I've found references to a film program at NYU in the 1940s in the trades, but I
don't think there was one in 1923.
Susan
--
Susan Ohmer, Ph.D.
The William and Helen Kuhn Carey Assistant Professor
of Modern Communication
Department of Film, Television and Theatre
University of Notre Dame
DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts
230 Performing Arts Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556-4600
Phone: (574) 631-7671
Fax: (574) 243-0782
email: [log in to unmask]
Quoting Tim Shary <[log in to unmask]>:
> I've often heard that Christian Metz earned the first Ph.D. in cinema
> studies, but that may well be myth.
>
> There were two dissertations on motion pictures in the 1920s in the U.S.,
> and none before:
>
> MOTION PICTURES: A STUDY IN SOCIAL LEGISLATION
> YOUNG, DONALD RAMSEY
> UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
> 1922
>
> THE APPLICATION OF MOTION PICTURES TO EDUCATION
> DAVIS, ROY LEFEVRE
> NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
> 1923
>
> As for the departmental issue, I doubt that NYU had a graduate cinema
> studies program in 1923. Neither of the above works seem to actually study
> film content though, and almost all early film dissertations tend to be
> about education or psychology. Outside of that realm, the earliest two I
> could find are:
>
> CENSORSHIP OF MOTION PICTURES IN THE UNITED STATES: A HISTORY OF MOTION
> PICTURE CENSORSHIP AND AN ANALYSIS OF ITS MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS
> LITZKY, LEO
> NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
> 1947
>
> FROM BOOK TO FILM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT OF NOVELS AND THE
> MOTION PICTURES BASED UPON THEM
> ASHEIM, LESTER E.
> UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
> 1950
>
> And in terms of dissertations that seem to be more in the realm of
> today's cinema studies, I found four in the early '50s:
>
> DANCING IN COMMERCIAL MOTION PICTURES
> HUNGERFORD, MARY J.
> COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
> 1951
>
> A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN MOTION PICTURES WITH SPECIAL RESPECT TO FOUR
> CLASSES OF CHARACTERS
> LICHTENBERG, PHILIP
> CASE WESTERN RESERVE
> 1952
>
> THE IDENTIFICATION OF PROPAGANDA IN MOTION PICTURES
> LITTLE, MARTIN E.
> UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
> 1953
>
> AMERICAN MOTION PICTURES IN NORWAY: A STUDY IN INTERNATIONAL MASS
> COMMUNICATIONS
> GEIS, GILBERT L.
> UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
> 1954
>
> This is still within the U.S. though, and it seems likely that a cinema
> Ph.D. was granted in Europe much earlier. Again, the question remains if
> the dissertation was done within a "Cinema Department", and when such
> departments formed. That is more of an educational history question, but
> certainly one worth pursuing.
>
> Perhaps an even more intriguing question is when was the first cinema
> studies Ph.D. written by a student with a professor who also had a cinema
> studies Ph.D.? My guess is that it did not happen until the '70s.
>
> I am curious to hear other responses in this query.
>
> Tim
>
> Dr. Timothy Shary
> Director of Screen Studies
> Associate Professor of Screen Studies
> Traina Center for the Arts
> Clark University
> Worcester, MA 01610
> 508-793-7285
>
>
>
> on 1/24/06 4:08 PM, Krin Gabbard at [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > When and where was the first Ph.D. in cinema studies awarded? I'm
> > interested in a variety of opnions. For example, do we count a degree
> > granted in an English or a Philosophy department for a dissertation
> > entirely about movies?
> >
> > Thanks to all for your help.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > krin
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> > Krin Gabbard
> > Professor of Comparative Literature and English
> > Humanities 2048
> > State University of New York
> > Stony Brook, NY 11794-5355
> > (631) 632-7460
> > (631) 632-5707 (fax)
> >
> > ----
> > Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
> > http://www.ScreenSite.org
> >
>
> ----
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>
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