Film Studies
The Film Studies Department
The Film Studies department is ranked the best in the UK for the study of film (Guardian University League Tables 2011, 2012) and is one of the best in the world. The high quality of the department’s teaching is also reflected in its outstanding results in the National Student Satisfaction Survey. Film Studies was established first as a programme at King’s in 2000 and as a department in 2007. The department offers a single honours BA degree course and several undergraduate courses in conjunction with other King’s departments. Our graduates go into a range of careers or choose to pursue further study and research. At the graduate level, the department has a leading MA (MA in Film Studies) and a continuously expanding cohort of scholars undertaking PhD study. The department also regularly hosts a range of distinguished visiting academics for research seminars and conferences, thus creating a rich and thriving research culture.
Research
The pioneering research conducted within the Film Studies department was recognized in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Film Studies achieved exceptional results: the department is ranked within the top five in the UK and is the most highly rated department in London. Based on the RAE ranking, it is one of the top two departments in the College. Our research is world-leading and extends across the following broad areas of expertise: European cinema, which is considered in both its art and popular dimension, with a particular emphasis on French and Italian cinema; American cinema, the mainstream and the avant-garde; world cinema, especially East Asian film; cultural history (the representation of the city, national and trans-national cinema, stardom, music and film); and critical theory, in particular the relationship between film and other disciplines such as philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature, geography, and art.
Study film with us
Our Film Studies community is dynamic and vibrant. Cinema was undoubtedly the most exciting art form to emerge in the 20th century. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, film is surrounded and challenged by an array of new media. Film Studies offers the critical, historical, and theoretical tools needed to understand and appreciate the creative potential of cinematic and electronic images and to assess critically how they mediate our experience of the world. In addition to inspiring lectures and seminars, and dissertation supervision that provides the best possible one-to-one intellectual guidance, we offer pastoral support through our tutorial system. Our staff-student liaison committee meetings at all levels of study ensure highly effective channels of communication between our team of dedicated teaching and professional services staff and the student body, and our departmental social events encourage links between different year groups. We welcome applications for our BA, MA, and PhD programmes from prospective students who are passionate about film, who meet our entry requirements, and who wish to be part of the leading department in the UK for the study of film.