Secondary PhD Field in Film and Visual Studies This opportunity is open to any student enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences upon approval of a plan of study by the Committee on Film and Visual Studies as well as by the student's home department. As further described below, the secondary field consists of two required proseminars offered by the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, two additional graduate courses in film and visual studies, and a common exam or equivalent demonstration of mastery approved and supervised by the Director of Graduate Studies in Film and Visual Studies and the student's home department. The secondary field in Film and Visual Studies has the following objectives:
The study of film at Harvard has long been conceived as the multi-disciplinary examination of visual experience. From Paul Sachs's incorporation of film into the academic and curatorial focus of the fine arts at Harvard to Rudolf Arnheim's consideration of the medium in his investigations of visual thinking, and from Hugo Münsterberg's forays into the psychological reception of moving images to Stanley Cavell's groundbreaking philosophical approach to the medium, Harvard maintains a long tradition of engaging cinema through the cultural, visual, spatial, and philosophical questions it raises. In recognition of film's centrality to contemporary visual culture, the graduate program in Film and Visual Studies seeks to transcend an approach to film solely fixated on the workings of a single medium and its history. Interdisciplinary in its impetus, the program draws on and consolidates course offerings in VES and in other departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Broadly influenced by the unique cultural context of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, the program fosters an awareness of the interactions between the making of and thinking about film and video; between studio art, performance, and visual culture; and between different arts and pursuits whose objects are aural-visual entities. The Carpenter Center also supports a lively research culture, including the Seminar on Film History/Theory and a Film Workshop for advanced doctoral students, as well as lecture series and exhibitions featuring distinguished artists, filmmakers, and scholars. Graduate students may also take advantage of the significant resources of the Harvard Film Archive. For more than 25 years, the Harvard Film Archive has been a vital resource for advanced research in film through the development of a vast collection of 16mm and 35mm film prints, as well as rare video materials and vintage film posters and promotional materials. The purpose of the archive is to further artistic and academic appreciation of cinema and moving image media within Harvard and the New England community by creating a setting where students and faculty have the opportunity to interact with filmmakers and artists. In early 2003, the HFA opened a new Conservation Center that allows the HFA conservator and staff to accession new films and to preserve its diverse collection of independent, international, and silent films. HFA also offers opportunities for student internships. Students in Film and Visual Studies are also eligible to apply to the Harvard Film Study Center for fellowships, awarded annually to graduate students and faculty in support of original film, video, and photographic projects. Established in 1957, the Film Study Center provides production equipment, post-production facilities, technical support, and funding for non-fiction works that interpret the world through images and sounds. Among the many important films to have been produced at the Film Study Center are John Marshall's The Hunters (1956); Robert Gardner's Forest of Bliss (1985); Susan Meiselas's, Alfred Guzzetti's, and Richard Rogers's Pictures from a Revolution (1991); Irene Lusztig's Reconstruction (2001); Robb Moss's The Same River Twice (2002); and, most recently, Ross McElwee's Bright Leaves (2003). The graduate study of film and visual culture at Harvard is bolstered by a vibrant undergraduate concentration in Film Studies that offers many opportunities for teaching. Students interested in serving as teaching fellows should contact the Director for Undergraduate Studies in Film.
RequirementsThe following requirements must be met in order to have the secondary field officially recorded on the PhD student's transcript. Coursework
Examinations
AdvisingStudents interested in declaring a secondary field in Film and Visual Studies should consult with their Director of Graduate Studies as early as possible in their studies, and ordinarily no later than the end of the first term of graduate coursework. At this time, a plan of study should be prepared and submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies, to be approved by the Committee on Film and Visual Studies as well as the student's home department. For More InformationFurther information on Film and Visual Studies at Harvard may be obtained by contacting: The Director of Graduate Studies Faculty List
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