Film Studies and Modern History

Film studies and modern history is a combination that places cinema as both an art form and a historical document at the centre of an inquiry into the modern world. Film studies offers comprehensive coverage of global film cultures, using critical, theoretical, and historical approaches to examine one of the most significant cultural and artistic forms of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It asks how films are made, how they create meaning, how they reflect and shape the societies that produce and consume them, and how the history of cinema intersects with broader cultural, political, and technological histories.

Modern history situates film within a wider account of the forces that have shaped the contemporary world, developing the analytical and archival skills to understand both.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year full-time programme is delivered as a Scottish MA (Hons), giving you an unusually broad and deep engagement with both disciplines across the full duration of the degree. You will develop your critical and analytical engagement with cinema through close reading of films, engagement with film theory and history, and the study of different national and transnational film traditions, alongside a rigorous training in historical research, primary source analysis, and historical argumentation. A year abroad is available, giving you the opportunity to engage with film and history in an international educational context.

With a typical entry tariff of 200 UCAS points, this is a competitive programme at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. Graduates pursue careers in film criticism and journalism, broadcasting, cultural programming, arts and heritage management, education, academic research, publishing, and the many analytical and communication-intensive roles across the public and cultural sectors. Many continue to postgraduate study in film studies, cultural history, heritage, media, or related humanities disciplines.