The Doctoral School of Film and Intermedial Studies at the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania offers scientific and professional doctoral studies in the field of film and media studies.
The establishment of this Doctoral School is motivated by the imperative need to establish an academic framework suitable for training specialists capable of conducting advanced research in a field that is not only of great importance in contemporary culture, but is also undergoing continuous expansion under the impact of the rapid transformations of digital technologies. In order to respond proactively to today’s challenges, it is essential to train experts capable of: a) generating fundamental and applied research on cinematic and media phenomena, with a particular focus on the interactions between old and new media; b) conceptualising practice-based research projects, combining artistic creativity with the depth of theoretical reflection; c) playing an active, innovative role in cultural and educational institutions, becoming agents of progress for arts education and creative industries.
As a distinguishing feature from similar programs in the country, this doctoral school proposes a priority research direction focused on intermediality studies, thus contributing to the consolidation of a polycentric and specialized academic landscape. Unlike classical approaches to film theory and history, the study of intermediality specifically highlights interactions, juxtapositions, influences, and “contaminations” between different media (the complex relationships between film and other arts or media, between cinema and new media, between analogue and digital, etc.).
Furthermore, this niche not only ensures a robust differentiation from other schools at the national level, but is also in line with the avant-garde of media studies internationally. At present, intermediality studies represent a leading frontier in the international academic environment, being essential for deciphering the complex mechanisms of digital culture.
Researching intermediality in the digital and post-digital era – in which moving images have become an integral part of everyday existence – is not just an academic option for the study of film, but a critical necessity for understanding the hybrid media landscape of our everyday reality, the cognitive, aesthetic, and affective processes generated by the dynamics of media networks. Moving images have long since crossed the threshold of cinemas, entering art galleries and everyday life. We live in a social and cultural context in which life is constantly mediated and re-mediated, and cinematic experiences are ubiquitous. This Doctoral School aims to offer a vision of cinema and the dynamics of media in constant interdependence and change, connected to social practices.
The program spans four academic years and includes: a) a training program based on advanced university studies; b) an individual scientific research/artistic creation program. The training is provided in Hungarian and/or English, and doctoral theses may also be written and defended in either Hungarian or English.
The established research directions allow, on the one hand, the study of cinematic phenomena from various historical and theoretical perspectives, and on the other hand, they focus specifically and emphatically on cutting-edge research that addresses the relationship between the arts and communication media (questions of intermediality), as well as on interdisciplinary methodologies – approaches that are considered highly relevant in the context of contemporary culture.
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The Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania is the independent university of the Hungarian community in Romania, which aims at providing education to the members of our community and performing scientific research on a high professional level.
Rector's Office
400112 Cluj-Napoca, str. Matei Corvin nr. 4
Tel.: +40 723 614 525, fax: +40 264 593 688
E-mail: office
sapientia.ro
