Film and Fiction |
| ITALIAN 429 | The Neorealist Window |
| ITALIAN 531 | Fellini: Film as Veritable Lie |
| JOURNAL 433 | Photojournalism |
| JOURNAL 444 | Short-form Documentary |
One of these 2 courses must be from Category II or III.
A production course is strongly encouraged but not required.