The undergraduate program in the Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies offers a liberal arts program that focuses on the study of cinema both as an art form and as a form of mass culture. The study of film as art is concerned with the relationships among film style, narrative form, and the material practices that shape the medium. The study of film as mass culture explores the ways in which film serves as an articulator of societal values and as a litmus for processes of social change. While American cinema is studied in depth, the cinemas of Europe, Asia, and South America are also a central component of the curriculum.
Graduates of the program can use their degrees in two ways: as a liberal arts degree akin to English or vocationally as preparation for professional careers. Students in the department are required to either combine their major in cinema studies with a minor in another discipline or double major in a second discipline. Graduates from our department have gone on to successful careers in archival work, teaching, journalism, multimedia, network television, and filmmaking.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.
Program Requirements
The program requires the completion of 128 credits. Additionally, students in this program are required to complete a minor or a second major in the humanities, sciences, social sciences, languages, or arts.
Select a minor in the humanities, sciences, social sciences, languages, or arts
16
Area IV: Electives
Other Elective Credits
28
Total Credits
128
1
Two semesters of the core writing curriculum sequence are required for freshmen, one semester for transfers, and the two-course international writing sequence for international students.
2
Primarily taken through the College of Arts and Sciences with some exceptions offered through Tisch Open Arts and other NYU schools. Courses taught through the School of Professional Studies will count as no credit towards the degree..
3
One course must be in small lecture classes in the areas of film auteurs, genres, movements, national cinemas, television studies, and special topics. The second course may be from the above or small theory and practice courses open only to Cinema Studies majors in writing, film criticism, and forms of filmmaking.
Program Notes
Undergraduate Cinema Studies majors are permitted, with their advisor and instructor approval, to take certain 1000-level graduate courses listed in the graduate course descriptions section. Undergraduates in other departments and schools may also take these courses, with the permission of the instructor.
Undergraduate Cinema Studies majors who are planning to do graduate work are encouraged to do advanced study in a foreign language.
In addition to College of Arts and Science liberal arts offerings, certain courses in the Tisch School of the Arts and other schools at NYU can be taken for general education credit. A list of these courses is available in a shared google document from Tisch Student Affairs.
Internships
It is possible for students to receive internship credit (pass/fail) for work at various film libraries, associations, and archives (such as the American Museum of the Moving Image, the Film Society at Lincoln Center, and the Museum of Modern Art) or at other film-related institutions (such as film journals, film production, distribution, exhibition companies, etc.). Students work in various capacities at these film and video archives and may receive a maximum of 8 credits of combined internship and independent study toward their degree. Permission of a faculty adviser is required for such work. Specific guidelines are available from the department.