History of Art and Film

BA Film Studies and the Visual Arts

The BA Film Studies and the Visual Arts degree at the University of Leicester offers an exciting and wide-ranging approach to the study of Film and Visual Arts. We aim to stimulate your interest and enthusiasm, and broaden your knowledge of film and the visual arts, as well as to develop your intellectual, writing and research skills.

• Description
• Course structure
• Further information

Film is at the heart of the course, into which History of Art is also dynamically integrated. Students are able to draw upon the teaching and research expertise of the Department of History of Art and Film, but also of the School of Modern Languages, the Centre for American Studies and the Department of Media and Communication.

The first year is designed to provide a foundation for increasingly challenging and focused modules taken in the second and third years. First year introductory modules provide a grounding in film analysis and the history of film and art; the second year modules include the study of American, European and World cinema, while more specialised options in the third year compliment your personal research project into an aspect of film and the visual arts of your choice.

The degree concentrates on the study of film and the visual arts, but opportunities are also provided for practical filmmaking experience. Use is made of the University’s collection of films on VHS and DVD, which can be viewed in the Goddard Room, the Department’s resource room for individual viewing. There is a dedicated Film Studies Seminar Room, while the University Film Theatre is used for lectures and screenings. Other facilities include the Arts Faculty MultiMedia Centre, and the Department’s own Slide Room. Leicester is home to the well-respected independent cinema, The Phoenix, and to the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, which holds one of the best collections of German twentieth century art outside Germany.

The Film Studies and Visual Arts degree will prepare you for possible career paths in a range of fields: for example, film distribution, cinema management, arts administration, museum and gallery work, journalism, advertising, public relations, marketing or advertising. All graduates will develop practical abilities in researching and writing, working with others, time management, and oral presentations. You will cultivate your ability to address complex problems, and will gain a range of essential analytic and critical skills.

Course structure

Year One
Semester One	Semester Two
Introduction to Cinema Reading Film Plus one Supplementary subject from a wide choice - e.g. American Studies, Practical Art, Archaeology, Politics, English or Spanish.	Realism and the Cinema and either Introduction to the History of Art II or Theory and Practice of Art History Plus one Supplementary subject
Year Two
Semester One	Semester Two
American Film and Visual Culture Film Production Plus one module selected from a range of Film Studies or History of Art, currently including Introduction to French Cinema and Contemporary Mexican Cinema	Researching World Cinemas Long Essay Plus one module selected from a range, currently including Contemporary Spanish Cinema
Year Three
Semester One	Semester Two
Dissertation Plus two specialist modules from a range currently including: Almodóvar Hollywood and Melodrama Italian Post-War Directors Silent Cinema British Film and Society Boundaries: Genre Painting in Nineteenth-Century England Film Text/Film Context	Dissertation Plus two specialist modules from a range currently including: American Filmmakers and the Studio System The Cinema of Luis Buñuel Conceptual Art and its Aftermath Silent Cinema Orientalism British Art and Modernism in the Twentieth Century British Television Drama

Further information

Summary of Admissions Information
University Prospectus entry
History of Art and Film Staff
Admissions Tutor