The Cinema and Media Studies (CAMS) major combines the critical study of moving image and sound media with digital video and audio production. Courses range from global and Hollywood film studies to fiction and nonfiction filmmaking, television studio production, sound design, and writing for film and television.

The integration of theory and practice is a guiding principle in the formulation of the curriculum, reflecting a liberal arts philosophy in which thinking and making are mutually informing.

Major Requirements

Seventy-two credits are required for the major: forty-eight credits in core courses and twenty-four credits in elective courses. In the core curriculum, students are required to enroll in CAMS 110 and CAMS 111, two 200-level production courses (one of which must be CAMS 270 or CAMS 271), two 200-level film history courses (one of which must be CAMS 210, CAMS 211 or CAMS 214) and one 300-level theory seminar (CAMS 320, CAMS 330, CAMS 340). In addition to the core curriculum, students are required to enroll in four elective courses, choosing from courses taught departmentally as well as extra-departmentally, with a limit of two courses taught extra-departmentally counting towards elective credit for the major. In the senior-year comps project, students are asked to develop projects furthering their work in the curriculum.

Two 100-level Introductory Courses (12 credits):

  • CAMS 110: Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies
  • CAMS 111: Intro to Cinema & Media Production

Two 200-level Production Courses (12 credits) one of which must be CAMS 270 or CAMS 271:

  • CAMS 222: Collaborative Narrative Filmmaking · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 245: The Essay Film · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 264: Story Development Workshop · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 265: Sound Design
  • CAMS 270: Nonfiction
  • CAMS 271: Fiction
  • CAMS 272: CAMS Production in Los Angeles Program: Narrative Short Film Production
  • CAMS 273: Digital Editing Workshop · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 277: CAMS Production in Los Angeles Program: In the Writers’ Room
  • CAMS 278: Writing for Television · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 279: Screenwriting · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 280: Advanced Screenwriting · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 288: Experimental Film & Video Production · not offered in 2024-25

Two 200-level Film History Courses (12 credits) one of which must be CAMS 210, CAMS 211 or CAMS 214.

  • CAMS 210: Film History I
  • CAMS 211: Film History II · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 214: Film History III
  • CAMS 215: American Television History · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 246: Documentary Studies · not offered in 2024-25

One 300-level Seminar (6 credits).

  • CAMS 320: Sound Studies Seminar · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 330: Cinema Studies Seminar
  • CAMS 340: Television Studies Seminar · not offered in 2024-25

Four Elective Courses (24 credits). Credit for elective courses may be obtained by enrolling in any departmental or approved extra-departmental courses with the following stipulations:

a) Any CAMS course not fulfilling a core requirement can serve as an elective course for the CAMS major.

  • CAMS 100: Rock ‘n’ Roll in Cinema
  • CAMS 165: Sound Design
  • CAMS 175: Studio Filmmaking · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 177: Television Studio Production · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 186: Film Genres
  • CAMS 187: Cult Television and Fan Cultures
  • CAMS 210: Film History I
  • CAMS 211: Film History II · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 212: Contemporary Spanish Cinema
  • CAMS 214: Film History III
  • CAMS 215: American Television History · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 216: American Cinema of the 1970s · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 218: Contemporary Global Cinemas · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 219: African Cinema: A Quest for Identity and Self-Definition · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 222: Collaborative Narrative Filmmaking · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 225: Film Noir: The Dark Side of the American Dream · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 228: Avant-Garde and Experimental Cinema · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 229: CAMS Production in Los Angeles Program: Experimental Los Angeles
  • CAMS 230: CAMS Production in Los Angeles Program: Iconic Los Angeles 
  • CAMS 231: Film, Literature, and Culture in Mumbai and Seoul Program: Korean Cinema · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 233: Film, Literature, and Culture in Mumbai and Seoul Program: K-Drama · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 236: Israeli Society in Israeli Cinema
  • CAMS 240: Adaptation · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 245: The Essay Film · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 246: Documentary Studies · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 252: Media Archaeology: History and Theory of New Media · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 254: Cinematic Spectacle · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 257: Video Games and Identity · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 258: Feminist and Queer Film Theory
  • CAMS 264: Story Development Workshop · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 265: Sound Design
  • CAMS 270: Nonfiction
  • CAMS 271: Fiction
  • CAMS 272: CAMS Production in Los Angeles Program: Narrative Short Film Production
  • CAMS 273: Digital Editing Workshop · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 277: CAMS Production in Los Angeles Program: In the Writers’ Room
  • CAMS 278: Writing for Television · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 279: Screenwriting · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 280: Advanced Screenwriting · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 288: Experimental Film & Video Production · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 320: Sound Studies Seminar · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 330: Cinema Studies Seminar
  • CAMS 340: Television Studies Seminar · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 370: Advanced Production Workshop I
  • CAMS 371: Advanced Production Workshop II
  • HIST 220: From Blackface to Blaxploitation: Black History and/in Film · not offered in 2024-25

b) A maximum of 12 credits in extra-departmental elective courses can count toward fulfillment of elective credit for the major.

  • AMST 260: Sexuality in American Film since 1945 · not offered in 2024-25
  • AMST 269: Woodstock Nation
  • ARTH 171: History of Photography · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARTH 172: Modern Art: 1890-1945
  • ARTH 240: Art Since 1945
  • ARTH 241: Contemporary Art for Artists · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARTS 339: Advanced Photography
  • CCST 245: Meaning and Power: Introduction to Analytical Approaches in the Humanities
  • CHIN 239: Digital China: Media, Culture, and Society · not offered in 2024-25
  • CHIN 240: Chinese Cinema in Translation
  • CHIN 250: Chinese Popular Culture in Translation · not offered in 2024-25
  • CHIN 348: Advanced Chinese: The Mass Media
  • ENGL 245: Bollywood Nation
  • ENGL 247: The American West · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 248: Visions of California · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 288: California Program: The Literature of California · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 362: Narrative Theory · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 395: Senior Seminar · not offered in 2024-25
  • FREN 236: Francophone Cinema and the African Experience
  • GERM 156: Introduction to German Cinema: Film, Nature, and Nation · not offered in 2024-25
  • GWSS 398: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Popular Culture
  • JAPN 231: Tradition and Modernity: Japanese Cinema in Translation · not offered in 2024-25
  • JAPN 254: World of Japanese Manga in Translation · not offered in 2024-25
  • MUSC 115: Listening to the Movies · not offered in 2024-25
  • MUSC 123: The American Film Musical · not offered in 2024-25
  • POSC 204: Media and Electoral Politics: 2024 United States Election
  • POSC 214: Visual Representations of Political Thought and Action · not offered in 2024-25
  • POSC 220: Politics and Political History in Film · not offered in 2024-25
  • SPAN 244: Spain Today: Recent Changes through Narrative and Film · not offered in 2024-25
  • SPAN 356: The Political and Cultural History of the Cuban Revolution · not offered in 2024-25
  • THEA 320: Live Performance and Digital Media · not offered in 2024-25

Integrative Exercise CAMS 400 (6 credits)

Students proposing production projects for comps are strongly encouraged to apply to enroll in CAMS 370 Production Workshop I during the fall term of their senior year and are expected to enroll in CAMS 371 Production Workshop II and CAMS 400 during the winter term of their senior year. Students proposing writing projects for comps have the option to enroll in CAMS 400 in the fall or winter terms of their senior year.

Students considering a major in Cinema and Media Studies are encouraged to take CAMS 110 Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies and CAMS 111 Digital Foundations by the end of their sophomore year and at least one 200-level film history course (CAMS 210 Film History I, CAMS 211 Film History II, or CAMS 214 Film History III), one 200-level production course (CAMS 270 Nonfiction or CAMS 271 Fiction), and the 300-level theory seminar (CAMS 320 Sound Studies Seminar or CAMS 330 Cinema Studies Seminar or CAMS 340 Television Studies Seminar) by the end of their junior year.