Overview

Social Documentation from University of California, Santa Cruz goes beyond the story. That's our motto and our practice: to go beyond story-telling into the intimacy of people's lives, the causes underlying social injustice, the issues too pressing to ignore. There's a story, too, but we think that should be the beginning, not the end, of the matter.

Graduates with Social Documentation from University of California, Santa Cruz will be able to:

Critically analyze social issues pertaining their documentary subject matter by applying social science methodologies and will implement ethically sound community negotiation and professional and interpersonal interaction in documentary fieldwork.

Acquire analytical writing skills, produce advanced project proposals and develop creative treatments.

Demonstrate an understanding of historical models of documentary practices and demonstrate by using those idea in their own practice uses those ideas.

Demonstarate expertise in documentary project planning.

Shoot documentary video and photography with various cameras and in a variety of contexts.

Implement professional lighting and sound recordings in a variety of settings and with diverse equipment.

Understand and implement video and sound editing, logging and transcribing.

Implement post-production video, audio and photographic output.

Demonstrate an ability to analyze their field recordings according to story structure and character development in order to develop their own work.

Implement distribution, social media and transmedia applications to their documentary projects.

Programme Structure

Courses include:

Approaches to Social Documentary

Advanced Documentary Field Production & Editing

Project Planning for the Social Documentary

Practice of Social Documentary

Social Science Research and Representation

Ways of Seeing and Hearing

Studies & Practice for SocDoc, Filmmaking & New Media

Production, Analysis, Editing

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 24 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2026-09-21 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-01-11 00:00:00

Language

English

IELTS

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Credits

72 SCH

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

Santa Cruz, United States

Disciplines

Film Studies Sociology View 244 other Masters in Film Studies in United States

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Academic requirements

GPA

English requirements

IELTS

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TOEFL^® IBT

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Other requirements

General requirements

Official transcripts

Supplemental Materials

Recommendations

Three (3) letters of recommendation are required, up to 5 may be submitted.

An analytical writing sample (a research paper, professional report, substantial essay, or published work)

A resume or curriculum vitae

A sample of your documentary production work (a video or sound recording, oral history, ethnographic essay, photographic essay, or web page). The preferred format for submission of production work is via web, but hardcopy versions may be accepted in some cases. Documents will not be returned. If you are able to, please provide URLs to publications and documentary productions in your application. You must mail any hard copies of sample production materials (DVDs, CDs, portfolios, etc.) directly to the department.

Student insurance

Make sure to cover your health, travel, and stay while studying abroad. Even global coverages can miss important items, so make sure your student insurance ticks all the following:

Additional medical costs (i.e. dental)
Repatriation, if something happens to you or your family
Liability
Home contents and baggage
Accidents
Legal aid

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Tuition Fee

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International

29934 USD/year

Tuition Fee

Based on the tuition of 29934 USD per year during 24 months.
National

29934 USD/year

Tuition Fee

Based on the tuition of 29934 USD per year during 24 months.
In-State

14832 USD/year

Tuition Fee

Based on the tuition of 14832 USD per year during 24 months.

Living costs for Santa Cruz

1710 - 2560 USD /month

Living costs

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Financing

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Funding

Win a €10000 Scholarship! Deadline: 30 June 2020

Embark on your journey with the Studyportals Scholarship! We're giving away a total of 20,000 euros to help you achieve your dream of studying abroad.

Win a €10000 Scholarship! Deadline: 30 June 2020

Embark on your journey with the Studyportals Scholarship! We're giving away a total of 20,000 euros to help you achieve your dream of studying abroad.

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find Master's scholarship opportunities for Social Documentation.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

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