Students can obtain a bachelor of arts (BA) or a bachelor of science (BS) degree while majoring in cinema studies. BA degrees require a second year of a second language, and a BS requires one year of math. For a snapshot of the coursework and career options that students may explore, take a look at our Major Map below.
Overall Degree Requirements (180 credits)
It is the student’s responsibility to review their degree audit for accuracy and track their progress toward meeting degree requirements on DuckWeb. The four-year sample degree plans are examples and should not be viewed as definitive guides.
Residency
After completing 120 of the 180 required credits, each student must complete at least 45 credits of UO courses in residence at the university.
Required Graded Credits
Students must earn 168 transfer or UO credits with grades of A, B, C, D, or P.* Credits earned in courses offered only pass/no pass use the P* designation. A minimum of 45 credits graded A, B, C, or D must be earned at the UO. Courses required in the major and designated in the class schedule as pass/no pass (P/N) may be counted toward the 45-credit requirement only if the 168-credit requirement has been satisfied.
Satisfactory Work
Graduation from the university requires a minimum UO cumulative grade point average of 2.00.
Requirements for Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science
For placement, prerequisites, or exemptions, see policies in the UO catalog.
- Bachelor of science: Proficiency in mathematics or computer and information science or a combination of the two, with a year of courses completed with grades of C- or better or P.
- Bachelor of arts: Proficiency in a second language, with completion of at least the third term, second year of a second-language course taught in the language (C-/P or better).
Core Education Requirements
Cultural Literacy (6 Credits)
One course in each category:
- Global Perspectives (GP)
- US: Difference, Inequality, Agency (US)
Area of Inquiry (45 Credits)
Fifteen credits in each area, and each area must include courses in at least two subjects:
- Science (symbols SC and >3)
- Social Science (symbols SSC and >2)
- Arts and Letters (symbols A&L and >1)
Written English (8 Credits)
Two courses:
- WR 121
- WR 122 or 123
If you received advanced placement credits, they are generally listed on the admission statement. You may also take a waiver exam or challenge these courses.
Cinema Studies Degree Requirements (Minimum 56 Credits)
Students majoring in cinema studies take 56 credits in four categories: fundamentals, production, core courses, and electives. A degree in cinema studies provides its graduates with a sound foundation for entering their chosen media professions or continuing their education in graduate school. It also gives them the critical and analytic skills to adapt to the changes that are likely to occur in their professions throughout their lifetimes.
Fundamentals (16 Credits)
Fundamentals are the first courses students take in cinema studies. Learn essential tools to analyze media aesthetics, and explore technological, artistic, and cultural histories of motion pictures and media in various national contexts while building researching and writing skills.
Take each of the following courses:
- J 201 Media and Society
- CINE 260M Media Aesthetics
Take two courses from the History of Motion Pictures sequence (in any order):
- CINE 265, 266, 267
Core Courses (24 Credits)
Core courses are upper-division critical studies courses that strengthen students’ understanding of cinema as a dynamic, multicultural, and transnational phenomenon. Engage and employ various methods and contexts for studying cinema in terms of industry, aesthetics/theory, and nation/region.
Take six courses, with at least one from each subcategory. Two must be CINE prefix. See term course lists for full offerings.
Core A: Cinema Industries
Learn to identify and analyze important structures—including economic, industrial, legal, political, or regulatory forces—that shape the production, distribution, or exhibition of cinema.
Core B: Theory and Criticism
Using theories specific to cinema studies, students perform critical, formal, and cultural analyses of cinematic texts.
Core C: National, Regional, and Transnational Cinema
Learn to identify and analyze international transnational/global modes of production, circulation, and aesthetics, and then contextualize them broadly or more specifically to the nation or region.
Production Courses
Production courses teach the essentials of filmmaking. Students may take their first production course after declaring the major and completing the fundamental requirements. A minimum of two courses is required, and up to four courses may count toward the major.
Production A (4 Credits)
Students must complete Fundamentals before taking Production A courses.
Develop basic production skills to enhance your creative, theoretical, and technical understanding of moving image production.
Take one of the following three:
- CINE 270 Intro to Narrative Production
- ARTD 256 Intro to Production
- J 208 Intro to Documentary Production
Production B (4 Credits)
Students must complete Production A before taking Production B courses.
Specialize in specific areas such as screenwriting, directing, lighting, sound recording, and editing to enhance your creative, theoretical, and technical understanding of moving image production.
Courses may include one of the following CINE classes, as well as some ARTD and J courses. See term course lists for full offerings.
- CINE 320 Intro to Screenwriting
- CINE 370 Narrative Production II
- CINE 408 Workshops
- CINE 420 Advanced Screenwriting
- CINE 425 Topics in Production
- CINE 426 Art of Directing
Electives (8 Credits)
Electives are courses that broaden students’ exposure to the study of media. Common courses include internships, additional production classes, additional core courses, or media courses in another discipline. Two courses are required as electives in the major.
See term course lists for full offerings.
Postbaccalaureate Requirements
A student who has previously obtained a bachelor's degree (either at UO in a different major or at another institution) is a postbaccalaureate student. Prospective students with a bachelor's degree interested in obtaining a cinema studies degree from the UO would do so as postbaccalaureate undergraduate students, as the Department of Cinema Studies only offers a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree.
Requirements for postbaccalaureate undergraduate students who have attended the UO for undergraduate:
- 2.0 (minimum) UO cumulative GPA
- 36 (minimum) credits completed at UO
- 18 of those 36 credits graded with grades A, B, C, or D
- BA second language requirement (two years of collegiate level coursework in a second language with a proficiency through level 203)
- Completion of cinema studies major requirements
Requirements for postbaccalaureate undergraduate students who have not attended the UO for undergraduate:
- 2.0 (minimum) UO cumulative GPA
- 45 (minimum) credits completed at UO
- 23 of those 45 credits graded with grades A, B, C, or D
- BA second language requirement (two years of collegiate level coursework in a second language with a proficiency through level 203)
- Completion of cinema studies major requirements