Master of Fine Arts in Cinema San Francisco State University, USA

Our M.A. program prizes the rich diversity of cinematic expression — whether critical examination of “mainstream” media production or independent or foreign filmmaking, experimental works or other media including the televisual and videogames — the faculty strives to broaden our students’ experience. Much of this takes place in the context of coursework where faculty members bring their own diverse research, theoretical and cinematic interests to bear, but also in extracurricular encounters — visiting filmmakers or scholars, community events (e.g., film festivals), largely profiting from the virtue of our city, San Francisco.

The M.A. in Cinema and Media Studies at SF State offers students the opportunity to pursue graduate research in cinema and media scholarship. We believe that “cinema” refers to all moving image media, from early films to emerging digital media forms.

The M.A. program emphasizes not only the study of cinema history, theory and criticism, but of all “cinematic” media and the theories related to them. The curriculum allows students considerable freedom to choose among a wide variety of course offerings, building toward producing a thesis that emphasizes focused research on a specific topic related to their interests.

All incoming M.A. Cinema and Media Studies students are automatically considered for a Marcus Fellowship, which consists of endowed funds offered to the most promising students. Our Admissions Committee reviews all incoming students’ submission materials, and notifies recipients of the fellowship before the semester begins. Disbursement of the award is made in the fall semester of their first year. For more details, please contact Mihaela "Misha" Mihailova, Coordinator of the M.A. program.

Learning Outcomes

The learning objectives of the Master of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies strives to enable students to:

• Acquire a broad knowledge of cinema theory, history, and criticism.
• Analyze the role of festivals, conferences, and other film and digital media exhibition venues and options.
• Conduct independent critical research related to cinematic media that leads to a written thesis.
• Produce critical analyses of films and cinematic media.
• Gain teaching-related experience.