Information for prospective postgraduates
Interested in Postgraduate study?
To access the Film Studies Postgraduate Brochure, please click here.
To learn more about our Postgraduate Open Days please click here.
To learn more about the specifics of applying for an MLitt or an MPhil in Film Studies, please click here.
To learn more about the specifics of applying for a PhD in Film Studies, please click here.
To learn more about Postgraduate funding click here.
For more information on admissions to the University, please contact Postgraduate admissions at pgadmissions@st-andrews.ac.uk
About Us
Film Studies is one of the most pertinent and vibrant disciplines you can study at postgraduate level. At St. Andrews, we investigate cinema as a key form of cultural output and as the dominant type of creative expression. Focusing on the global dimension, our programmes cover key aspects of film studies through the lens of transnational cultural studies.
Film Studies at St Andrews is committed to questioning the traditional view of what is "normal" cinema. We attempt to uncover the agendas (be they national, "western", cultural, commercial, industrial, and so on) that define how we think about cinema, both in terms of the kinds of films we watch for pleasure, and those we study at University.
There is much to be learned by studying what is produced at the margins of dominant societies, besides the canonical films of Hollywood and the European art house. We are interested in teaching about the ways in which racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual subcultures conceptualise their identities. Similarly, we are keen to examine cinema that is frequently left out of the University curriculum and look at films produced at the periphery of established nations, co-productions between smaller players struggling to survive in the global marketplace, popular genre films often deemed unworthy of high-brow critical attention, films that focus on transnational communities or appeal to transnational markets, that deal with lesser-known histories, that are made in foreign languages, or whose stars are not featured on magazine covers but are nonetheless worthy of critical examination and intellectual engagement.
Studying film at St Andrews will help you master a range of advanced research skills and acquire knowledge related to the construction and analysis of the moving image, the past and present day realities of various national and regional film traditions, the dynamics of the global film industry, and the theoretical approaches related to film.
In learning and teaching, St Andrews sets the highest of standards and attracts students from all over the world with understandably high expectations. St Andrews operates a fully modular degree structure within a semester system, offering a highly flexible framework. Teaching and research are closely co-related, and postgraduate teaching is informed by staff's research activity.
For more information see details on our postgraduate taught courses (MLitt and MPhil) and PhD studies.