All candidates for the Ph.D. in Cinema and Media Studies must complete comprehensive examinations after completing the required course work.

1. The exam will be comprised of two parts - a written exam, and an oral defense. The student will select the exam committee in consultation with the graduate adviser.
   
   
2. The written exam will be comprised of three (3) equally weighted areas defined by three "lists" covering three areas of study.
   
   These areas will be defined by generally canonical criteria: genre, period, nationality, movements, etc., but are not prescribed by the department.
   
   
   Alternately, one area may be defined by the student as a way of tailoring a list to a special research interest.
   
   
   CMS faculty will supervise the development of the lists to ensure that central texts are not omitted, that the lists cover an appropriate range of materials, including films, and that a balance of issues, periods, debates, etc. are engaged by the student. At least two members of the exam committee must be committee members.
   
   
   Each list will include approximately 30 "items." An item is a flexible unit that may be a book, a group of articles, a group of films, or, at times, a single [substantial] work - the number and nature of an "item" will be negotiated between faculty member and student.
   
   
   To ensure consistency, all lists will be approved by the chair or designated faculty delegate. At least four weeks prior to the scheduled exam, the student should return a completed approval form and a copy of the approved lists to the Cinema and Media Studies office, Gates-Blake 405. Approval forms are available from the CMS office.
3. Essay questions will be prepared by the faculty in advance of the written exam date.
   
   
4. The student will determine the sequence in which the written exam will be administered, specifying which list will comprise the first portion of the exam, which the second, and which the third. At 9:00 a.m. on a mutually selected date the student will pick up the first question or questions of the written exam. The student will return the completed essay by 5:00 p.m. the next day. The student may pick up the remaining two portions of the exam at 9:00 a.m. on subsequent days, at his or her own pace, returning the exams the next day, by 5:00 p.m. The student will finish the written exam no later than two weeks after the starting date.
   
   
5. At the time of the written exam, the student will turn in a sample syllabus for a course based upon one or more of the lists. The syllabus will be discussed as part of the oral defense.
   
   
6. The faculty committee and the student will meet for an oral defense shortly after the written exam has been completed. Faculty will have evaluated the written portion, and will come with questions that respond to the written work. However, other aspects of the list will be considered fair game. The oral exam will last approximately 1.5 hours.