Storytelling to Inform, Inspire, and Incite

Documentary Studies and Production combines cinema production, journalism, television production, photography, and critical studies courses so you'll develop the variety of skills needed to tell important documentary stories. 

We think we have one of the best programs of its kind in the nation. It’s no accident that our student films achieve impressive media distribution and regularly appear in festivals and contests around the world. In both 2020 and 2019, our students were finalists in the prestigious national College Television Awards. One Nation Under Guns was a 2020 finalist. 

Create films that can change the world for the better and start DAY ONE.

In your very first semester, you will most typically enroll in  Cinema Production 1, Introduction to Journalism, Documentary Immersion, and Introduction to Film Aesthetics and Analysis. In these courses you will get a chance to not only make work and write new stories right away and but also to expand your understanding of the histories, economics, and aesthetics of this complex field. 

Where Are Our Alumni?

Our students are well-prepared to assume roles in news organizations, production houses, and to function as independent documentarians. Many of them secure prestigious grants and fellowships; for example, we have had three recent graduates accepted into the very selective Sundance Ingite Fellowship program.

Crystal Kayiza's documentary See You Next Time which was programmed at the Sundance Film Festival.  You can watch it on The New Yorker’s YouTube site. 

Check out our alumni page to see the broad range of possibilities and opportunities opened up to you with this degree.

Documentary Studies Program Contact Information

Questions about the Documentary Studies program? Please contact

John Scott, Program Director
Associate Professor, Media Arts, Sciences and Studies