Directorate of the Institute of Film and Media Studies
First Published: Monday, September 23, 2024
Last Update: Monday, September 1, 2025

At its meeting on August 2, 2023 (Resolution 2023/7), the Senate of Boğaziçi University approved the establishment of the Institute of Film and Media Studies. Following deliberation and endorsement by the Turkish Higher Education Council (YÖK) General Assembly on August 22, 2024, the Institute was officially founded and commenced operations with Presidential Decree No. 8991 on September 19, 2024.

The Boğaziçi University Institute of Film and Media Studies aims to launch Turkey’s first graduate programs offered entirely in English at a public university in the fields of film and moving image studies, global screen cultures, media studies, digital cultures, contemporary media arts, and sound studies. In this way, the Institute seeks to fill a critical gap in higher education. Initiated in 2022, the establishment process gained formal recognition in the fall of 2024 through the approval of the Higher Education Council and the Presidential Decree. Dr. Cihat Arınç was appointed as the founding director.

The Institute began its academic activities with the Certificate Program in Film Studies. Initially run under the Department of Western Languages and Literatures since 1998, the program was unanimously transferred to the Institute by Senate resolution 2025/2 on July 24, 2025, and subsequently redesigned. Drawing on curricula from leading undergraduate film and media studies programs in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe, the renewed program offers a more comprehensive, integrated, and advanced curriculum that combines theoretical depth with practical training. As of the 2025–2026 academic year, the program launched its first FILM-coded courses. In Fall 2025, students are offered a wide selection of courses ranging from film history and screenwriting to film production, genre studies, animation, and video games.

The updated curriculum, which has long attracted strong student interest, introduces a multilayered framework that addresses the historical development of cinema, theoretical debates, and contemporary film aesthetics. To qualify for the certificate, students must successfully complete eight courses in total. By treating cinema not only as a mode of storytelling but also as a reflection of socio-cultural and technological transformations, the program prepares students to graduate not just as viewers, but also as creative practitioners and critical thinkers.

Alongside academic training, the Institute also stands out through its monthly thematic film screenings. Since December 2023, these screenings have taken place in the 61-seat cinema hall at Mithat Alam Hall, conducted strictly within the legal framework of non-commercial, educational use. Each month, curated programs featuring around twelve films bring together classics of film history and contemporary works organized around a central theme. The screenings are open free of charge not only to Boğaziçi University students but also to students from other universities with valid identification.

The Institute of Film and Media Studies continues its activities at Mithat Alam Hall. Originally constructed in 1931, the building was rebuilt in 2000 with the support of the late Ahmet Mithat Alam and served for many years as the Boğaziçi University Mithat Alam Film Center. Following administrative restructuring in 2023, it was renamed Mithat Alam Hall. Today, it stands as a modern academic hub at the intersection of graduate education and cultural programming. With a vision of fostering global engagement in both education and research, the Institute continues to strengthen and expand its academic and cultural mission.

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