The Theater Department and the Film, Television, and Digital Media Department are essential components of the rich intellectual, cultural, and professional life of UCLA. Depending on the degree involved, school programs are either strongly professional in nature, or oriented toward advanced scholarly study and research in an atmosphere that recognizes and often draws on studio practice.
Students in undergraduate courses receive a broadly based, liberal arts education within the context of either theater or film and television.
The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree programs prepare talented and highly motivated students for careers in the worlds of theater, film, television, and digital production. The MA and PhD programs engage students in critical study and research of these media, including their history, aesthetics, and theory; and they prepare students for advanced research within the context of college and university teaching, as well as for writing and research in a variety of media-related professions.
In the Theater Department, approximately 300 undergraduate and 80 graduate students interact with over 18 faculty members, outstanding guests of national and international standing, and a professional staff of 35 in an exciting artistic community of theater production and study. The theater and performance studies program offers CPhil and PhD degrees for advanced theater and performance. Resources include four Macgowan Hall complex theaters with the technologies needed for creation, control, and integration of scenery, lighting, and sound. Areas of emphasis in the Master of Fine Arts program include acting, design, directing, and playwriting.
The Film, Television, and Digital Media Department includes both production and critical studies programs, with approximately 275 graduate and 100 undergraduate students. Its 23 faculty members include leading scholars as well as members of the Los Angeles and international film and television professional communities. In production, graduate specializations are offered in the areas of film and television production, screenwriting, animation, and producing. The cinema and media studies program offers MA and PhD degrees for advanced scholarly study of film, television, and digital media. Department resources in Melnitz Hall include three sound stages; three television studios; extensive editing, scoring, and viewing facilities; a complete animation laboratory for traditional, stop-motion, and computer-generated animation; and a laboratory and research facility for digital media.
The MA and PhD programs are supported by UCLA library collections and the UCLA Film and Television Archive, the largest in the U.S. outside the Library of Congress. This archive forms a unique and priceless resource for research and classroom instruction. MA and PhD faculty members and students also participate in various campus organized research units.
Students interested in obtaining instructional credentials for California elementary and secondary schools should contact the Teacher Education Program, 1009 Moore Hall.
