Program Overview

Overview of the Cinema Program

The major in cinema prepares students as engaged participants in the ever-changing media environment by offering them conceptual and practical tools for analyzing and creating films informed by a dialogue between film studies and film production. Students build a comprehensive knowledge of motion pictures through film studies courses focused on topics such as major film movements, directors, and critical debates in the history and theory of cinema, as well as production courses focused on narrative, documentary, and experimental films, using 16mm and digital technologies.

Requirements for the Cinema Program

• The major in cinema is an individualized, interdisciplinary study of film and the production of creative work in film, video, and interactive multimedia.
• It is designed to promote cultural and artistic awareness, increase speaking and writing skills, and develop capacities for systematic reasoning and effective production in cinema arts.
• All students are expected to gain a perspective on the study and the production of film, video, or digital media while becoming acquainted with the historical, critical, and theoretical issues of the area.
• In conjunction with an appropriate overall curriculum, the major in cinema can offer effective preparation for continuing study or creative work in the humanities, arts, and cinema; provide a solid foundation for careers in film, video, television, and digital production; and lead to careers in arts administration, advertising, and business.

Learning Outcomes for Cinema Graduates

Cinema graduates will be able to:

• Develop a broad proficiency in cinematic creativity in areas such as editing, cinematography, screenwriting, sound design, and animation as well as the business of filmmaking, while emphasizing their own expressive vision;
• Display an understanding of preproduction, production, and postproduction in the filmmaking process; succinctly describe, pitch, and reflect on their own filmmaking practice; benefit from having assessed and evaluated their own and their peers’ films in workshops that emphasize constructive critique;
• Speak confidently, read critically, and research and write persuasively about the history and theory of cinema as a multifaceted medium with artistic, educational, and cultural implications;
• Recognize and critically evaluate the variety of film styles and practices from historical and contemporary, as well as international, perspectives;
• Demonstrate the mutually beneficial skills developed across film production and film studies courses by making films informed by film studies and by writing essays informed by filmmaking;
• Display critical thinking about the relationship between form and content in moving images;
• Apply this knowledge and these skills to a range of 21st-century careers permeated by media production, whether in the film and culture industries; media, arts, and marketing professions; or higher education and other related areas; and
• Understand and use cinema as a powerful tool for learning about the world and creating positive change as an engaged global citizen.

Degree Requirements

• The Bachelor of Arts with a major in cinema requires a minimum of 120 s.h., including 33 s.h. of work for the major.
• Students must maintain a grade-point average of at least 2.00 in all courses for the major and in all UI courses for the major.
• They must also complete the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences GE CLAS Core.
• Students may count a maximum of 56 s.h. of Department of Cinematic Arts coursework (prefix CINE) toward the 120 s.h. required for the Bachelor of Arts degree.
• A maximum of 9 s.h. of transfer credit may be counted toward the cinema major.

Honors in the Major

• Students have the opportunity to graduate with honors in the major.
• Departmental honors students must maintain a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.33 in all UI coursework and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.50 in all cinematic arts coursework.
• Once a student has earned 75 s.h., the student submits a written proposal for an honors thesis, screenwriting, or production project.
• The proposal must be approved by the faculty member who heads the student's honors thesis/project committee; the committee must be composed of at least two faculty members from the Department of Cinematic Arts.

GE CLAS Core Requirements

• The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences GE CLAS Core requirements provide students with a broad foundation of knowledge and a focused practice of transferable skills necessary for a lifetime of learning.
• GE CLAS Core courses are particularly valuable for students making the transition into the University of Iowa.
• They help students understand the academic expectations of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences while providing the knowledge and skills needed for more advanced work in the major.

GE CLAS Core Areas and Requirements

• The GE CLAS Core has 11 required areas, grouped into three categories.
• Students must fulfill the requirements in each GE CLAS Core area.
• The requirements that follow are for students who entered the University of Iowa during summer 2025 or after.
• Students who entered during a previous semester are held to different requirements as indicated on a student's degree audit.

Communication and Literacy

• Understanding Cultural Perspectives: a minimum of 3 s.h.
• Interpretation of Literature: a minimum of 3 s.h.
• Rhetoric: a minimum of 4 s.h.
• World Languages Pathways: required credit varies (see "World Languages Pathways" in this section of the catalog)

Sustainability

• Students complete this requirement by choosing an approved GE CLAS Core course that integrates Sustainability (with no additional semester hours) with a course from the Natural, Quantitative, and Social Sciences category or the Culture, Society, and the Arts category.

Natural, Quantitative, and Social Sciences

• Natural Sciences: a minimum of 7 s.h.; must include one lab
• Quantitative or Formal Reasoning: a minimum of 3 s.h.
• Social Sciences: a minimum of 3 s.h.

Culture, Society, and the Arts

• Historical Perspectives: a minimum of 3 s.h.
• International and Global Issues: a minimum of 3 s.h.
• Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts: a minimum of 3 s.h.
• Values and Society: a minimum of 3 s.h.

Career Advancement

• Because the film and TV industries include a wide array of jobs, the cinema degree is not a direct track to any one specific career, but it does provide a solid foundation for entry into this field.
• University of Iowa graduates have found work on sets in Hollywood and New York as location managers, editors, camera assistants, writers, producer’s assistants, location managers, casting agents, and more.
• Graduates also have found work in San Francisco, Chicago, Milwaukee, Seattle, and many other cities, with jobs in distribution, programming, documentary research, and education, among others.
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes in the Occupational Outlook Handbook that occupations for film and video editors and camera operators are expected to grow by 18% over the next decade, which is much higher than average job growth.
• Related jobs in broadcast and sound engineering are expected to grow by 9%, and film archivist and curator positions are expected to grow by 11%, both much higher than average.

Four-Year Graduation Plan

• The following checkpoints list the minimum requirements students must complete by certain semesters in order to stay on the university's Four-Year Graduation Plan.
• Courses in the major are those required to complete the major; they may be offered by departments other than the major department.

Sample Plan of Study

• Sample plans represent one way to complete a program of study.
• Actual course selection and sequence will vary and should be discussed with an academic advisor.
• For additional sample plans, see MyUI.

Academic Plans

• Students may use elective courses to earn credit towards the total s.h. required for graduation or to complete a double major, minors, or certificates.
• The Pomerantz Career Center offers multiple resources to help students find internships and jobs.
• Cinema students also have the option to enroll in CINE:3080 Film/Video Production: The Business of Filmmaking, a course devoted to careers in cinema as well as CINE:2863 Film/Video Production: Film Festival, where students run an internationally recognized documentary film festival.