The Program

Source: https://afvs.fas.harvard.edu/program-requirements Parent: https://afvs.fas.harvard.edu/academics

Residence and Academic Standing

Two years of enrollment for full-time study are a minimum requirement, as well as at least fourteen courses with no grade lower than B.

Courses

• A minimum of fourteen courses must be completed by the end of the second year. Normal progression would include eight courses in the first year and six courses in the second.
• Of these fourteen courses, one is required: AFVS 272, Film and Visual Studies. AFVS 272 is .
• At least seven of the fourteen courses must be at the 200 level.
• In addition, at least seven of the courses must be chosen from a list of courses approved for credit by the Film and Visual Studies Graduate Committee, or as approved by the director of graduate studies (DGS).
• The remaining courses (including courses in other departments or transferred from other schools) may be either the 200 or 100 level.
• One of the non-200 level courses may be taken as a 300-level reading and research course, but not before the second term of residence. Other reading and research courses will be permitted in exceptional circumstances, and with the confirmation of the professor that the work is essential to the student’s program and not offered elsewhere in the existing curriculum.

Credit for Work Done Elsewhere

• Students entering the Graduate School who have done graduate work elsewhere may apply for transfer of credit at the end of one full term of satisfactory work.
• The amount and kind of credit shall be decided by the DGS with the advice and consent of the FVS Graduate Committee, but in no case will it exceed four courses (16 credits). The decision will be partially based on the nature of students' work done elsewhere and on their record in their first year at Harvard.

Language Requirements

Advanced reading knowledge of one foreign language is required. This language must be relevant to the student's program of study and confirmed as such by the DGS. Students must provide evidence of language skills comparable to two full years of university study in one of two ways: (1) a grade of B or better on a proficiency examination administered by the relevant language department or (2) successful completion (a grade of B or better) of a full second-year or higher course of study taught in a foreign language. Please note that first- and second-year language courses do not count towards the FVS course requirements.

Incompletes

No more than one Incomplete may be carried forward at any one time. Students must complete the work of the incomplete course before the end of the following term, even if the student’s registration status during that term is leave of absence, unless they are given an earlier deadline by the instructor. This policy includes courses in the student’s plan of study taken outside of Film and Visual Studies. Normally, additional Incompletes will be considered “permanent” and may not be completed at a later date.

Additional courses will need to be taken in place of any permanent Incompletes, unless or until the required number of courses has been completed.

Delay in completing the fourteen courses will necessitate the postponement of the student’s general examination to the following academic year. A student who is still unprepared to take the examination at that time will not be permitted to continue in the program.

Students may not take an Incomplete in any course during the second term of the second year.

(Non-Terminal) Master of Arts (AM)

• Students must complete at least eight four-credit courses in Film and Visual Studies, maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.5 (B+) in all classes.
• One of these eight courses must be AFVS 272 Film and Visual Studies.
• Students are also required to have as many 200-level courses as 100-level.
• No more than one reading course is allowed for credit.
• Students must fulfill the language requirement.

Advising

In the first year of graduate study, students will be advised primarily by the DGS. After the first year, working with the DGS, the student will identify a faculty member as their advisor. The student will then consult that faculty member and the graduate coordinator to formalize this agreement. If a student is unable to identify an advisor by the end of the first year, the DGS will remain their default advisor. By the end of their second year, however, students must have found a regular advisor.

When considering an advisor, students should select a faculty member who would be a likely dissertation director. The dissertation director will assume primary responsibility for advising the thesis, with a second and third reader involved to a greater or lesser degree according to the disposition of the student and the primary advisor. The dissertation director and advisers will also help students choose and prepare field topics for the general examination.