Humanities and Social Sciences

School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry

The Media and Cinema Studies Program

The recently merged Media and Cinema Studies program provides undergraduate and postgraduate students with a diverse range of degree options. Students have access to a wide range of subject choices across the various specialist disciplines within the program. Our curriculum combines a strong focus on theory with vocationally oriented skills. As the largest program in the School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry, all of our academic staff members, with backgrounds in the arts, media and education, are committed to providing students with a comprehensive understanding of research, analysis, and workplace practices.

Undergraduate students can choose from:

• Bachelor of Arts (with a Media Studies major)
• Bachelor of Arts (with a Cinema Studies major)
• Bachelor of Media Studies
• Bachelor of Journalism
• Bachelor of Creative Arts

Students have the option of a fourth year Honours degree.

Postgraduate students can choose from:

• Graduate Certificate in Media Studies
• Graduate Certificate in Journalism
• Graduate Diploma Media Studies
• Graduate Diploma in Journalism
• Master of Arts by Coursework in Cinema Studies
• Master of Global Communications
• Master of Global Communications with Honours
• Master of Arts (by Research)
• Doctor of Philosophy

Graduate Destinations

• Television, film and radio production
• International and local print, online and television journalism
• Radio and television presentation
• Film distribution
• Media law
• Marketing
• Advertising
• Writing and editing for publications such as Cinema Papers, Metro, Senses of Cinema
• Specialised libraries and film archives
• Film Criticism
• Script writing
• Teaching Media and Film Studies at Secondary and Tertiary level
• Research
• Government and Corporate communications
• Film and Television Funding organisations

International Students

International students interested in studying at La Trobe University should contact La Trobe International.

Cinema Studies

As an academic discipline, Cinema Studies has been central to the development of cutting edge concepts for the study of popular culture, modern aesthetics and new modes of spectatorship. The emphasis is on cinema as popular art, as a creative industry, and as a social phenomenon.

Teaching

Cinema Studies is currently available at the Melbourne (Bundoora) campus.

First-years study how films are organized, the way films and viewers construct meanings, and key concepts in film history, theory and criticism. In second and third years, students choose from three strands:

•  Hollywood, Australian, European and World cinemas

•  Social and aesthetic issues of sexuality, violence, genre and storytelling in the cinema

•  Practical units in film criticism, screenwriting, script editing and creative video production

Research

Staff and postgraduates in Cinema Studies are actively involved in a range of research projects on Australian, British, Asian and American cinemas. The La Trobe University library has an impressive collection of books and audio visual material in the field of Cinema Studies. As well as contributing to a range of international journals, staff are involved in producing and editing the online journals Screening the Past and Senses of Cinema.

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