Ph.D. in Film & Digital Media

Degree Requirements

The doctoral program in Film & Digital Media prepares students to be scholars and professionals who can situate their work within a larger historical framework of cultural and technological change, looking at the interrelationships of various visual media from the late 19th century through the present. The program is not divided into paths or specific fields of emphasis. As well as training students in the intellectual histories of their field and working with them to facilitate new theoretical and critical interventions, we also expose students to fundamental and advanced aspects of media technologies that will illuminate their understanding of media production and reception.

    A minimum of 108 units of study in course work at UCSC will be required for the Ph.D. degree. Doctoral students will be in residence for a minimum of six quarters. When in residence, students will take a minimum of twelve units per quarter. Up to 10 transfer credits may be granted from another institution if approved by the faculty. In their first year, doctoral students will be required to take the three foundational courses (200A,B,C) and the 2-unit colloquium series sequence. They must then take two FDM graduate elective courses in the second year (for a total of five courses; three core and two electives). In addition, most students will take FDM 204A,B,C, a two-unit colloquium every quarter. In the third year, students take the three graduate courses in Film & Digital Media, 295 (Directed Reading), 292 (Seminar in Thesis Area) and 297 (Independent Study and Research, leading to Thesis Proposal). A student will thus take at least 8 Film & Digital Media graduate courses over the degree, for a total of 40 credits plus 12 units of the colloquium series. The remaining elective courses may be selected from Film & Digital Media or graduate or advanced undergraduate courses from other departments, subject to approval from the student’s graduate advisor. If a student chooses to take an undergraduate course, they will be required to seek permission to enroll from the department, if approved by the faculty advisor. It is expected that students will carefully choose which courses to take, in consultation with their graduate advisor, so as to ensure a program of study that is intellectually rigorous and that reflects the student’s eventual goals and aspirations.

Foreign Language Requirement
Students must demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. This
may include a computer programming language instead of a natural language
when such a language is integral to the student’s field of study. The language
requirement may be satisfied in one of two ways:
i. by passing an upper-division course in a language related to the student’s research.
ii. by passing a reading proficiency test administered by a faculty member in the relevant language department.

A student must pass the language requirement before taking Ph.D. qualifying
exams. There are two exceptions:
i. The “foreign” language requirement may be waived for a non-English
native speaker who has passed the proficiency test in English required for
admission (application must be made in writing at least 2 months prior to
the qualifying examination).
ii. The requirement may be waived if a student has proof of proficiency in a
language other than English in the form of a language major or minor
from recent (within the last five years) undergraduate or Master’s level
education or equivalent (accredited institution). Documentation must
be received and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies at least
two months before the qualifying examination.

    During the first year of study in FDM 200B,C a two-quarter course, students will be introduced to the methodologies of developing, and the questions that surround a theory praxis approach. This will occur while the student simultaneously strengthens, with the appropriate elective classes, areas of theory or practice that pertain to their focus but in which they feel unready to speak effectively.

    During the second year, the student will focus on selecting classes from the FDM elective series numbered 210 - 289. Of the 19 classes currently in this series approximately 1/3 embrace a strong mix of theory/practice and in these classes students will be charged with producing both and thinking about the relationship between the two, The remainder of the classes in this series fall on either side of the equation.

    At the end of the second year, students take a preliminary exam which functions as the Masters Exam. In the winter quarter of the second year, a “call” is made for students to submit the critical or creative work they have produced from their first two years of coursework. Students prepare for the exam by talking to their graduate advisor about the work they have done and how they might situate and respond to it. At this stage they also nominate faculty members whom they think would be suitable examiners; it is expected that these faculty would include at least one of the instructors from the student’s previously taken courses. The graduate advisor and Director of Graduate Studies will assemble the committee, taking into account the student’s nominations. The “written” component of the exam consists of the coursework projects already submitted, which for some students will be a combination of written text and creative work; and a statement about that work and its contexts, which will form the basis for oral examination questions by faculty members. At the oral exam, students will be questioned about their work, their relationship to it, and the way they might situate it. The goal is for students to be able to talk meaningfully about the connections and implications of their work and to place it within a wider critical, theoretical, and creative context. The graduate advisor will discuss the scope and format of the exam with the student before the examination date.

    After the oral examination, the committee considers the student’s performance and will recommend one of three grades: fail, pass, or pass with permission to proceed. Students who fail may retake the oral component of the exam one time. A student with a pass only may leave the program with the degree of Master of Arts. These students must also meet the campus requirement of B or higher in their course work and complete the units requirements of 72 units. Students who pass with permission to proceed may enter the third year of coursework towards the Ph.D. The decision on permission to proceed will take into account the exam result and input from the faculty whose courses the student has completed.

    The third year will be spent developing a dissertation topic in close consultation with faculty advisors and the FDM 290 series classes. A student’s advisors over the program’s duration will include both critical studies and production faculty depending on the research and the qualifying exam and thesis committees will reflect a balance between critical studies and production faculty appropriate to the student’s research topic. In spring of the third year, students should, in consultation with their graduate advisor, suggest names of faculty to become members of the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Committee. This committee will be comprised of four faculty members, at least one of whom must be from another discipline at UCSC or will be from another campus. The committee shall have a tenured F&DM faculty member as chair. Students should also begin assembling a dissertation committee. The 297 independent study course, taken in the spring, should result in a dissertation proposal, and the student will receive feedback on that during and at the end of quarter.

    In fall of the fourth year, the student’s Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Committee will consider the work completed in the 295, 292, and 297 courses, including the student’s thesis proposal (which the student may choose to revise over the summer before submitting to the committee) and will then conduct an oral qualifying exam based on the proposal and other work. The aim of the examination is to test a student's readiness for advanced research and production of the Ph.D. thesis, and to assess the student’s abilities to advance themselves in their respective fields of inquiry. Advancement to candidacy is based on successful completion of the qualifying exam as well as completion with a B or better grade of the required course work and assembly of a Graduate Division approved thesis committee. If a student fails the Ph.D. exam, he or she may be permitted to take it a second time.

    Upon successful advancement to candidacy, students must then complete the following requirements for the Ph.D.

Dissertation: The dissertation, or thesis, is to be an original contribution of high quality to the field of film and media studies. If a student’s thesis contains a substantial creative component, the thesis project must also include a written component of no less than 75 pages which contextualizes the work in relation to other scholarly and creative practices and situates the work in relation to relevant aesthetic and cultural theory. The dissertation must be approved by a committee consisting of a minimum of three faculty members, at least two of who must be from the Film & Digital Media faculty. If the dissertation director does not hold a Ph.D. degree, then the majority of the remaining committee members must hold Ph.D.s. When the student has submitted the thesis and the committee has approved it, the student is ready for the oral defense.

Oral Defense: Once the dissertation is approved, the student will present an oral summary of the thesis before his or her dissertation committee and invited members of the University community. The student will then answer questions posed by the faculty.

    Students are expected to complete at least one year of supervised teaching as part of the degree requirements.

    Normative time for completion of the program is six years. Preliminary exams for the master’s degree occur in the spring of the second year. By the end of the third year, students should have formulated a thesis topic and proposal deriving from their work in that year and should have nominated a Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Committee and dissertation committee. Qualifying exams for Advancement to Ph.D. candidacy occur in the fall of the fourth year.

Sample student program for each year (Years 1-4)

Year 1: three core FDM courses; three electives
Fall
200A: Introduction to Graduate Study
204A: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
Foreign language
Winter
200B: Theory and Praxis of Film and Digital Media, Part 1
204B: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
Foreign language or TA
Spring
200C: Theory and Praxis of Film and Digital Media, Part 2
204C: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
Foreign language or TA

Year 2: two FDM electives; four other electives from FDM or another department
Fall
FDM elective
204A: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
TA or GSR
Winter
FDM elective
204B: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
TA or GSR
Student suggests MA exam committee, prepares for exam.
Spring
Elective (from FDM or another department)
204C: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
TA or GSR
Student takes MA exam. If successful, advances to third year.

Year 3: three required FDM courses, three electives from FDM or another department
Fall
295: Directed Reading
204A: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
TA or GSR
Winter
292: Seminar: Developing a thesis area
204B: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
TA or GSR
Spring
297: Independent Study and Research (Thesis proposal)
204C: Colloquium
Elective (from FDM or another department)
Student assembles Ph.D. dissertation committee, nominates Ph.D. Qualifying Exam Committee.

Year 4
Student takes Ph.D. Qualifying Exam. If successful, advances to candidacy and continues research and writing of dissertation.