The Department of Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara announces its new Ph.D.-only degree to complement its M.A./Ph.D. degree program.

Building on the strengths of the department and the campus, the new graduate program emphasizes the study of film from a humanistic perspective, within the broader context of global media culture. The program is designed to be:

• Deeply rooted in the discipline of Film and Media Studies and critical thinking
• Strongly interdisciplinary, drawing on the talents and training of faculty in those companion departments where interest in the study of the modern media arts and industry is emerging and flourishing
• International in its range of focus, allowing for the comparative study of diverse national cinemas and media institutions and practices within a global framework
• Innovative in its teaching and research methods
• Innovative in its Ph.D. design

We live at a time when the proliferation of moving images and recorded sounds are accelerating at a rate that threatens to outpace our ability to grasp and comprehend their sources, impact, and potentialities. We inhabit a region of the world where the production, distribution, and archiving of moving images have long histories and are powerful engines of economic and social change.

As film and media scholars, we investigate these phenomena from historical, theoretical, and critical perspectives and seek to prepare students for intelligent, informed, and imaginative engagement with a wide range of filmic, photographic, televisual, and digital forms.

Work by students and graduates of this program will shape our future understanding of modern media culture and the production and circulation of moving images and sounds as aesthetic, technological, economic, and social forces.

Rev. 01/29/08