Humanities and Social Sciences

Cinema Studies Program

Undergraduate Studies

The Cinema Studies Program at La Trobe University is a full-service (first-year through to PhD) program. Students qualifying for the three year Bachelor's of Arts degree with a major in Cinema Studies will have completed at least 130 credit points in Cinema Studies units before graduation. Honours students are expected to complete another 60 credit points at fourth year level in addition to writing a 12,000 word thesis in the discipline. Over three years some thirty different Cinema Studies units are available to undergraduate students - ranging from classical Hollywood to video production, film criticism to screenplay as narrative form, Australian cinema to melodrama and morality.

A variety of teaching methods are used in the program, ranging from lectures and tutorials to workshops, seminars, and discussion groups. Students are encouraged to find new ways of understanding the cinema as well as to acquire a foundation in current and past approaches. The Program's intention is to foster an attitude of questioning rather than to provide pat answers. To that end, most marks are based on essays of 2000-5000+ words in which students are encouraged to apply and question theory, to explore ideas, and to confront their own experiences of viewing films.

Units that are available in the Cinema Studies Program are listed below. Not all units are available every year.

For unit descriptions, booklists etc. search the Unit Database by typing in the unit code. These descriptions should help you to choose a unit that suits your interests.

*Only available to students in the BCA
+1st preference to BCA

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