Directorate of the Institute of Film and Media Studies
First Published: Friday, July 25, 2025
Last Update: Monday, September 1, 2025

As of the 2025–2026 academic year, Boğaziçi University’s Institute of Film and Media Studies has launched the Certificate Program in Film Studies with a fully renewed curriculum.

Originally established in 1998 under the Department of Western Languages and Literatures, the program was unanimously transferred to the Institute of Film and Media Studies by Senate resolution 2025/2 on July 24, 2025. Following this transfer, the curriculum was redesigned to integrate theoretical, historical, and practical components into a more cohesive structure. Developed through a detailed review of undergraduate programs in film and media studies at leading universities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe, the new curriculum offers a multidisciplinary and multilayered perspective spanning film history, film theory, aesthetic analysis, and contemporary screen cultures.

Balanced Integration of Theory and Practice

The program adopts an approach that combines theoretical depth with historical and aesthetic context while expanding the number and variety of practice-based courses in film production. Students are expected not only to acquire skills in film analysis but also to develop competence in creative processes such as screenwriting, visual aesthetics, sound design, editing, and post-production. In this way, the program encourages students to engage critically, interactively, and productively with today’s rapidly evolving audiovisual culture.

Under the new Senate-approved structure, students must successfully complete eight courses (3 credits each, totaling 24 credits) in order to qualify for the certificate. Courses are organized under five main categories:

1. Film Grammar, Theory, and Analysis
2. Film Aesthetics and Production
3. Genre, Adaptation, and Intermediality
4. Film History and Global Screen Cultures
5. Special Topics in Film Studies

Courses Offered in Fall 2025–2026

The first set of courses offered under the renewed curriculum in Fall 2025 includes:

FILM 302: Film History I: Beginning to 1960
FILM 325: Screenwriting V: Script Analysis
FILM 326: Making of a Film
FILM 416: The Historical Film
FILM 429: Animation I
FILM 431: Japanese Animation
FILM 436: Cinema and the Graphic Novel
FILM 437: Cinema and Video Games
FILM 48A: Special Topics: Screenwriting Everywhere All at Once
FILM 48C: Special Topics: Motion Graphics and Design

All courses are taught in English and provide a strong academic and practical foundation for students interested in the art of cinema. Looking ahead, the Institute of Film and Media Studies plans to introduce master’s and doctoral programs in the field. In this respect, the certificate program establishes a rigorous undergraduate foundation and serves as preparation for advanced academic study.

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