Film and Television Studies

Film and television studies is an academic discipline that examines moving image media as cultural, historical, and artistic phenomena, using the methods and theories of the humanities and social sciences to ask how films and television programmes work, what they mean, who makes them and under what conditions, and what their relationship is to the societies and audiences that produce and consume them. It is a field that combines close textual analysis of particular works with broader historical, political, and economic analysis of the industries and institutions through which moving images are made and distributed.

At the University of East Anglia, you will study film and television studies over three years of full-time study. The curriculum introduces the major theoretical frameworks that have shaped the discipline, from formalism and semiotics through psychoanalytic and feminist film theory to more recent approaches drawing on cultural studies, cognitive science, and global cinema studies. You will develop skills in film and television analysis, engaging with works from a wide range of periods, national traditions, and genres, and situating them within their historical and industrial contexts.

The history of cinema and television, questions of genre and authorship, the politics of representation, and the economics of the media industries are all areas of study. UEA has a long and distinguished tradition in creative and critical work with film, and the academic environment is intellectually serious and engaged.

Graduates from film and television studies develop analytical and critical writing skills that are valued across many professional contexts. Careers in film and television criticism and journalism, broadcasting, publishing, and the arts draw on these skills directly. Museum, gallery, and archive roles, particularly in institutions with film or media collections, are further destinations.

Education, at secondary and further education level, is a route for those who want to teach. Many graduates move into roles in the film and television industries themselves, in production companies, distribution, and broadcast organisations, where critical knowledge of the field is valued alongside practical industry awareness. Postgraduate study in film studies, media studies, or screen studies is available for those who want to develop their critical expertise or pursue academic research.