International Master in Cinema Studies explained

I/MA/C/S
Full Name:International Master in Cinema Studies
Formation:2006
Fields:Film studies, film theory, media studies
Membership:17 institutions
Membership Year:2023
Leader Title:Coordinator
Leader Name:Prof Miriam De Rosa
Students:58
Students Year:2022

IMACS (stylized as I/MA/C/S)[1] is a network, initiated in 2006, of European and American research universities collaborating for research,[2] student exchanges, seminars, publications and delivering the International Master in Cinema Studies, an international graduate programme in film studies that started in 2010. Together with the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies, IMACS also hosts lectures in the fields film and media studies.[3] In 2023, IMACS consists of 17 member institutions in 10 countries.

IMACS aims to unite a series of prestigious, research intensive universities in the scope of academic film theory and history, including Birbeck, University of London, the University of Amsterdam and Université de Montréal. Scholars such as André Gaudreault, Jean-Michel Frodon, Laura Mulvey and Marco Maria Gazzano have held seminars for and contributed to the development of the IMACS network.[4]

Description

The IMACS consortium was created by a series of academics with the aim of putting together, under a single name and programme, a series of advanced courses in the fields of film and media studies, and giving students the opportunity to study at three universities of the network, preferably each in a different country.

IMACS started as a bilingual English and French network (located in Wallonia, Quebec and France, half of the founding members use French as primary language) and was originally also titled MIECA (for Maîtrise internationale en études cinématographiques et audiovisuelles). With the addition of new members, the network gradually moved to the exclusive use of English as the lingua franca. In 2023, the consortium is made up of institutions based in France, Italy, Belgium, England and Scotland, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and Canada.[5]

The International Master in Cinema Studies degree

The IMACS program is designed as a two-year degree[6] built around seminars that are organised in each participating institution. By completing the IMACS degree, a student will have spent at least half of his studies abroad from the main institution of registration. In Europe, IMACS is facilitated through the Erasmus+ scheme, and in most cases, students obtain grants to travel to the various countries.[7]

The International Master in Cinema Studies is an advanced theoretical program, which aims to prepare students for academic research and doctoral studies. Member institutions are thus not allowed to include any practical classes within their IMACS curriculum.[8] Admission to the program and to each institution is related to the student's research project and planned subject for a thesis.

The IMACS network has set up a series of sixteen modules that correspond to a minimum of subjects that have to be covered during each of the Master program's four academic semesters.[9] This guarantees that in whichever member university a given pupil is studying, the courses' syllabi will have equally covered the minimum material per each subject. Personal research and writing takes a particularly important role, as the final dissertation counts for the equivalent of at least one entire semester.

Admission to the International Master in Cinema Studies is highly selective: for each member of the network, only 2 to 5 students are allowed to be admitted every year.

History

The IMACS network started in 2006 as the "International Consortium of Audiovisual and Film Studies", with the aim of constructing a common international curriculum in film studies. The latter was launched four years later, in September 2010. It consisted of eleven European universities, and one Canadian, the University of Montréal. The international curriculum was called "International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies" (hence the acronym IMACS) or, in French: "Master international en études cinématographiques et audiovisuelles" (abbreviated MIECA). In the middle of the 2010s, the program was renamed to "International Master in Cinema Studies" (pertaining the short name IMaCS, stylized as I/MA/C/S).

In 2012, the Goethe University of Frankfurt joined the network.[10] The network didn't enlarge further until 2018, when the Brazilian Federal University of Juiz de Fora integrated IMACS,[11] later joined by St Andrews and Stockholm University in 2020,[12] and Ca' Foscari University of Venice in 2021.

Members

Member institutionDepartmentCountryYear joined
data-sort-value="Graz, University of" Birbeck College LondonDepartment of Film, Media and Cultural StudiesUnited Kingdom2010*
Ruhr University BochumInstitute for Media StudiesGermany2010*
Pompeu Fabra UniversityDepartment of CommunicationSpain2010*
Università Cattolica del Sacro CuoreDepartment of Communication and Performing ArtsItaly2010*
University of UdineDepartment of Humanitites and Cultural Heritage StudiesItaly2010*
Roma Tre UniversityDepartment of Philosophy, Communication and Performing ArtsItaly2010*
University of LilleDepartment ArtsFrance2010*
University of LiègeDepartment Media, Culture, CommunicationBelgium2010*
Université de MontréalDepartment of Art History and Film StudiesCanada2013 (Master's)*
University of AmsterdamDepartment Media StudiesNetherlands2010*
Paris Nanterre UniversityEducation and Research Unit PHILLIAFrance2010*
Sorbonne Nouvelle UniversityFilm and Audiovisual DepartmentFrance2010*
Goethe University FrankfurtInstitute for Theater, Film and MediaGermany2012
Federal University of Juiz de ForaInstitute of Arts and DesignBrazil2018
University of St AndrewsDepartment of Film StudiesUnited Kingdom2020
Stockholm UniversityInstitute for Media StudiesSweden2020
Ca' Foscari University of VeniceDepartment of Philosophy and Cultural HeritageItaly2021
*founding members.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: I/MA/C/S International Master in Cinema Studies . 4 February 2023 . imacsite.net.
  2. Gonçalves Pinto . Paulo T. . 8 February 2022 . Resisting Brazilian Neofascism Through Drone Imagery in (New) Hegemonic Media: The Case of Petra Costa's The Edge of Democracy (2019) . Intermediality: History and Theory of the Arts, Literature and Technologies . 37–38 . 1–29 . 10.7202/1086255ar . research-creation (...) as part of the ongoing International Master in Cinema Studies program from Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, partially carried out at Université de Montréal and Université Sorbonne Nouvelle.
  3. Web site: NECS Graduates . 12 October 2022 . The Call for an Image-Object by Miriam De Rosa – NECS/IMACS Lecture Series . Facebook.
  4. Web site: IMACS: International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies . 30 January 2023 . prospects.ac.uk.
  5. Web site: IMACS – International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies – Ein internationales Vertiefungsstudium der Film- und Medienwissenschaft – Standort Frankfurt . 3 February 2023 . medienwissenschaft-studieren.org . de.
  6. Web site: IMACS: International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies (MLitt) . 2 February 2023 . postgraduatesearch.com.
  7. Web site: 18 January 2023 . IMACS – International Master in Cinema Studies Diploma supplement . unive.it.
  8. Web site: Presentation of the International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies . 4 February 2023 . MIECA (Master international en études cinématographiques et audiovisuelles).
  9. Web site: January 2014 . Maquette-cadre (par semestre) International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies . 3 February 2023 . miecaimacs.files.wordpress.com . fr .
  10. Web site: Ein internationales Vertiefungsstudium der Film- und Medienwissenschaft . uni-frankfurt.de . de . Der Studiengang "International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies" wird ab dem Wintersemester 2012/13 vom Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienst gefördert..
  11. Web site: Postgraduate Program in Arts, Culture and Languages . 4 February 2023 . ufjf.br.
  12. Web site: International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043350/https://imacsite.net/ . 6 March 2019 . 23 December 2022 . imacsite.net.