Film Studies Department,
Faculty of Philosophy and Arts,
Charles University in Prague

Film Studies became part of the Charles University in 1968 after being transferred from the Film and Television School at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). In this, Film Science was following a similar path as Theater Science, which had initially developed as part of the art school curriculum (DAMU) before being joined to Charles University. Being originally a component of Theater Science and later of Music Science, Film Science was not established as an independent field until the 1980s. In 1990, the fields of Film and Theater Science were separated from musicology and in 1996 the institutional development of the field culminated in the foundation of the independent Film Science Department – today the Film Studies Department.

The Film Studies Department currently offers a BA program (three years), an MA program (two years), internal and external Ph.D. programs, preparatory courses for prospective students, and courses within the lifelong educational program. In 2008, the Film Studies Department initiated a Ph.D. program in English focused on Czech and Central European cinemas and visual studies (will not open in the year 2015). The department is a leading center of research into film history and theory and participates in multiple inter-institutional activities both in the Czech Republic and abroad.