Film Studies and History

Film studies and history is a combination that brings together two powerful ways of engaging with the past and with the cultural documents that the past has left us. Film studies examines cinema as an art form, an industry, and a cultural practice, exploring how films are made, what they mean, and how they have shaped and reflected the societies that produced and consumed them. History investigates the events, processes, and ideas that have shaped human societies over time, drawing on a wide range of sources and asking how we know what we know about the past and what it means for us today.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies, this three-year full-time programme with a foundation year brings a distinctive orientation to both disciplines, reflecting SOAS's unparalleled expertise in the cultures, histories, and film traditions of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The history component engages with the global past in a way that challenges Eurocentric frameworks, and the film studies component engages seriously with non-Western cinema as well as with the global reach of Hollywood and the transnational dimensions of contemporary screen culture. The foundation year provides a supported entry point before the main degree, developing the academic skills and foundational knowledge needed for success at degree level.

Graduates from film studies and history programmes go on to careers in arts and cultural organisations, broadcasting, journalism, education, archives, and film exhibition, as well as in a wide range of other fields that value analytical thinking and strong communication. The combination of visual literacy and historical understanding is particularly relevant to roles in heritage, cultural diplomacy, and the curation and preservation of moving image archives. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in film studies, history, cultural studies, or museum and archive practice.