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Film and Television Studies Courses

BA Film and American Studies (TW76)

  • Course Code UNU1TW76401
  • Duration 4 Years
  • Attendance Full Time
  • Award Degree of Bachelor of Arts
  • Overview
  • Why Choose Us
  • Study Abroad
  • Requirements
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Overview
The 2012 Complete University Guide ranks UEA second in the country for Media and Communications StudiesRead More

People watching a cinema screen as viewed from behind.
Film and American Studies is an interdisciplinary degree course, involving film studies, television studies, American literature, American history, and cultural studies. While there are certain fixed points during the course, and certain minimum requirements, there is also a great deal of flexibility allowing students to create their own pathways, in consultation with their academic adviser.  Thus, for instance, if you have a particular interest in American cinema, literature or history, popular culture, gender studies, or questions of representation in literature and film, you may want to do more modules in these areas - and this list by no means exhausts the possibilities! You may also decide to weight your degree more heavily in favour of either American Studies or Film Studies.  Note also that there are some modules on European cinema and television and on the Press.

Our Film Studies courses make full use of the University’s projection facilities, with a screening programme that gives students the opportunity to see rare and high-quality archival film prints.   The presence in Norwich of the East Anglian Film Archive is another important asset. UEA also has well-respected student media, providing opportunities to develop your skills outside the formal programme.

Some recent and upcoming film and television modules include: Television Documentary; Television Sitcom; Film Noir; Action Cinema; Canadian and Québécois Cinema; Screenwriters and Adaptation; English Heritage, English Cinema; British Cinema in the 1950s and 1960s; Contemporary British Cinema; Hitchcock; John Ford and the Western; Spielberg, Lucas and Contemporary Hollywood; Gender, Genre and Contemporary Cinema.

Outline of the degree

The course begins with six modules which provide a foundation in Film Studies and American Studies.  These include Imagining America, American History: The Making of a Nation, Key Issues in Film Studies – a lecture/seminar module introducing a range of topics central to the study of film, - Film History: Cinema to 1930, Film History: Classical Cinema 1930 to 1960, and one other American Studies module.

In Years 2 and 4, study of the two main disciplines continues.  On the Film Studies side the programme includes a lecture series covering the ‘post-classical’ period from 1960 to the present and three further modules chosen from director-based modules, genre-based modules, issue-based modules, and practical modules.  In your final year you may choose to undertake a dissertation on a film or television topic which is independently researched and written under appropriate supervision.

On the American Studies side, over Years 2 and 4, you must select at least four other American Literature, American History or American Studies modules from the wide range offered.

In your final year you will also take an interdisciplinary module which draws together the work you will have done in both American Studies and Film Studies.  This module is currently American Film, Literature and Society in the 1980s and 1990s, but the topic may change in future years.

Additionally, you have three Free Choice modules at your disposal (two in Year 2 and one in Year 4), you can use these to take further modules in Film or American Studies or to explore unfamiliar subjects.  You might turn to other, related Humanities subjects (art history, drama, philosophy, creative writing).  But, equally, you may turn in a completely different direction.  Free Choice modules give you access to modules offered right across the University, subject to entry requirements.


Assessment

Key skills, issues and ideas are introduced in lectures given by all members of faculty. More specialist study is undertaken in small group seminars. These are chosen from a range offered within the School and across the University. You will also spend time studying and researching in the library or carrying out practical work or projects. In most subject areas, you are assessed at the end of each year on the basis of coursework and, in some cases, project and examination results. In your final year, you will write a dissertation on a topic of your choice and with the advice of tutors. There is no final examination. Your final degree result is determined by the marks you receive in years two and four.

All students joining degrees in the School of Film and Television Studies would find it helpful to read Timothy Corrigan's A Short Guide to Writing about Film, (2010, 7th Edition, New York: Longman) over the summer prior to joining the University of East Anglia.

Course Organiser
Dr Rayna Denison    
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