MA in Global Cinemas and the Transcultural

Overview

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Isolde Standish

Convenor

Minimum Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent)

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Mixed Full Time and Part Time

The MA in Global Cinemas and the Transcultural offers students the unique opportunity to study in-depth regional cinemas outside the now standard research topographies, both geographical and theoretical, of mainstream cinema studies, so opening up avenues for advanced research in areas and methodologies as yet untapped. Alternatively, it provides an avenue of study for those simply wishing to obtain a post-graduate qualification in Cinema Studies without being confined to a European- and/or American-centric world-view.

The degree is designed around a compulsory core course, Cinema, Nation and the Transcultural, that simultaneously challenges existing critical paradigms defining 'national cinema' in the simplistic terms of geographical zones of production and reception, while offering alternative methodological approaches to the study of cinema within the local/global, inter-cultural contexts of the post-modern world. The elective elements of the degree allow students the opportunity to specialize in one or more of the many regional cinemas on offer in the School: Japanese, Chinese (mainland, Hong Kong & Taiwanese), mainland and maritime South East Asian, Indian, Iranian, Middle Eastern and African). It also enables students to combine specialist film studies knowledge with a minor course in an Asian or African language or to advance their social and cultural knowledge of a given region through an ethnographic course. Alternatively, through our links with University of London Screen Studies Group , students may choose from a selection of elective courses to further develop cross-cultural perspectives in an east/west framework.

SOAS is exceptional in its geographical focus, and the expertise in the disciplines of Film and Screen Studies makes us unique in the field. In a ‘global’ industry, film and media scholars, and practitioners are increasingly recognising the need for a move toward the study of image cultures and industries beyond the historical hegemonies of the European and Hollywood industries. This has been more than evident in the career trajectories of graduates from the MA Global Cinemas and the Transcultural degree. Graduates from this degree have gone on to find employment in Film Festivals (Venice to name one), DVD distribution companies, the art house cinema circuit, while others with a practice based background have gone onto form their own production companies, in one case producing documentaries for Al-Jazeera (see the Contraimage link on the SOAS Centre for Film and Screen Studies website). Other graduates have followed the more traditional pathway into PhD programmes where they have been singularly successful in competing for AHRC studentships.

Email: languagesandcultures@soas.ac.uk

Structure

Each student takes 4 units in total: the Compulsory Course (1 unit), the Dissertation (1 unit), one unit from list 3 and one further unit of options of their choice.

In choosing their courses, MA students are advised to pay careful attention to the balance of coursework across the two terms. In particular it is important to ensure that each term you have three taught courses. However much you might wish to take a mixture of courses that requires more coursework in one term than the other, it is most unwise to attempt to take four courses in one term and two in the other. Experience has shown that students simply cannot manage the load during the heavy term with the result that they either do very badly, fail or are unable to complete the courses in question. As a result Directors of Studies for the degrees and the Faculty staff will not approve a selection of courses which results in an imbalanced workload.

1. Compulsory Core Course

Cinema, Nation and the Transcultural - 15PMSC001 (1 Unit) - Full Year

2. Dissertation in Global Cinemas and the Transcultural

Dissertation For MA Global Cinemas And The Transcultural - 15PMSC998 (1 Unit) - Full Year

3. Compulsory courses in Cinemas of Asia and Africa

Each student is also required to take at least ONE course (comprising either one whole course or two half courses) in Cinemas of Asia and Africa from section two below.

Approaches to the Other in Horror and Science Fiction Films - 15PANH043 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Arab Cinemas - 15PMSH013 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Aspects of African film and video 1 - 15PAFH006 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Aspects of African film and video 2 - 15PAFH007 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013
Film and Society in the Middle East - 15PNMC230 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2012/2013
Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Film - 15PSEH011 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013
Indian Cinema: Its History and Social Context - 15PSAH001 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2012/2013
Indian Cinema: Key Issues - 15PSAH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2012/2013
Iranian Cinema - 15PMSH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Issues in the Anthropology of Film - 15PANH022 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Japanese Post-War Film Genres and the Avant-Garde - 15PMSH001 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Japanese Transnational Cinema: From Kurosawa to Asia Extreme and Studio Ghibli - 15PMSH017 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Modern Chinese Film and Theatre (MA) - 15PCHH001 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Modern Film from Taiwan and the Chinese Diaspora - 15PCHH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
(Post) Colonialism and Otherness in South East Asia on Screen - 15PSEH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Post-crisis Thai Cinema (1997-2007) - 15PSEH008 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013

4. Optional Courses:

Students may take up to one full course or equivalent from the following list:

Other Courses on Media

Emerging digital cultures in Asia and Africa - Theory and Practice - 15PMSH018 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Japanese Television since 1953 - 15PJKC006 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Rethinking Audiences - 15PMSH011 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Studies in Global Media and Post-National Communication - 15PMSH007 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Theoretical Issues in Media and Cultural Studies - 15PMSH005 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1

Courses in Social Anthropology

Culture and Society of China - 15PANC089 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Culture and Society of East Africa - 15PANC084 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Culture and Society of Japan - 15PANC086 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Culture and Society of South Asia - 15PANC087 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Culture and Society of South East Asia - 15PANC088 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Culture and Society of the Near & Middle East - 15PANC097 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Culture and Society of West Africa - 15PANC083 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Media Production Skills - 15PANH050 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2

Courses in South Asian Studies

Modern Bengal: the Evolution of Bengali Culture and Society from 1690 to the Present Day (MA) - 15PSAC289 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2012/2013

Courses from the following MA programmes offered by affiliated colleges in the University of London

MA in the History of Film and Visual Media (Birkbeck College); MA Film Studies (Queen Mary); MA Screen Studies (Goldsmiths College); MA Contemporary Cinema Cultures (Kings College); MA Film Studies (UCL)

NOTE:

SOAS students may take up to one half unit (0.5) course from the list below.

Birkbeck

European Cinema (Term 1);Avant-garde Film, Video and Beyond (Term 1);TV Practice (Term 1);British Film and Television 1960-65 (Term1);Film Festivals (Term 2);Contemporary American Cinema (Term 2);Exploring the Language of Image and Sound (Term 2);Quality Global Television (Term 2).

Goldsmiths

Representing Reality (Term 1);Strategies in World Cinema (Term 1);Screen Cultures (Term 2);Cinema & Society (Term 2);Narrative in Practice (Term 2).

Kings College

Film Theory & the Cinema Experience (Term 1);Thinking Cinema (Term 1);Contemporary French Cinema (Term1);American Underground & the Avant Garde (Term 1);Exploitation Cinema (Term 2);London Film Cultures (Term 2);Popular European Cinema (Term 2);Cinema and the City (Term 2);Media Aesthetics (Term 2).

UCL

Nordic cinema (Term1);Weimar Nazi Film (Term 1);The French New Wave (Term1);Crime Scenes (Term 2);Theories and Practices of Film (Term 2);How to Make a documentary (Term 2);Art and Moving Image (Term2).

Language course (subject to availability)

One Language Acquisition course taught at SOAS (list available from the Faculty of Languages and Cultures)

Programme Specification

MA in Global Cinemas and the Transcultural- Programme Specifications 2012/13 (pdf; 56kb)

SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Duration: 1 Year Full Time, 2 or 3 Years Part Time