Graduate Studies in Literature and Film

The area of study in film and literature is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary examination of the relationships between traditional literary study and the cinema. This focus is designed for students from a wide variety of undergraduate degrees (communication, education, English, film, theater, etc.); for teachers in the broad range of language skills and art; and for professionals in the media. Its purpose is to study how the cinema engages, appropriates, and extends the forms, philosophies, and values of literature.

Track II only: at least 36 semester hours required

Required Courses in English (15 semester hours)

ENGL 501 Bibliography and Methods of Research

ENGL 504 Topics in Materials for the English Classroom (when topic is film)

ENGL 590 Literature and Film

ENGL 591 Topics in Literature and Film (6)

Electives in modern British and American literature, rhetoric, or theory and criticism (12-18)

Course work in communication studies, instructional technology, history, and/or philosophy, with consent of adviser (3-9).

Electives from outside the department are typically chosen from those listed below:

COMS 454 Transnational Communication and Media

COMS 456C History of Film: Before 1950

COMS 456D History of Film: After 1950

COMS 457 The Documentary Tradition

COMS 462 Film Theory and Criticism

COMS 466 Narrative Scriptwriting

COMS 549 Media and Culture in Ireland

COMS 556 Feminist Film Theory

ETT 430 Survey of Instructional Technology

ETT 455 Media Design Techniques

ETT 531 Visual Literacy

PHIL 462 Philosophy of Culture

PHIL 533 Aesthetics

Elective Courses (12-18 semester hours)

With the faculty adviser’s approval, students may choose electives from a wide variety of courses offered by the English department, such as courses in rhetoric, criticism, and literature.

For further information, contact:
Dr. Christoph Lindner
Department of English
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 753-6642
clindner@niu.edu