FAQs - Cinema Studies Minor

Q1: How Many Credits are in the Minor?
There are 15 credits in the Minor. Thus the normal requirement is to take five courses each bearing three credits. Your transcript at graduation will note that you have a Minor in Cinema Studies. 

Q2: How Long Will It Take to Complete the Minor?
Because there are only five courses in the Minor it can be completed in two or three semesters. However, it can be spread over the duration of your stay at City College.

Q3: Who Can Sign Up For The Minor?
All students from all majors are welcome. A passion for movies is assumed. A dedication to reading, writing, and analysis is required. Students should have a minimum GPA of 2.5. To sign up for the Minor, please see the Program Director, Professor Jerry W. Carlson.

Q4: What About Transfer Credits?
Courses from other schools may qualify for credit toward the Minor. The Program Director will evaluate transfer credits based upon a review of transcripts from the student.

Q5: What Else Goes On Besides Classes?
There are numerous screenings on campus beyond the classroom. Also, distinguished filmmakers, critics, and historians stop by City College with frequency. And just beyond the confines of our hill in Harlem is one of the great movie going cities in the world. There’s always something on a screen worth seeing.

Q6: When Is The Best Time To Take Courses?
You can start taking courses as early as freshman year. The first step is MCA 121: Introduction to Film Studies, which is offered every semester. Some students choose to spread the other four courses over a period of several years. Other students like to concentrate the four courses in a single year. In fact, there is no rule. The Minor is flexible in meeting the best rhythm for your learning and intellectual growth.

Q7: Do You Offer Internships?
No and yes. No, internships are not accepted as part of the five course sequence. But, yes, there are possibilities to find internships in programming or curating that generate elective credits. Please consult the Program Director, Professor Jerry W. Carlson.

Q8: What Good Is This Minor Anyway?
Will the Minor in Cinema Studies qualify you to be the next president of Warner Brothers just after graduation? Probably not. But who knows? What the Minor does do is give you a broader, keener set of critical thinking and writing skills about the media environment of the 21st century and its consequences. These are skills that can be applied directly and indirectly in any number of professional settings. In addition, the Minor is good preparation for advanced studies in the humanities or social sciences. Last but hardly least, the Minor doesn’t deny you the pleasures rendered by moving images; to the contrary, it intensifies and enriches those pleasures, no small treasure to carry with you for a lifetime.

Our FAQ does not replace or supersede the rules set out in the College Bulletin.