Programs

The World Cinemas program was established to coordinate faculty expertise and student interest in different national and international cinematic traditions. It offers courses across various departments, primarily in Arts, in order to train students to approach film studies from a variety of traditions and locations, while introducing them to different modes of cinematic practice and production from around the world.

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.

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) - Minor Concentration World Cinemas(18 Credits)

    Offered by:English
    Degree:Bachelor of Arts

Program Requirement:

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.

Required Courses (6 credits)

* Take either EAST 279 or LLCU 279.


  • EAST 279 Introduction to Film History 3 Credits*
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 277 Introduction to Film Studies 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • LLCU 279 Introduction to Film History 3 Credits*
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer


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.


  • CANS 300 Topics in Canadian Studies 1 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 353 Approaches to Chinese Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 361 Animation and New Media 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 362 Japanese Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 368 Asian Genre Cinemas 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 369 Gen & Sex in Asian Media 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 454 Topics: Chinese Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 467 Topics: Japanese Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • EAST 564 Structures of Modernity: Asia 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 279 Introduction to Film as Art 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 280 Intro to Film as Mass Medium 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 350 Studies in the Hist of Film 1 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 351 Studies in the Hist of Film 2 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 354 Sexuality and Representation 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 363 Studies in the Hist of Film 3 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 366 Film Genre 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 374 Film Movement or Period 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 379 Film Theory 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 381 A Film-Maker 1 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 382 International Cinema 1 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 385 Topics in Literature and Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 391 Spec Top:Cultural Studies 1 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 393 Canadian Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 450 Film Aesthetics 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 451 A Period in Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 476 Alt Approaches to Media 1 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 479 Philosophy of Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 480 Studies in History of Film 1 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 481 A Film-Maker 2 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 482 International Cinema 2 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 483 Seminar in the Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 484 Seminar in the Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 492 Image and Text 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ENGL 585 Cultural Studies: Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • FILM 499 Internship: World Cinemas 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • FREN 310 Cinéma français 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • FREN 311 Cinéma francophone 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • FREN 315 Cinéma québécois 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • GERM 357 German Culture in Euro Context 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • GERM 369 The German Novel 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • GERM 370 Special Topics in German Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • GERM 373 Weimar German Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • HISP 340 Latin American Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • HISP 341 Spanish Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • HIST 435 Topics in South Asian History 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ITAL 329 Italian Cinematic Tradition 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ITAL 374 Classics of Italian Cinema 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ITAL 375 Cinema&Society in Modern Italy 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • ITAL 477 Italian Cinema and Video 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • LLCU 200 Topics in Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • LLCU 300 Cinema and the Visual 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • MUHL 330 Music and Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • PLAI 500 Adv Interdisc Humanities Sem 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • RUSS 213 Introduction to Soviet Film 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer

  • RUSS 395 Soviet Cinema:Art and Politics 3 Credits
      Offered in the:
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Summer


Advising

I want to take a new course in cinema, but it’s not listed on the course page?

Sometimes new courses are created, or topics courses are offered that we are unaware of. Please obtain a syllabus for this course and email it to undergradadvising.english [at] mcgill.ca. The course must have a significant focus on world cinemas in order to be approved. If it is deemed acceptable by the Program Director, they will advise whether it count towards Non-US cinemas, or towards the World Cinemas offerings.

I’m going on exchange, can I take courses there?

Yes. As with any student going on exchange, it is imperative that you plan your courses carefully. You will have to go through the formal procedure to have courses approved, but keep in mind that only 1/3 of courses outside of McGill may apply towards a program. That said, a student may count no more than 6 credits away from McGill towards the Minor Concentration World Cinemas.

Do I need to have the Program Director sign a degree audit sheet in order to graduate?

No. We highly recommend that students do self-audits on a regular basis and that you consult the Program Advisor to see if you are on track to graduate. You can get the Degree Audit sheet here: https://www.mcgill.ca/worldcinemas/forms.

I’m taking English Cultural Studies, but I don’t understand the problem with the courses and counting to both programs?

McGill regulations on course overlap forbid students from counting the same course for two programs, or from taking two courses that have significant overlap and having those both count towards a degree. If you are in the Cultural Studies stream, you are required to take ENGL 277 as part of that stream. It is also a required course for the World Cinemas Minor, but you are not allowed to count the course towards both programs, thus you must replace those 3 credits, with an additional 3 credits from the World Cinemas offerings.  You would receive an “exemption” from ENGL 277 for the World Cinemas program, since it is being applied towards the English Cultural Studies minor.

Can I do an internship in Film?

Yes. All internships must be approved by the Faculty of Arts Internship Program, the instructor at McGill supervising the internship here, and the Program Director in order for credit to be obtained. All approval procedures must be completed prior to starting the internship. Please see complete information on internships here.

Do you have a graduate program in World Cinemas?

At the present moment we do not have a formal graduate program in World Cinemas. There are other departments who have professors who specialize in cinema, but a graduate degree would be from that department.

Course Offerings 2023-2024

Fall 2023

ANTH 304: Chinese Culture in Ethnography and Film

ENGL 381, A Filmmaker 1: Zacharias Kunuk

ENGL 378, Media and Culture: Introduction to Canadian Inuit, Métis and First Nations Literature, Video, and Film

ENGL 472: Topics: Cultural Studies 2: Feminist Cultural Studies Video and Performance

EAST 362, Introduction to Japanese Cinema

EAST 368, Asian Genre Cinemas

GERM 371: Introduction to German Cinema

HISP 439: Revolution, Dictatorship & Activism in Latin American Cinema (fall, taught in Spanish)

ITAL 374, Classics of Italian Cinema

JWST 309, Jews in Film: The Jewish documentary

RUSS 397: Tarkovsky: Cinema and Philosophy

Winter 2024

EAST 454: Chinese Cinema

ENGL 359, Poetics of the Image

ENGL 380, Non-Fiction Media: Cinema, Television, Radio

ENGL 388, Studies in Popular Culture: Canadian Inuit Film and Television

ENGL 366, Film Genre: The Teen Film in U.S. Cinema

ENGL 441, Special Topics in Canadian Cultural Studies: Feminist Media in Montreal

ENGL 481, A Filmmaker 2: Todd Haynes

ENGL 479, Philosophy of Film

FREN 315, Cinema Quebecoise (winter, taught in French)

GERM 372, Topics in German Cinema

HISP 301/LLCU 300 Decolonizing Cinema (winter, taught in English)

HISP 341, Spanish Cinema (winter, taught in Spanish)

ITAL 307, Fascism in Italian Literature and Film

ITAL 477, Italian Cinema and Video: The Spaghetti Western

LLCU 300: Cinema and the Visual

RUSS 395, Soviet Cinema: Art and Politics

Course Offerings 2021-2022

 

Approved Complementary Courses 2021-2022

In addition to the courses approved on the E-calendar, this list comprises courses that will be accepted by your advisor for credit towards your Minor concentration in World Cinemas

Note: This list  exceptionally applies only to these courses as they are offered in Fall 2021 - Winter 2021. Do not take these courses in a different year and assume that they will count towards your program; when in doubt contact your program advisor.

Course Offerings 2020-2021

 

Approved Complementary Courses 2020-2021

In addition to the courses approved on the E-calendar, this list comprises courses that will be accepted by your advisor for credit towards your Minor concentration in World Cinemas

Note: This list exceptionally applies only to these courses as they are offered in Fall 2020 - Winter 2021. Do not take these courses in a different year and assume that they will count towards your program; when in doubt contact your program advisor.


 

Course Offerings 2019-2020

 

Approved Complementary Courses 2019-2020

In addition to the courses approved on the E-calendar, this list comprises courses that will be accepted by your advisor for credit towards your Minor concentration in World Cinemas

Note: This list  exceptionally applies only to these courses as they are offered in Fall 2019 - Winter 2020. Do not take these courses in a different year and assume that they will count towards your program; when in doubt contact your program advisor.

Prospective Undergraduate Students

Are you interested in studying at McGill University? Please consult McGill Undergraduate Admissions for this, as well as information related to programs, faculties, finances, and more.

Interested in applying to McGill for an undergraduate degree in Arts? Please consult Enrolment Services for undergraduate admissions requirements and procedures. Applications for undergraduate programs are done through Enrolment Services, not individual departments. If you have a program specific question about the Minor in World Cinemas, please email our advisor.

 

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