Film Studies PhD Applicants 2020

[crunchyfallleaves]

Hi all,

Not a lot going on in terms of film studies discussion, and I know it's early, but I'm interested in sharing information before outcomes (so that hopefully those outcomes themselves will be better). I've been disheartened with university websites, which really don't give much sense of a program's culture or a department climate, nor do they always spell out funding package information or departmental theoretical approaches. Additionally, I don't know a lot about what all of these cities are like.

I'm considering the following programs:

1. University of Pittsburgh
2. UC Berkeley
3. University of Toronto
4. Northwestern
5. Wisconsin
6. UCLA
7. USC
8. University of Washington
9. UChicago
10. Concordia
11. Brown MCM

If you are a current/former students of these programs/just happen to have engaged with them, I'd love to hear from you. 

Also: Does anyone know anything about the University of Oregon English with a Structured Emphasis in Film Studies program? / Eugene in general? Is this worth looking seriously at?

Overall, I hope we can find a bit of a community here together to make applications less isolating than they already are!

 

[theflightattendant]

Hey, did you end up applying? 

I applied to USC and Berkeley. 

[crunchyfallleaves]

hey @theflightattendant just saw your dm and realized you posted - I applied to these ones: 

1. Berkeley
2. Toronto
3. Northwestern
4. Wisconsin
5. USC
6. University of Washington

[theflightattendant]

Hey Crunchy,

I applied to Berkeley, USC, and University of Washington from that list.

Do you have a MA in film studies? Wondering what type of backgrounds other applicants have. 

[crunchyfallleaves]

@theflightattendant currently getting one - what about you?

[theflightattendant]

@theflightattendant

I have an MFA; rather unconventional. Have been out of school for a while. 

I saw you wrote in the OP that the programs had a dearth of information on their websites. I felt very similarly about some of the programs. 

I don't really know what to expect.

 

 

[jkv152]

I have a BA in Cinema Studies and an MA in Media Management. I applied to these PhD programs:

 

1. UC Berkeley

2. Yale

3. NYU

4. USC

5. University of Washington

6. University of Santa Barbara 

 

Good luck to all!

[crunchyfallleaves]

Nice! And yeah, I don't really know what to expect either, especially with some other fields reporting massive spikes in apps.

[jkv152]

_{I know it's premature, but has anyone heard back yet? Even for an interview. Based on the past few years, it seems that schools have varying timeframes for notifying applicants. And with COVID, I'm unsure if it'll take longer or if it has no affect. I'm going to assume most of us will start to hear back towards the end of January.}

Edited January 14, 2021 by jkv152

[crunchyfallleaves]

Haven't heard anything. In my mind I had Jan. 15 as the date after which we could start to hear at any point...which is nerve-wracking because that's tomorrow. It's an insane feeling that, at any moment over the next two months, we will hear hugely consequential news. Like, you could be asleep, in class, shopping for groceries. Wack. R.e. covid, my suspicion is that things may be a bit delayed, so I'll try to keep telling myself that over the next few weeks.

[ShivD]

Has anyone applied to and heard back anything from UC Berkeley's Film and Media Studies and Northwestern's Screen Cultures program?

Edited January 19, 2021 by ShivD