Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies, Concentration in Moving Image Studies

The Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies, Concentration in Moving Image Studies is specifically designed to provide students with the conceptual and methodological tools to study the complex and vastly expanded moving image environment of the 21st century, where the boundaries separating cinema, television, and new media are breaking down. Moving Image Studies is an outgrowth of cinema studies, television studies, new media studies, cultural studies, and critical theory. Many of our core seminars are designed to cut across media boundaries (by examining how models, paradigms, and methods are problematized and enriched as we move across specific media); while other seminars are devoted to intensive examination of problems within a specific media formation.

The Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies is thus designed to give students a solid foundation in a specific moving image medium (whether cinema, television, or new media), while at the same time giving them the preparation and the confidence to research and write about moving images wherever they circulate. Our concentration encourages innovative new work that challenges existing paradigms of media study, that is theoretically rigorous, and that is aware of historical and cultural specificities.

The Moving Image Studies concentration provides strong mentoring toward professionalization of our doctoral students. Both faculty and students are active participants in our professional organization, the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS). Our doctoral students regularly present their work at SCMS and at other film-media conferences across the country, such as the Flow Conference, World Picture, and MIT’s Media in Transition Conference. In addition, our department is home to the Media Commons site, In Media Res, and all doctoral students have opportunities to work with this online journal.

The city of Atlanta, a major world media center, offers students in the Moving Image Studies concentration a wealth of opportunities. The High Museum regularly programs cutting-edge series in world cinemas, while annually the Georgia State University Department of Latin American studies mounts a week-long conference which includes a festival of new Latin American cinema. The Moving Image Studies concentration maintains close ties with both CNN and Turner, both invaluable resources for students doing research in television industries, history, or global media flows. Nearby Emory University is home to the Atlanta Institute for Psychoanalysis, while Georgia Tech has cutting edge research programs in digital culture and gaming. (Students in the Moving Image Studies concentration may opt to take a small number of elective courses from these universities.)