• Arts & Sciences
• Film & Media Studies
• Undergraduate Program
• Our Major

Major in FMST

The Film & Media Studies Program offers a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies. The best way into an FMST major is to take a course in the program that interests you. We recommend beginning with FMST 250, which is the gateway to the major, or one of the courses that meets our media history requirement (FMST 310) or global media (FMST 330). These courses provide a grounding in important, foundational ideas in the study of film and media that are portable to other fields (like, say, considering how media are used in politics) and helpful in other FMST courses.

First Semester Course Guide by Major

Once you decide on majoring, you ll need to find an advisor. Any faculty member affiliated with the program can serve as your advisor; most students approach someone who taught a class they have taken, or the Director. You and your advisor will review your Degree Works and the major requirements, and then chart out which courses you will take to fulfill the major. Many of these courses will be offered by FMST, but your advisor will help you find classes offered by other departments and programs that will fit your interests. These need not be only on film and media, but they must include substantial media content.

In building your plan of courses you and your advisor may find it useful to use the FMST Major Worksheet. That, as well as the form for Declaring an FMST Major can be found here.

The classes you choose with your advisor will be entered into your Degree Works as major requirements. In the semesters ahead, should you want to have a different non-FMST course count for your major, you simply check in with your advisor (or the Program Director), who can arrange for a change in your Degree Works. In the end, you will have the satisfaction of having designed a major tailored to your own interests.

Requirements for the FMST Major (Details are in the Undergraduate Catalog)

A total of 36 credits are required, including the core courses listed below:

• FMST 250 - Introduction to Film and Media Studies (3 credits)
• FMST 302 - Theories of Film & Media (3)
• FMST 310, 311, 315 - Topics* in Media History (3) or AMST 202: Cinema & the Modernization of U.S. Culture (4)
• FMST 330 - Topics* in Global Media (3) (see catalog for a list of classes other than FMST that can fulfill this requirement)
• FMST 370, 371, 372 - Topics* in Media in Practice (1-3)
• FMST 401 - Seminar in Film and Media Studies (3-4)
• 16-18 elective credits chosen in consultation with your FMST advisor, from other FMST courses or from courses in other departments/programs that significantly to your understanding of film and media.

*NB: Topics courses may vary in content from semester to semester. So long as they have the same course number (310, 330 etc.), even if they include a letter (310a), they fulfill the requirement.