If you would like to concentrate in AFVS, we ask the following:
1. Students who would like to concentrate in AFVS need to have taken at least one AFVS course in their proposed area of focus, or be in the process of taking one their sophomore year, at the time of concentration declaration
2. Students who would like to concentrate in AFVS are asked to have an advising conversation with a member of the department. Please e-mail Paula Soares, Manager of Academic Program at soares@fas.harvard.edu, or call 617-496-4469 or e-mail Professor Matt Saunders, Director of Undergraduate Studies at msaunders@fas.harvard.edu for more information.
Click here for instructions on using the concentration declaration tool in my.harvard.
As you think about concentrating in AFVS, sketch out a concentration requirement checklist worksheet (linked below) for the area of AFVS in which you would like to focus. This is non-binding, but it is a very helpful tool when considering a plan of study; have it ready for your advising conversation!
Requirement Checklist: Film and Visual Studies
Requirement Checklist: Joint Film and Visual Studies
Requirement Checklist: Studio and Film/Video
Requirement Checklist: Joint Studio and Film/Video
The declaration deadline for the fall 2023 term is Wednesday, October 25, so we ask that you have an advising conversation by Tuesday, October 24 for all three types of concentration: regular, joint, and double.
Joint Concentration written statements are due no later than 5pm on Friday, October 20.
3. JOINT CONCENTRATIONS:
A joint concentration must culminate in a senior thesis acceptable to both departments, integrating the work done in each. Students wishing to combine AFVS with another concentration must send a written statement to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Professor Matt Saunders, (msaunders@fas.harvard.edu), describing what they hope to accomplish by combining the two concentrations no later than 5pm on Friday, October 20.
Five Things to Consider and Address in Your Joint Statement:
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Describe how you would join AFVS and the other concentration together in a cohesive thesis. This does NOT need to be a final vision for your thesis! We expect your thinking to change and will not hold you to what you write now. This requirement is to get you thinking concretely about what type of thesis you might do (What form? What medium?) and how a merging of your two fields of concentration might be approached.
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Can you include examples of past or possible future work to illustrate this?
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What is your main motivation behind joining AFVS and the other concentration?
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A joint concentration in AFVS requires 10 courses, total, which includes two semesters of the thesis course (AFVS 99A and AFVS 99B). Include a list of courses you have taken, and plan to take to fulfill these 10 requirements. This list can be hypothetical, and you are not bound to the courses, but providing the list shows that you have given thought to what courses you need to fulfill the requirements.
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Would AFVS be the primary field or the allied field of the joint concentration?
4. DOUBLE CONCENTRATIONS:
Please consider the distinction between a joint concentration and a double concentration. A joint concentration requires the completion of a thesis and a meaningful combination of two fields of study. A double concentration requires a few more courses (2 for AFVS, other concentrations vary) but no thesis. You may still elect to do a thesis as a double concentrator, but it is not a requirement as it is for a joint.
Students pursuing a double concentration must fulfill all 12 AFVS requirements. Check the Harvard College Student Handbook for full details about double concentrations and College honors here.
GENERAL INFORMATION about AFVS Areas of Focus:
Studio Arts and Film/Video Production
Those interested in the Studio Arts or Film/Video Production areas can choose from among several introductory courses in photography, filmmaking, animation, video art, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. These are course numbers AFVS 10-69 (intermediate studio and production courses are generally numbered AFVS 110-169). Note: AFVS 50A and B, the year-long introductory filmmaking course, is ordinarily taken starting in the fall of the sophomore year, and students should plan accordingly.
Film and Visual Studies
Students interested in the Film and Visual Studies can choose from a wide array of courses on the history and theory of the moving image, art, media and critical studies, generally numbers AFVS 70-79 and 170-299. AFVS 70 (The Art of Film) is required as an introductory course. See the detailed information about the FVS track below.