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Cinema Studies
Cinema Studies
Where Critical Thinking Meets Creative Practice
The cinema studies major at the University of Oregon allows students to study moving image media at the intersection of intellectual study and creative practice. As a comprehensive liberal arts degree, the major cultivates an appreciation of the media arts, an ability to communicate ideas using a broad array of media, and a historical understanding of how various cultures tell their stories.
What You Can Do with a Degree in Cinema Studies
Students in the Department of Cinema Studies learn to work both as creators and as scholars. They read, think, and write, but also direct, shoot, and edit movies. As a result, they find they have a wide range of employment options when they begin their careers, including:
Producer/writer
Research analyst or scholar
Casting agent or associate
Production assistant or associate
Script assistant or associate
Script assistant or coordinator
Videographer
Creative director
Assistant director
Trailer editor
Careers for Undergraduates
Filmlandia Screening Series
The Department of Cinema Studies and the University Film Society celebrate Oregon’s rich film heritage with a new screening series showcasing movies with a unique Oregon connection––from locally shot features to stories written or directed by Oregon filmmakers. Discover Oregon’s reel legacy on the big screen while connecting with the university film community.
Filmlandia Screening Schedule
The Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Endowment
Through the generosity of Harlan (PhD ’74) and Rima Strauss, the Department of Cinema Studies is the recipient of the Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Endowment, which brings successful industry filmmakers and emerging talents to campus annually to interact closely with students. This major gift offers our students a unique and potentially transformative opportunity to engage with highly successful practicing filmmakers through coursework, workshops, and public screenings and conversations.
2026 Events with Director Rachel Lambert
Meet the Filmmakers
How a Degree in Cinema Studies Develops Your Career
"I'm proud to be a graduate of the Cinema Studies program at the University of Oregon and am so grateful for the community and classwork I got to experience while there. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2014, and not long after landed a production internship at Pixar Animation Studios where I still work, nine years later. I'm currently a Feature Relations Marketing Manager working alongside each of our productions to ensure that our films are represented accurately in our product development and marketing efforts. My degree in Cinema Studies cemented a foundational knowledge, history, and love of filmmaking, and provided me with invaluable hands-on practical production and post-production experiences through classes and workshops hosted by the program, which helped me break into the film industry with confidence and the curiosity to learn more."
-Maura Turner '14, Feature Relations Marketing Manager, Pixar Animations Studio
Our Degree Programs
The cinema studies major is distinctive in the Northwest because of the breadth of its offerings, its integration of critical study and creative production, and its strength in global cinema. Because cinema is inherently multidisciplinary, students take diverse courses from across the university in history, criticism, and aesthetics, as well as in digital production.
Undergraduate Degrees
BA or BS in Cinema Studies
Apply
Declare or Change Major
Visit UO
Learn from Experts in the Field
The Department of Cinema Studies is a community of scholars, filmmakers, and staff dedicated to providing students with a well-rounded study of cinema, television, and other forms of media. Our scholarship, pedagogy, and practice explore a range of media objects and their contexts, including history, artistry, industry, identity, geopolitics, and systems of power. Our department's shared mission is to use our critical and creative tools to amplify underrepresented voices, interrogate power, drive change, and be at the cutting edge of filmmaking practice and its academic study.
Research
Faculty Directory
Get Real-world Experience
Our students extend their learning beyond the classroom through numerous experiential learning opportunities. Immerse yourself in another culture while studying abroad, develop vital job skills in an internship, or conduct original research on a topic that sparks your interest.
Experiential Learning
Scholarships and Funding
Students in the Department of Cinema Studies can seek funding through the College of Arts and Sciences, which awards various scholarships both to incoming students and to those already attending the UO. In addition to university-wide opportunities for funding and scholarships, the Cinema Studies Department offers two scholarships to its undergraduate students: the James Ivory Undergraduate Essay Award.
Undergraduate Scholarships
Academic Support
Cinema studies majors can seek support from advisors in Tykeson Hall for help understanding their major or minor requirements, planning their course of study, exploring study abroad opportunities, and more.
Undergraduate Advising
Give to the Department of Cinema Studies
Learn More About Giving to CAS
Cinema Studies News and Events
Alexi Pappas returns to Eugene to inspire creators
March 31, 2026
CINEMA STUDIES — Alexi Pappas, MA '12 (interdisciplinary), is coming back to the Department of Cinema Studies to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her film, "Tracktown." The celebration includes a special public screening and live Q&A on April 23. In this story, Pappas answers questions about her inspiration and what she's learned since graduating.
Filmlandia celebrates Oregon’s film legacy
January 13, 2026
CINEMA STUDIES, IRES, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE, ENGLISH, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, FOLKLORE AND PUBLIC CULTURE — Filmlandia is a film series running during winter and spring 2026. Each term will feature seven film screenings that spotlight Oregon’s unmistakable cinematic fingerprints. The screenings are free and open to the public.
Kawai reconnects with Indigenous roots while creating a new Eugene-based feature film
December 10, 2025
CINEMA STUDIES — Associate professor Masami Kawai is making her first feature film, "Valley of the Tall Grass." It is both a personal journey and a community-centered story that expands the landscape of Indigenous filmmaking and invites audiences to consider the stories, people and objects we too often overlook. She's using Eugene, Oregon, as the backdrop.
All news
What is Research? (2026)
Apr
24
What is Research? (2026)
Apr 24
UO Portland
College of Arts and Sciences Liberal Arts Summit
Apr
24
College of Arts and Sciences Liberal Arts Summit
Apr 24
Erb Memorial Union (EMU)
"Beyond Extraction" Symposium and Film Screenings (Day 2)
Apr
24
"Beyond Extraction" Symposium and Film Screenings (Day 2)
Apr 24
Knight Library
ArcGIS Pro and the Makerspace: Laser-Cut Map Notebook
Apr
24
ArcGIS Pro and the Makerspace: Laser-Cut Map Notebook
Apr 24
Knight Library
"Radium Girls"
Apr
24
"Radium Girls"
Apr 24
Miller Theatre Complex
What is Research? (2026)
Apr
25
What is Research? (2026)
Apr 25
UO Portland
"Radium Girls"
Apr
25
"Radium Girls"
Apr 25
Miller Theatre Complex
"Radium Girls"
Apr
26
"Radium Girls"
Apr 26
Miller Theatre Complex
Jeremiah Public Symposium: Foodways in Early East Asia
Apr
28
Jeremiah Public Symposium: Foodways in Early East Asia
Apr 28
Museum of Natural and Cultural History
Dept. of History Seminar Series: “If the child dies, it will cost my life too, that cannot be avoided.” Suicide by Proxy, Social Discipline and the Psyche in Early Modern Germany
Apr
28
Dept. of History Seminar Series: “If the child dies, it will cost my life too, that cannot be avoided.” Suicide by Proxy, Social Discipline and the Psyche in Early Modern Germany
Apr 28
McKenzie Hall
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