World Cinemas Minor Concentration (B.A.) (18 credits)
Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 18
Program Description
The Minor Concentration World Cinemas instructs students in film aesthetics, history, and theory by acquainting them with cinematic practices from different national and international traditions. This interdisciplinary program draws on the already existing teaching and research activities in several departments within the Faculty of Arts and will serve as an institutional context for future teaching and research endeavors in film studies.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (6 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EAST 279 | Introduction to Film History. 1 | 3 |
Introduction to Film History. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to representative periods, movements and styles in the history of cinema, as well as questions of film historiography. | ||
| ENGL 277 | Introduction to Film Studies. | 3 |
Introduction to Film Studies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to key concepts in film studies. Exemplary works from the history of film will be studied to introduce students to such topics as the aesthetics of film; sound's production of meaning; film as narrative; film and genre; period and national cinemas; film's role in culture. | ||
| LLCU 279 | Introduction to Film History. 1 | 3 |
Introduction to Film History. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to representative periods, movements and styles in the history of cinema, as well as questions of film historiography. | ||
Complementary Courses (12 credits)
12 credits selected from the course list below with the following specifications:
a minimum of 6 credits in non-U.S. cinemas;
a maximum of 6 credits from any one department.
No more than 6 credits may be taken from the same discipline as the student's other major or minor concentrations.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CANS 300 | Topics in Canadian Studies 1. | 3 |
Topics in Canadian Studies 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An historical explanation of the Canadian experience of nationalism from the Patriotes to the First Nations, with reference to politics, economics, iconography, ideology and multicultural experience. | ||
| EAST 353 | Approaches to Chinese Cinema. | 3 |
Approaches to Chinese Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Development of Chinese film in the 20th century, with an emphasis on both critical approaches to film as well as film history. | ||
| EAST 361 | Animation and New Media. | 3 |
Animation and New Media. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Animation and new media in East Asia, with an emphasis on postwar developments. | ||
| EAST 362 | Japanese Cinema. | 3 |
Japanese Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course will study the development of film in Japan during the 20th century with a particular focus on the analysis of film form, genres and history. | ||
| EAST 368 | Asian Genre Cinemas. | 3 |
Asian Genre Cinemas. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course explores the historical and aesthetic dimensions of Asian genre cinemas in a regional framework, in relation to varied social and cultural phenomena. Genres explored include the gangster film, martial arts action, horror, revenge, melodrama, period drama, and documentary. | ||
| EAST 369 | Gender and Sexuality in Asian Media. | 3 |
Gender and Sexuality in Asian Media. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In this course, we examine contesting notions of gender, sexuality, femininity, and masculinity in Asian cinema and media. We study how individual works negotiate the social discourses on gender and sexual representation, identities, and performance, and how we may borrow conceptual frameworks from queer theories and histories at large to discuss them. | ||
| EAST 454 | Topics: Chinese Cinema. | 3 |
Topics: Chinese Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced seminar in selected themes and issues in Chinese film. | ||
| EAST 467 | Topics: Japanese Cinema. | 3 |
Topics: Japanese Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Topics in the study of Japanese cinema. | ||
| EAST 564 | Structures of Modernity: Asia. | 3 |
Structures of Modernity: Asia. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course explores relations between some of the principal sites which structure the experience of "modernity" in Asia (and elsewhere) - from bodies and cities, to the urban context in general. Along with general approaches (e.g. the idea of everyday life; questions of time), specific topics may include speed, music, architecture, crime, etc. | ||
| ENGL 279 | Introduction to Film History. | 3 |
Introduction to Film History. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to key historical moments, cinematic movements, formal styles, as well as historiographical and theoretical debates in the history of world cinema. | ||
| ENGL 280 | Introduction to Film as Mass Medium. | 3 |
Introduction to Film as Mass Medium. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to film's social, historical, and technological contexts, including its relationships to other mass media. | ||
| ENGL 350 | Studies in the History of Film 1. | 3 |
Studies in the History of Film 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Developments in proto-cinema and early cinema through the silent era. | ||
| ENGL 351 | Studies in the History of Film 2. | 3 |
Studies in the History of Film 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Developments in the Hollywood Studio Era, including rivals, imitators, and alternatives. | ||
| ENGL 354 | Sexuality and Representation. | 3 |
Sexuality and Representation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Topics on representations of sexuality with reference to its cultural contexts. | ||
| ENGL 363 | Studies in the History of Film 3. | 3 |
Studies in the History of Film 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Developments in post-1958 cinema, from the European New Waves to contemporary global and independent cinemas. | ||
| ENGL 366 | Film Genre. | 3 |
Film Genre. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A discussion of an individual genre of cinema; concept of genre. | ||
| ENGL 374 | Film Movement or Period. | 3 |
Film Movement or Period. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of a significant movement or period in film history. | ||
| ENGL 379 | 3 | |
Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. | ||
| ENGL 381 | A Film-Maker 1. | 3 |
A Film-Maker 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Studies in the history of film: the works of a major director. Topic varies each year. | ||
| ENGL 382 | International Cinema 1. | 3 |
International Cinema 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Studies in the history of film by period or nation. Topic varies by year. | ||
| ENGL 385 | Topics in Literature and Film. | 3 |
Topics in Literature and Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A topic in literature and film. Topics vary by year. | ||
| ENGL 391 | Special Topics: Cultural Studies 1. | 3 |
Special Topics: Cultural Studies 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Current issues in cultural studies. Topics will include contemporary debates on high culture and the literary canon, and the question of aesthetic value and aesthetic judgment. | ||
| ENGL 393 | Canadian Cinema. | 3 |
Canadian Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of Canadian cinema. | ||
| ENGL 451 | A Period in Cinema. | 3 |
A Period in Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth examination of a significant historical period in cinema's development, early silent era to present. | ||
| ENGL 476 | Alternative Approaches to Media 1. | 3 |
Alternative Approaches to Media 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of alternative uses of contemporary media with particular emphasis on the forms of independent video and community television and their relationship to mainstream television and film. | ||
| ENGL 479 | Philosophy of Film. | 3 |
Philosophy of Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Philosophical approaches to and topics in the study of cinema. | ||
| ENGL 480 | Studies in History of Film 1. | 3 |
Studies in History of Film 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Studies in the history of film. | ||
| ENGL 481 | A Film-Maker 2. | 3 |
A Film-Maker 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Studies in the history of film. | ||
| ENGL 482 | International Cinema 2. | 3 |
International Cinema 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Intensive study of a particular tradition or movement in international cinema. | ||
| ENGL 483 | Seminar in the Film. | 3 |
Seminar in the Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth study of a topic related to film. Topic varies by year. | ||
| ENGL 484 | Seminar in the Film. | 3 |
Seminar in the Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth study of specific topics related to the film, which vary from year to year. | ||
| ENGL 492 | Image and Text. | 3 |
Image and Text. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of the relationship between verbal and visual aspects of a range of cultural artifacts. Topics may include iconography; illuminated manuscripts; book illustrations; cartoons and caricature. | ||
| ENGL 585 | Cultural Studies: Film. | 3 |
Cultural Studies: Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced study of a specific topic in film. | ||
| FILM 499 | Internship: World Cinemas. | 3 |
Internship: World Cinemas. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Internship with an approved host institution or organization. | ||
| FREN 310 | Cinéma français. | 3 |
Cinéma français. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Étude d’oeuvres ou de courants du cinéma français. | ||
| FREN 311 | Cinéma francophone. | 3 |
Cinéma francophone. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Étude d’oeuvres ou de courants du cinéma francophone. | ||
| FREN 315 | Cinéma québécois. | 3 |
Cinéma québécois. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Étude thématique du cinéma québécois à travers ses principaux films. | ||
| GERM 357 | German Culture in European Context. | 3 |
German Culture in European Context. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A comparative examination of selected moments in German literary, artistic and cultural history in relation to broader European movements; focus on influences, exchanges and dialogues across national boundaries. | ||
| GERM 369 | The German Novel. | 3 |
The German Novel. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Sustained engagement with the major texts of the German novel from Grimmelshausen to the present. | ||
| GERM 370 | Special Topics in German Film. | 3 |
Special Topics in German Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Intensive study of selected topics and periods in German film history. | ||
| GERM 373 | Weimar German Cinema. | 3 |
Weimar German Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Weimar Cinema brought to the screen a world populated by monsters, lunatics, workers, vamps, strangers, and doubles. These figures embodied the tensions and fears of the Weimar period (1919-1933) in a manner that continues to attract audiences today. This course explores the cultural and political history of the Weimar period through Weimar cinema. It aims to introduce the student to the fundamentals of film analysis, especially formal analysis and textual analysis. | ||
| HISP 340 | Latin American Cinema. | 3 |
Latin American Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of representative films, directors and movements of the region. Topic specified by instructor. | ||
| HISP 341 | Spanish Cinema. | 3 |
Spanish Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of representative films, directors and movements of the region. Topic specified by instructor. | ||
| HIST 435 | Topics in South Asian History. | 3 |
Topics in South Asian History. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth discussion and research on a topic in the history of South Asia. | ||
| ITAL 329 | Italian Cinematic Tradition. | 3 |
Italian Cinematic Tradition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Italian films in original language. Films are examined from a wide historical and cultural perspective. Introduction to issues and preoccupations central to the Italian cultural tradition. | ||
| ITAL 374 | Classics of Italian Cinema. | 3 |
Classics of Italian Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Key works in the history of Italian cinema; an in-depth analysis of a few exceptional works; emphasis on the complex web of relationship connecting each work to a wide range of cultural products and expressions, from literature to popular culture, in Italy and internationally. | ||
| ITAL 375 | Cinema and Society in Modern Italy. | 3 |
Cinema and Society in Modern Italy. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A survey of the most important trends in post-war Italian cinema seen in the context of the rapidly and dramatically evolving society of modern Italy. | ||
| ITAL 477 | Italian Cinema and Video. | 3 |
Italian Cinema and Video. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Different Italian film maker or videomaker every year, presenting a selection of his/her significant works. Discussions will include script analysis, interviews, articles and books by the director in focus, in addition to theoretical and critical statements by scholars. Established and new directors will be considered alternately. | ||
| LLCU 200 | Topics in Film. | 3 |
Topics in Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This seminar focuses on a special topic in European and/or transatlantic film and visual culture. | ||
| LLCU 300 | Cinema and the Visual. | 3 |
Cinema and the Visual. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This seminar examines topics in European and/or transatlantic cinema and visual culture, including film theory, aesthetics and historiography; media archeology; cinema and the digital; film and philosophy; cultural histories of the cinema; and approaches to moving images. | ||
| MUHL 330 | Music and Film. | 3 |
Music and Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The modern genre of music for films, and its changing styles (symphonic, jazz, pop compilation) from the silent era to today. Includes study of major film composers in North America and other traditions; analysis of the role of music in cinematic narrative, expression and symbolism. | ||
| PLAI 500 | Advanced Interdisciplinary Humanities Seminar. | 3 |
Advanced Interdisciplinary Humanities Seminar. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Co-taught seminar will use and explore a range of theoretical and methodological approaches to interdisciplinary research in the humanities in the study of a selected cultural problem or topic, text, artwork, aesthetic or medium. | ||
| RUSS 213 | Introduction to Soviet Film. | 3 |
Introduction to Soviet Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course aims to familiarize undergraduates with the topics, figures, and concerns of Soviet film history. Students will watch and analyze films by Soviet directors including Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergei Parajanov, Kira Muratova, Larisa Shepitko, and many others in the context of their historical periods, movements, and writings. Students will learn to analyze images and cinematic techniques, as well as assess their historical, ideological, and cultural significance. | ||
| RUSS 395 | Soviet Cinema: Art and Politics. | 3 |
Soviet Cinema: Art and Politics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course explores the relationship between art and politics in the cinema of the Soviet Union. Students taking this course will gain a familiarity with the films and writings of Soviet directors. They will also learn the basics of formal, textual, and historical film analysis. | ||