The Institute of Film and Media Studies is committed to advancing academic research and critical engagement with the shifting landscape of contemporary global audiovisual culture. To this end, the Institute supports scholarly and creative inquiry across four core areas: (1) film and screen cultures, (2) media and digital cultures, (3) contemporary media arts, and (4) sound and auditory cultures. These interrelated domains offer a comprehensive framework to examine the historical, theoretical, technological, aesthetic, cultural, and sociopolitical dimensions of visual and sonic media in local, transnational, and global contexts. By cultivating dialogue across disciplines and encouraging innovative methodologies, the Institute seeks to play a vital role in shaping contemporary scholarly discourses and creative experimentations in film and media studies—situating itself at the nexus of media, technology, art, and culture.

1. Film and Screen Cultures

Historical, theoretical, and critical research on the core topics of Film and Screen Cultures:

• World cinema, national film traditions, major film movements, and global screen cultures
• Transnational cinema, diasporic film traditions, and postcolonial/decolonial filmmaking practices
• Narrative cinema, documentary film, experimental film, and animation
• Film philosophy and cultural theory
• Film theory, analysis, and criticism
• Film narratology and aesthetics
• Screenwriting and film production
• Film genres and styles
• Film adaptation and intermediality
• Film, history, and memory cultures
• Visual anthropology and ethnographic cinema
• Representational politics and cinema: race, class, gender, and other identity markers on screen
• Film propaganda, ideology, and censorship
• Audience reception, spectatorship, and phenomenological approaches to film experience
• Film preservation, restoration, archiving, and moving image curation
• Video games as screen media and cultural texts
• Television, digital streaming platforms, and other time-based visual media

2. Media and Digital Cultures

Historical, theoretical, and critical examinations of the core topics of Media and Digital Cultures:

• Media archaeology and media historiography
• Media theory and philosophy of technology
• New media, internet culture, and immersive environments (VR/AR)
• Interactive platforms, social media networks, and the networked society
• Digital subjectivities, online identities, and fan communities
• Gaming, virtual worlds, and digital property
• Mediated memories in the digital age
• Surveillance culture, digital politics, and cyberactivism/hacktivism
• Media imperialism, digital colonialism, and forms of digital dissent and cyber-resistance
• Emerging media technologies and digital aesthetics
• The digital media ecology in the age of artificial intelligence

3. Contemporary Media Arts

Historical, theoretical, and critical inquiries into the core topics of Contemporary Media Arts:

• Aesthetics of audiovisual media
• Photography, video art, expanded cinema, and new media art practices
• Current trends in contemporary media arts
• The impact of innovative technologies on creative industries
• Big data and site-specific media arts
• Sound art, multi-screen installations, and multimedia performance
• Digital cultural heritage and archival experimentation
• Artistic practices involving artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Curatorial strategies and exhibition practices in film and media arts

4. Sound and Auditory Cultures

Historical, theoretical, and critical approaches to the core topics of Sound and Auditory Cultures:

• Sound in algorithmic, networked, and data-driven media environments
• The role of sound as both a technological construct and a cultural force within digital media ecologies
• The datafication and computational parsing of digital sound
• Platform-based economies of sound production and distribution
• Ethical and affective dimensions of machine listening and automated auditory surveillance
• The sociopolitical, cultural, ethical, and aesthetic dimensions of digital sound practices
• Inequities and neo-colonial formations in global auditory regimes
• Emergent sound cultures on streaming platforms and their implications for cultural production
• Spatialized sound systems and auditory architectures in contemporary life
• AI-generated soundscapes and the redefinition of sonic creativity
• Interactive sound installations and participatory listening environments
• Transformation of listening practices, creative subjectivity, and the politics of audibility in technologically mediated contexts
• Technologies of sound: radio, telephone, podcasting, and other audio media
• Critical analysis of film sound and music within audiovisual storytelling

Directorate of the Institute of Film and Media Studies
First Published: Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – Last Updated: Monday, September 1, 2025