Arts & ScienceThe Department focuses on the history, theory, and criticism of film, television and new media, and also offers training in the production of film, video and digital media. Through the study of film and television, we address related issues, such as ideology and power, communication, aesthetics, advertising and consumption, economics, and spectatorship. We examine other forms of cultural expression-- literature, painting, music, architecture--as they impact on film and television, and we examine the role of cultural industries and institutions in relation to film.
Although Film and Media is principally an Arts (rather than a Fine Arts) department, media production is central to our curriculum, and is a fundamental means to the achievement of our principal pedagogical goals: cultural awareness and literacy in language, image, sound, and film and video technology. Production as we teach it integrates creative expression; a strong grounding in film history, theory, and criticism; and an acute awareness of cultural issues. This rounded curriculum covers educational areas and skills that prepare students for a variety of professional careers including, but not restricted to, work in the film and television industries.
2025-26 New Modular Degree Plans
First-year students choosing their degree plans this May/June will be the first cohort to register in our new modular degree plans.
Nearly all departments in Arts and Science are offering modular degree plans that allow you to combine almost any Arts and Science plan, customizing your degree program to match your personal interests and career or future education pathway.
These plans will allow you to combine a wide range of subjects to focus on within your degree that has not been possible until this point. Depending on how you structure your degree, you can also benefit from increased room for electives, because the modular plans will each have fewer requisites overall.
The Modular Degree Framework
Whether it’s a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Bachelor of Science (Honours), Bachelor of Computing (Honours), or Bachelor of Music degree that you’re pursuing, the total number of units that you need in order to have that degree conferred is 120.0.
Just like the previous degree and plan structures, within those 120.0 units, the plan option(s) that you choose will help you understand what specific courses are required for you.
You can think of your degree as a container that will be filled once you are ready to graduate.
Think of the plan options – majors, minors, specializations – as building blocks that you are going to use to fill the container. Because the plans have different amounts of units, there are different ways that you can stack them within your degree. Elective units are also a key part of an undergraduate degree in Arts and Science, and these will be used to top up that container to reach the 120.0 units you need.
Here are a few important things to keep in mind
- If you choose a major (48 units), you also need to choose one of the following:
- one minor
- two minors, or
- a second major
- Specialization will require 60 core/options and 60 electives.
- Minors will require 24 core/options.
Review the Modular Degree Plans in the 2025/26 Arts and Science Calendar, which will be published online in June.
For more details visit 2025-26 Plan Selection.
2024-2025 Academic Plans for Film and Media:
Media and Performance Production (MAPP) Plan
Computing and the Creative Arts (FILM) Plan
If you have any questions about these previous plans please contact Dan Vena at undergraduatefilm@queensu.ca.
Film & Media Degree Plans 2024-25
Please Film & Media Plan Thresholds for more information.
Special Field Concentrations
Media and Performance Production: This Plan administered in partnership with the Dan School of Drama & Music, with sufficient electives to total 120 units, will lead to a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree. For more information see
(The Stage and Screen (STSC) Specialization has been redesigned as Media and Performance Production (MAPP) Specialization. Students currently enrolled in the Stage and Screen Specialization will still be able to complete this degree but some of the required courses have been renamed as MAPP courses).
Computing & the Creative Arts: This Plan offered with the School of Computing, with sufficient electives to total 120 units, will lead to a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree. For more information, visit the .
For academic advisement on MAPP or COCA plans please contact Alicia Kupinski or Dan Vena, at undergraduatefilm@queensu.ca.
More Information
See Course Offerings for the current year.
For full details on degree requirements, also see the Arts & Science Calendar.
For details on admission requirements and academic regulations, see the and the .
Students with questions or problems regarding courses, registration or timetables should contact Alicia Kupinski or Dan Vena at undergraduatefilm@queensu.ca.
