Cinema and Media Studies (MA)

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The Master of Arts degree in Cinema and Media Studies is administered through the Graduate School. Candidates for the degree are subject to the general requirements of the Graduate School (see The Graduate School section). Thirty-six units are required at the 400 level or higher, including a comprehensive examination. At least two-thirds of these units must be at the 500 level or higher.

Media Production and Practice Courses

Each graduate student must pass one of the following 4-unit media production and practice classes with a grade of C or better. These courses provide a basic primer in media production and practice considered necessary for graduate studies in the program, so students can have a working knowledge of techniques and methods.

CTIN 534L Experiments in Interactivity I Units: 4
CTPR 507 Production I Units: 4
IML 501L Digital Media Authorship and the Archive Units: 4
IML 502 Techniques of Information Visualization Units: 4
IML 575 Graduate Media Arts Research Lab Units: 2, 3, 4 (4 units only)

Note:

In addition, 12 units of cinematic arts electives are required.

Additional Requirements

Comprehensive Examination

As the final requirement for the MA degree, the comprehensive examination will be taken in the final spring semester of course work. There is no thesis option. The examination will consist of written responses to three questions selected from a list of fields, the appropriate fields chosen with the guidance of a faculty adviser.

If the student has completed all course work and is only taking the comprehensive examination, he or she must register in GRSC 810 Studies for Master’s Examination .

Grade Point Average Requirements

A grade point average of 3.0 must be maintained in all graduate-level course work. Courses in which a grade of C- (1.7) or lower is earned will not apply toward a graduate degree.

Policies

The following policies apply to each student admitted to the MA program:

Students must maintain full-time enrollment except in a case of emergency in which the student can petition the department to enroll in fewer units.

Students who do not earn the minimum grade of B (3.0) in CTCS 500 or satisfy the degree requirements after repeating a required course will be disqualified from the program.

Time Limit

Although students are normally expected to complete the degree in two years, the degree must be completed within five years of the beginning of graduate work at USC.

Curriculum Review

At the beginning of their matriculation, and each semester thereafter, each MA candidate will confer with a designated faculty adviser who will monitor the student’s progress.