Graduate Funding

Assistantships

Teaching assistantships are normally awarded for two years (or four terms) at the MA level and are valued at a sum of approximately $12,000 per year. In some cases, students can also secure a research assistantship with a faculty member to support their research.

Internal Funding

There are a number of internal awards for which students in the MA in Film Studies are eligible, including department-specific awards. In addition there are a number of university-wide donor-funded awards in the form of scholarships and bursaries to which students can apply in September.

For more information about university-wide funding and awards, please visit the Graduate Studies Awards and Funding website.

Travel Bursary

Students are also eligible to apply for financial support from the Graduate Travel Research Bursary, which is annually given to departments by Graduate Studies in order to assist students for travel to conferences where they are presenting their research.

Graduate Studies provides funds to students in financial need who require assistance to conduct or present their research. The fund may cover a portion of the cost related to field travel and supplies, long-distance telephone charges, questionnaire publication, translation, mailing, and the cost of copying journal articles. It may also cover costs related to attend a scholarly conference at which the graduate student is presenting a paper.

The bursary account contains a limited amount of funds. Approval of each application is dependent on the availability of funds. It is not possible to fund all applications in any given term.

Applications are considered on a case-by-case and first-come-first served basis. Students are restricted to one application and one conference per academic year/cycle (May-April).

Dr. Zuzana Pick Graduate Scholarship in Film Studies

Awarded annually by the Vice-Provost, Graduate Studies on the recommendation of the Graduate Supervisor, Film Studies program, to the graduate student in Film Studies who has shown the greatest promise during their first year in the M.A. program. The recipient will be selected on the basis of the student’s overall academic profile. Endowed in 2001 by Prof. Zuzana Pick. Prof. Pick was hired in 1976 when the Film Studies program was established and wishes to acknowledge her colleagues and initiators of the program, Prof. Christopher Faulkner, Prof. Peter Harcourt, Prof. Mark Langer, Prof. Patrick MacFadden and Prof. George McKnight. Revised 2025.

Film Studies Teaching Assistant Award

Given annually to recognize outstanding teaching assistance by a graduate student.

External Funding

Students are also eligible to apply for various external scholarships. Please see the Graduate Studies Funding and Awards website for more information, and review the posted OGS and SSHRC Application Information.