Disciplines and areas of study
Cinema Studies
Enquiries: (03) 9479 2499
Cinema Studies at La Trobe is Australia’s oldest university program devoted to the study of film and screen cultures. Staff publish widely on the historical origins, aesthetic forms, cultural meanings and social significance of a broad range of screen texts. Staff are also involved in producing two internationally recognised online journals, Senses of Cinema and Screening the Past. These can be accessed at www.sensesofcinema.com and www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast
Postgraduate research projects extend the Program’s cultural and historical analysis of national cinemas, film genres, film directors and aesthetics. Current postgraduate topics include: the aesthetics of violence; magic realism; affect and digital sound; the quality film in Sri Lankan and Australian cinemas; transnational cinema in Australia and Canada; women and wu xia genre in Hong Kong cinema; celebrity profiles in American documentary cinema; the films of Peter Weir, Werner Herzog, Michael Haneke, Cecile B. De Mille, Nora Ephron. The Cinema program encourages creative theses in documentary film production and screenwriting.
Graduate destinations include academic appointments to Monash, Melbourne, Santa Cruz, Deakin, James Cook, RMIT, VUT, Fort Hare, Bangladesh and Buffalo universities.
Postgraduates are active participants with staff in full-day seminar programs, along with visiting scholars. Students have access to office space and an extensive audiovisual collection held by the Program and the library. Other film resources include the National Film and Sound Archive, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and the Australian Film Institute library based at RMIT.
Principle areas of specialisation
Principle areas of specialisation are Australian, American, New Zealand, and British national cinemas; transnational filmmaking and global cinema; documentary, arthouse and alternative filmmakers; film history, memory and modernity; critiques of gender and sexuality; writing for the screen; history and aesthetics of screen comedy and screen violence.
Coursework programs
- Graduate Diploma in Humanities and Social Sciences
- Graduate Certificate in Humanities and Social Sciences
- Postgraduate Diploma in Cinema Studies
- Master of Arts by Coursework in Cinema Studies
Research programs
- Master of Arts by Research
- Doctor of Philosophy
It may be possible to incorporate some practical or production work into the thesis for a Master of Arts by Research or for a Doctor of Philosophy. In some cases, a certain amount of coursework may be required before the candidate embarks on research and writing for the thesis.