The MPhil in Film and Screen Studies at Cambridge provides advanced training in study of the theory and history of film and other screen media in a vibrant interdisciplinary context. The moving image is explored in relation to the development of modern and contemporary culture, and to the history and theory of other media (literature, music, the visual arts, architecture, the digital). Students are immersed in a research environment that emphasises work on geopolitics, early cinema, art cinema and the avant garde, theory, aesthetics, and gender and sexuality.The MPhil is offered by the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages as a 9 month full-time period of research and introduces students to research skills and specialist knowledge.

The course aims:

1. to give students with relevant experience at first-degree level the opportunity to develop an historically and theoretically informed approach to the study of screen media in their cultural contexts, both in taught classes, and through closely supervised individual research
2. to give students the opportunity to develop a distinctive interdisciplinary approach to the study of film and screen, by exposure to the different kinds of enquiry undertaken in a variety of disciplines
3. to give students the opportunity to acquire or develop skills and expertise relevant to their research interests
4. to offer a course which is also designed as the first year of research towards a PhD in film and screen studies.

These aims are achieved by

1. giving students the experience and guidance necessary for them to be able to formulate a feasible research proposal, and to prepare for submission written work based on such a proposal to a clearly defined timetable.
2. providing a broad foundation for the proper understanding of the issues which have shaped a given field of study, and thus for a critical assessment of existing scholarship
3. encouraging students to develop insights which might form the basis of an original contribution to that field of study
4. developing students’ competence in bibliographical method (including the use of computer technology)
5. giving students the experience of attending and contributing to a graduate research seminar, and in particular of presenting their own work and discussing the issues that arise from it with an audience of senior and junior members of the participating Departments and Faculties.

In addition to these subject-specific skills, the following general transferable skills are also acquired:

General transferable skills

a.     The relatively intense timetable of the MPhil demands that students develop exemplary time-management skills. They work in collaboration with their supervisors to devise appropriate plans of study, and have to ensure that they meet all deadlines, formal and informal.

b.     Students are expected to make regular presentations in seminar situations. This develops their oral presentation skills.

c.     Written work is assessed on the basis of a demonstration of scholarly research and critical analysis. That is, students are expected to present a lucid, coherent and carefully substantiated exposition of a critical viewpoint. Writing must be in clear, grammatically correct, continuous prose, and must function as a single, comprehensible, persuasive, cumulative demonstration, not as a series of disconnected insights. The organisation of the argument of the essay or thesis, and its prose style, are of crucial importance.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the programme students will have:

1. developed a deeper knowledge of the history and theory of film and screen studies in a cultural context;
2. developed a conceptual understanding of the debates which have shaped that field of study, and of current research methods;
3. acquired or consolidated skills appropriate for research in their chosen area;
4. demonstrated independent judgement, based on their own research
5. participated effectively in seminar discussions;
6. learnt how to timetable independent research to produce written work of a high standard to a clearly defined deadline.

Continuing

For those applying to continue from the MPhil to PhD, the minimum academic standard is a distinction on the MPhil.

The course structure

The Film and Screen Studies MPhil is a nine-month course that runs from October to June of any given academic year. It is classified as a research Master's. Students are expected to submit coursework and a thesis during the year, as follows:

Michaelmas Term: Core Course

During the first term of study, students attend weekly seminars and film screenings designed to give them a broad insight into moving image theory and culture. Half of the Core Course focuses on combining the study of classical and contemporary film and visual theory; the other half hones in on specialized historiographic and theoretical problems in the study of moving image media. The Course is, thus, both intensively grounding and intellectually expansive. At the end of this term, students submit one essay. The essay focuses on a specific theoretical framework or critical approach. 

Lent Term: Modules

Students can choose from a range of module options. Some focus on the moving image, others are shared with different MPhils (e.g. European, Latin American and Comparative Literatures & Cultures; English: Culture and Criticism) and other departments and Faculties within the University, such as Architecture & History of Art, English, and Latin American Studies, among others. (The list of modules can change from year to year depending on the availability of academic staff.)

During Lent Term, students attend weekly group seminars led by the module convenor. Essays are submitted at the end of Lent Term.

Lent term modules may include:

• Modern and Contemporary French and Francophone Culture: Articulations of the Real
• Avant Garde and Experimental Cinemas
• The Modern City
• Moving Image Outside the Cinema
• Urban Cinematics
• Feminist Science Fiction Film
• Mash-Ups, Memes and LOLitics: Online Video Culture and the Screen Media Revolution
• Latin American Film and Visual Arts

Easter Term

During this term, students write a thesis. Theses must, according to the criteria laid down by the Board of Graduate Studies, 'represent a contribution to learning'. Theses must be written in English. The arrangements for their preparation are similar to those for the essays. Titles are chosen by students, in consultation with module convenors and/or prospective supervisors, and then have to be approved by the Faculty Degree Committee.

Topics and precise thesis titles must be submitted by a specific deadline in Lent Term. Up to this point the Course Director is the titular supervisor of MPhil students, but once the thesis topics are approved, a specialist supervisor is appointed for each student. 

Research Events

Students are expected to take part in fortnightly research events that take place across the Michaelmas and Lent Terms. Leading scholars in film and screen studies will deliver lectures and also meet with students in master class seminars. Students are asked to compile an (unassessed) dossier of critical responses to these events. Participation in these events allows students to engage intensely but also informally with innovative researchers.

Feedback

Students can expect to receive an online feedback report each term.  Also feedback on the essays and thesis are provided in the form of a written report.

Assessment

Thesis

Students will be asked to submit a thesis of  no more than 15,000 words.  The examiners have the option to conduct an oral examination with the candidate.

Essays

Students will be asked to submit 3 x 4,500 word essays.

Other

Student are asked to submit a non-assessed dossier of short critical responses to research seminars.

• Magistr (Master's Degree) at Pass level. Diploma Specialista (completed post-1991) with a minimum overall grade of good or 4/5 Bachelor's from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and other prestigious institutions with an overall grade of 4/5 Bologna Bachelor's from other institutions with an overall grade of 5/5, Excellent
• Diploma Specialista (completed post-1991) with a minimum overall grade of Excellent or 5/5 Bachelor's from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and other prestigious institutions with an overall grade of 5/5
• IELTS (Academic) 7.5
• TOEFL Internet Score 110
• £50 application fee
• First Academic Reference
• Second Academic Reference
• Transcript
• Research Proposal. One page research proposal
• Sample of Work. Approx 3000 word writing sample in English
• Personal Reference. This is only required if you are applying for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

• Global Education
• Gates Cambridge Scholarships