World Cinemas Program
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.
Program note: ENGL 279, EAST 279 and LLCU 279 all fulfill the requirement for the minor. They are all the same course with different course numbers.
Prospective Undergraduate Students
- Are you interested in studying at 涩里番?
Consult 涩里番 Undergraduate 涩里番 for information related to programs, faculties, finances, and more. - Interested in applying to 涩里番 for an undergraduate degree in Arts?
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.
Advising
I want to take a new course in cinema, but it鈥檚 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 the Program Director at ara.osterweil [at] mcgill.ca (ara[dot]osterweil[at]mcgill[dot]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鈥檓 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 涩里番 may apply towards a program. That said, a student may count no more than 6 credits away from 涩里番 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. Download: Degree Audit Sheet
I鈥檓 taking English Cultural Studies, but I don鈥檛 understand the problem with the courses and counting to both programs?
涩里番 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 鈥渆xemption鈥 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 涩里番 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
There are two required courses for this minor: ENGL, EAST or LLCU 279 and ENGL 277. ENGL 279, EAST 279 or LLCU 279 all fulfill the requirement for the minor. If you are completing a Major or Minor Concentration in English Cultural Studies, ENGL 277 must count towards that program, and you must replace it with an additional complementary course from the course offerings for the Minor Concentration in World Cinemas, in consultation with an affiliated faculty member of World Cinemas.
- Minor Concentration
- 2025-2026 Course Offerings
- 2024-2025 Course Offerings
- 2023-2024 Course Offerings
- 2022-2023 Course Offerings
- 2021-2022 Course Offerings
- 2020-2021 Course Offerings
- 2019-2020 Course Offerings
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.
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. | ||
- 1
Take either EAST 279 Introduction to Film History. or LLCU 279 Introduction to Film History..
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途 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 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: this course is not currently offered. 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: this course is not currently offered. 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: Summer 2026 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 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 | Cin茅ma fran莽ais. | 3 |
Cin茅ma fran莽ais. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. 脡tude d鈥檕euvres ou de courants du cin茅ma fran莽ais. | ||
| FREN 311 | Cin茅ma francophone. | 3 |
Cin茅ma francophone. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. 脡tude d鈥檕euvres ou de courants du cin茅ma francophone. | ||
| FREN 315 | Cin茅ma qu茅b茅cois. | 3 |
Cin茅ma qu茅b茅cois. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. 脡tude th茅matique du cin茅ma qu茅b茅cois 脿 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
Course Offerings 2025-2026
Fall 2025
ENGL 381, A Filmmaker: Zacharias Kunuk
ENGL 374, Film Movement or Period: Indigenous Film and Television
ENGL 351, Studies in the History of Film 2: Contemporary Cinema
ENGL 382, International Cinema 1: Global Horror
ENGL 277: Introduction to Film Studies
ENGL 585: Ecology of Film
ITAL 375: Cinema and Society (a survey of Italian Post-WW 2 cinema)
GERM 373, Weimar Cinema
RUSS 395, Soviet Cinema, Art and Politics
JWST 209: Jews in Film
EAST 362 Japanese Cinema
EAST 478 Topics: Korean Film and Media (
EAST 353 Approaches to Chinese Cinema
Winter 2026
ENGL 280: Film as Mass Medium: Cinematic Adaptation
ENGL 350: Studies in the History of Film 1: Films of the 1940s
ENGL 359: Poetics of the Image
ENGL 366: Film Genre: Teen Film
ENGL 385: Topics in Literature and Film: Adaptations of Shakespeare
ENGL 481: A Filmmaker 2: John Cassavetes and American Independent Film
EAST 368: Asian Genre Cinemas
ITAL 477: Italian Cinema and Video (on 鈥淎daptation and Intermediality鈥)
LLCU 300: Cinema and the Visual: Decolonizing Cinema: Latin America
RUSS 350: Central European Film
RUSS 398: Soviet Women Filmmakers
Course Offerings 2024-2025
Fall 2024
Winter 2025
Course Offerings 2023-2024
Fall 2023
(fall, taught in Spanish)
Winter 2024
(winter, taught in French)
/ (winter, taught in English)
(winter, taught in Spanish)
Course Offerings 2022-2023
Fall 2022
Winter 2023
/ (crosslisted)
[course link 472]
(taught in French)
Course Offerings 2021-2022
Fall 2021
(taught in French)
/ (crosslisted)
Winter 2022
/ (crosslisted) (taught in French)
Course Offerings 2020-2021
Fall 2020
EAST 279 - Introduction to Film History / ENGL 279 - Introduction to Film as Art (crosslisted)
EAST 353 - Approaches to Chinese Cinema
EAST 564 - Structures of Modernity: Asia
ENGL 277 - Introduction to Film Studies
ENGL 351 - Studies in the History of Film 2
ENGL 365 - Studies in the History of Film 3
ENGL 484 - Seminar in the Film
Winter 2021
EAST 368 - Asian Genre Cinemas
EAST 454 - Topics: Chinese Cinema
ENGL 385 - Topics in Literature and Film
ENGL 585 - Cultural Studies: Film
FREN 315 - Cinema Quebecois / QCST 300 - Quebec Culture and Society (crosslisted)
GERM 357 - Germain Culture in European Context
HIST 435 - Topics in South Asian History
ITAL 477 - Italian Cinema and Video
Course Offerings 2019-2020
Fall 2019
Winter 2020
/ (crosslisted)
/ (crosslisted)
Complementary Courses
- 2021-2022 Approved Complementary Courses
- 2020-2021 Approved Complementary Courses
- 2019-2020 Approved Complementary Courses
Approved Complementary Courses 2021-2022
In addition to the courses approved on the eCalendar, 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.
Fall 2021
(taught in Spanish)
Winter 2022
Approved Complementary Courses 2020-2021
In addition to the courses approved on the eCalendar, 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.
Approved Complementary Courses 2019-2020
In addition to the courses approved on the eCalendar, 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.