Purpose and Philosophy

The Department of Film and Media (F&M), in partnership with the Agnes Etherington Art Centre (AEAC) has developed the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in  Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies. The core concept in both degrees is the linkage of adjacent disciplines: film and media studies and, more generally, the study of visual culture, film and media production, and curatorial studies and practice.

The primary objective of the program is to provide integrated graduate level training for film/media/curation practices in both academic and non-academic professional applications. Graduates from the program will acquire comprehensive training, practical research and/or production experience while gaining an understanding of the entirety of the lifecycle of a film/media work and its reception, and gain knowledge, skills and critical insight to enable them to participate  professionally in creative exhibition, presentation and interpretive display contexts.  

The integration of the AEAC, an outstanding university and public art museum with extraordinary collections and talented specialist team, make the graduate program in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies unique in Canada. The slate of courses provide robust opportunities to participate in and benefit from experiential, applied learning through guided team projects and individual creative projects requiring active synthesis of research, analytical, presentation/communication, negotiation, consensus building, aesthetic discernment, networking and resource management skills. Importantly, and congruent with the premises of the graduate program, these skills will span the material and digital realms. The AEAC physical display spaces are paralleled by an active online program stream, which is now under major development as part of a 3-year digitization initiative.

Departmental Facilities

The F&M has a generous, well-equipped film/video production space. No upgrades are required. The F&M administers the Art & Media Lab, a well-equipped exhibition environment housed also in the IBCPA, and shared principally with the Cultural Studies Program. This exhibition facility will play an important role in the Graduate Program, providing students with a state-of-the-art space for exhibitions of film/media installation works and for the realisation of curatorial projects. All incoming students will require individualized desk/office space, which will be provided on the main campus.

F&M currently has a robust technical infrastructure, with ample support for state-of-the art information and media technologies. New, relevant software packages are added regularly, and existing ones are systematically upgraded. The department has a strategic plan, which is methodically updated, to remain abreast of current developments in all fields relevant to film and media scholarship and production.

The film and media holdings at the Stauffer library hold a robust collection of books, journals, and electronic resources (including moving image databases such as Criterion, Films-on-Demand, and the NFB/ONF). The Department of Film and Media has an extensive collection of analog and digital film and media works, approaching 3500 titles.

Financial Support

Graduate student receive funding through a combination of awards and employment. Queen’s Graduate Awards and various university awards (McLaughlin Scholarship, Graduate Entrance Tuition Award etc.) and other awards will be made available to domestic enrolled PhD students. The department also will be eligible to offer the PhD International Tuition Award.

Graduate students must apply for competitive fellowships for which they are eligible,  both external (SSHRC CGS-M, OGS) and internal.

The department annually will hire a sufficient number of Teaching Assistants to be able to offer full-year TA funding to all PhD and MA students at steady-state. Once PhD students advance to candidacy, the department will hire its own students as Teaching Fellows.

Department faculty hold multiple internal and external grants that provide Research Assistant positions to graduate students.

Admission 

Applicants for the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy are accepted under the general regulations of the School of Graduate Studies.

Equity Admission Regulation

Queen’s University School of Graduate Studies is committed to enhancing diversity in graduate education which includes ensuring mechanisms for applications from prospective students who may not have had opportunity and advantage equal to others to be considered. In recognition that life circumstance may prohibit, present barriers, and/or discourage access to pursue advanced degrees, due consideration shall be given by the applicable graduate program personnel to the non-academic factors identified by the applicant, and the applicant’s special circumstances and unique qualities. Traditional measures of an applicant’s academic performance will be considered accordingly.

Admission Requirements, Doctor of Philosophy

• MA or MFA degree from a recognized university in film or media studies or cognate fields (communications, cultural studies, film and media productions, visual art, art history, popular culture)
• Minimum of B+ / 75% in the last two years of university study. Consideration will be given to applicants who demonstrate exceptional and relevant professional experience and achievement.
• Applicants whose native languages do not include English must obtain a passing score in one of the accepted tests of English language proficiency. Information can be found in the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies here: International Students.

Admission Requirements, Master of Arts

• BAH or BFA degree from a recognized university in film or media studies or cognate fields (e.g., communications, cultural studies, film and media productions, visual art, art history, popular culture).
• Minimum of B+ / 75% in the last two years of university study. Consideration will be given to applicants who demonstrate exceptional and relevant professional experience and achievement.
• Applicants whose native languages do not include English must obtain a passing score in one of the accepted tests of English language proficiency. Information can be found in the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies here: International Students.

Programs

SCCS 810, 910, 899 and 999 are 6.0 credit units.  SCCS 821  is a 1.0 credit unit course.  All other courses are 3.0 credit units.
Consult with the department for annual course offerings and schedule.

CORE COURSES:

SCCS 810 Professional Development in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies
his course combines professional development, a series of guest speakers, and the possibility for students if they so choose to undertake an internship related to their area of study. Professional development workshops will include sections of grant writing, conference presentation, strategies for the dissemination of their works, production and research ethics, and curriculum development. The course will run on a bi-weekly basis over the course of the academic year, alternating between professional development workshops and visiting speakers in screen cultures and curatorial studies. With the guidance of a supervisor, students will develop their own media practice, curatorial project, practice-based research, or research work, with the goal of realizing their project, and develop a timeline appropriate for the completion of a thesis in a timely manner. (6.0 credit units). Fall and Winter terms; D. Naaman.

SCCS 812 Critical and Theoretical Approaches to Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies 
Graduate course examining the key critical and theoretical tenets of Screen Cultures and curatorial studies. The course shall have both historical and contemporary components in order to situate the student within various fields of debate. An emphasis shall be placed on methodologies that best mobilize theoretical works in academic and artistic practices. Winter; S. MacKenzie

SCCS 814 Histories and Methodologies of Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies
This course will examine the various histories and methodologies applicable to screen cultures and curatorial studies. Drawing on a wide range of global media and the disciplines of film and media studies, curatorial studies, gender studies, and political and critical theory, the course addresses questions such as canonicity, globalization, alternative media practices, exhibition and circulation histories, minoritarian cinemas, research-creation, and diverse production practices. The course also emphasizes how questions about the intersection between production, circulation, and exhibition inform historical and methodological approaches to screen cultures. Students will deploy these histories and methodologies to design and inform their own research, creative, and curatorial projects. (Offered jointly with FILM-402). Fall; G. Kibbins

SCCS 821 Screen Cultures and Curatorial Summer Institute Micro Course
This micro course offers specialized in-depth instruction associated with the newly established SCCS Summer Institute. The summer institute will run for one week in August on a yearly basis. Each year it will focus on a different topic, led by a faculty member's research interest. Students taking the course will attend the summer institute and receive instruction by the lead faculty member prior to, and after, the institute's duration. Depending on the yearly topic, the course may offer intensely specific training in methods, theoretical engagement, or a specific historical perspective. (1.0 credit units)

SCCS 899 Master's Thesis or Project  

SCCS 900 Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies Practicum
This course is intended to support a student's PhD research through organizational and social experience gained from involvement with relevant on-campus and off-campus institutions, organizations, and community groups (such as the Agnes Etherington Arts Centre, The Union Gallery, Modem Fuel, The Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Reelout, etc). A SCCS faculty member will oversee each placement in collaboration with a member of the relevant organization or group.
PREREQUISITE: At least two SCCS courses, or permission of Graduate Coordinator.

SCCS 910 Professional Development in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies
This course combines professional development, a series of guest speakers, and the possibility for students if they so choose to undertake an internship related to their area of study. Professional development workshops will include sections of grant writing, conference presentation, strategies for the dissemination of their works, production and research ethics, and curriculum development. The course will run on a bi-weekly basis over the course of the academic year, alternating between professional development workshops and visiting speakers in screen cultures and curatorial studies. With the guidance of a supervisor, students will develop their own media practice, curatorial project, practice-based research, or research work, with the goal of realizing their project, and develop a time line appropriate for the completion of a thesis in a timely manner. (6.0 credit units)

SCCS 999 Ph.D. Thesis or Project

ELECTIVES COURSES:

SCCS 815 Studies in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies I 
Graduate course with specialized faculty focus, which may change from year to year. Topics may include: historiography; research-creation; archives and exhibition; on-line curation; digital media practice; images, activism, and the real; animation theory and practice. 

SCCS 818  Studies in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies II 
Graduate course with specialized faculty focus, which may change from year to year. Topics may include: new forms of authorship; Indigenous media; exhibition and performance; critical curatorial studies; diasporic cinemas; interactivity and media.

SCCS 820 Media Production Seminar 
This course will combine production and theory in order for students to learn how to create innovative, interdisciplinary, and informed media productions and analysis. It will include modules in pre-production, production, and post-production, as well as labs on a variety of analog and digital audio, video, and new media platforms. Winter; E. Pelstring
PREREQUISITE: FILM-250, or permission of instructor based on sustained creative practice.

SCCS 828 Critical Curatorial Seminar 
This graduate seminar course addresses the histories, theories and issues of curatorial practice as a tool of cultural agency and considers evolving paradigms of “the curatorial.” Through defined case studies and critical analysis, the class will investigate the forces and frameworks that shape the creation, presentation and meaning of art, ranging across such topics as exhibition formats including global circuits, audience formations, resources/markets, institutional types, belief systems/values, policy and politics, funders and philanthropists. Fall; A. Boutilier

SCCS 830 Curating in Context 
This production-oriented graduate course explores the development of exhibitions, programs and collections, with emphasis on drawing out and cultivating their relationship to context. Students will develop advanced understanding of method, applied standards and processes of innovation through projects fusing research, articulation, and creative collaboration. The course offers a framework to encounter and experience practical strategies for successful realization of artistic programs. Winter; S. Kerr

SCCS 840  Directed Reading 
Under supervision by a faculty member, graduate students may conduct intensive reading, curation, or production in an area not offered in core or elective courses that supports graduate research on applications of Screen Cultures, and curatorial studies. Readings and project are to be arranged in consultation with the sponsoring faculty member and joined by meetings during the term to discuss readings and submissions.