Explore theme park history, and the evolution of the relationship between moving image media and theme parks

Students will participate in person at UCLA, experiencing all that our campus has to offer during their summer program.

Film and Television Summer Institute – Media Parks: The Cinematic and Televisual History of Theme Parks awards credit for the following UCLA coursework:

• Film and Television 18 – Media Parks: The Cinematic and Televisual History of Theme Parks (3 units)

Guided Site Visits

During the course, students will embark on three curated visits to Southern California theme parks: Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and Universal Studios Hollywood. Visits will be structured around on-site behind-the-scenes lectures and instructor-guided experiences as well as required visits to select attractions and park “lands.” The required attractions/lands and will be the springboard for writing assignments and require students to connect their observations, critical media analysis, and argumentation skills to lecture concepts, assigned readings, and screenings. Students will choose specific attractions or lands as case studies for two short papers and one final paper.

These site visits allow students to have a firsthand educational experience and learn directly from the interactive aspect of theme parks. By studying the historical, cultural, industrial, and theoretical issues surrounding these spaces and attractions in-depth before encountering them, students will be well-prepared to approach these experiences from a critical and analytical perspective. Ultimately, this hands-on investigation provides students with a sense of how these interactive spaces and rides work together to create unique media experiences. While these excursions will no doubt be fun, they are first and foremost active learning experiences and sites of analysis.

Eligibility

To apply for the Film and Television Summer Institute – Media Parks: The Cinematic and Televisual History of Theme Parks, students must be:

• Open to students enrolled in grades 10th – 12th in Spring 2022 and Spring 2022 High School Graduates.

Admission

The program has application requirements for admission. Eligible applicants who submit all requirements successfully and timely, will be reviewed and notified via email of an admission decision within 3 weeks. See Application Requirements below for more details. Early application is strongly encouraged.

Applicants are required to provide the following during the online registration process:

• A personal statement answering:
  • Why you would like to participate in the program, and what you expect to gain from the experience? (No more than 200 words.)
  • This is a disciplined and rigorous program. Describe a time you took on an academic challenge. What were some of the obstacles you encountered and how did you overcome them? (No more than 300 words.)
• Unofficial transcript showing a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
• One letter of recommendation from a high school instructor verifying your ability to successfully participate in a disciplined and rigorous program.

Applying for the Film and Television Summer Institute – Media Parks can be done conveniently online with the following steps:

1. Prepare all “Application Requirements” prior to starting the registration process.
2. Access the Summer Institute Online Registration Form starting February 15 at 8am Pacific Standard Time (PST). Read all terms and conditions, then scroll to the bottom and select “Yes, Continue to Registration.”
3. Provide responses to all required questions on both pages of the registration form and then “Submit”.
4. Once your form is submitted, you will be directed to the Retrieve Registration page. Select “File Uploads” to upload application materials (see Application Requirements above for more information).
5. Allow up to two weeks for the program instructor(s) to review your application after submission. An email will be sent to you with the official decision.
6. If accepted to the program, follow the steps in your acceptance email to make payment of the $350 non-refundable registration fee* to reserve your space in the program.

A space in the program is not reserved until a valid payment of the $350 non-refundable registration fee* is made. If you are not prepared to pay after submitting the registration form, you may retrieve your registration at another time to make payment; however, this risks losing a space in the program if it reaches capacity prior to payment being submitted. An email with instructions to retrieve registration with your five-digit registration number will be sent within an hour after submitting your registration.

*The registration fee is required for each program and is not refundable under any circumstances including, but not limited to, drop for non-payment and withdrawal, even if you withdraw from the program before it begins.

If the program is full, you will not be prompted to make payment. If the program offers a waitlist and your application is accepted from the waitlist, you will be notified by email with instructions for how to submit payment. Please note if the payment is not submitted within 24 hours of receiving the email, you will be moved to the end of the waitlist.

If registering after May 1, full payment of the program fee and non-refundable registration fee will be required to reserve your space in the program. Additional fees, such as the document fee and IEI fees, will be assessed after enrollment.

For questions and assistance, please contact us at info@summer.ucla.edu.

UCLA Summer Sessions Summer Scholars Support

Qualified students attending grades 8th – 11th in Spring 2022 in the state of California may be eligible for Summer Scholars Support, a need- and merit-based scholarship offered by the UCLA Summer Sessions Office. A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available to support enrollment in SCIP/eSCIP, one Summer Course, or a Precollege Summer Institute.

The Nicholas Endowment Scholarship

The Nicholas Endowment TFT Summer Institute Scholarship for Film & Television is a need and merit-based scholarship opportunity for underserved/ underrepresented high school students enrolled in grades 9-12 in Spring 2022 who would benefit significantly from a UCLA Film and Television Summer Institute experience.

Both partial and full scholarships are available for high school students enrolled in UCLA Film and Television Summer Institutes including Digital Filmmaking, Writing for TV: Big Ideas for the Small Screen, Cinematography, Traditional Animation, and Media Parks: The Cinematic and Televisual History of Theme Parks.

For deadlines, eligibility requirements, and application information, please visit the Nicholas Endowment TFT Summer Institute Scholarship page.

Nicholas Endowment TFT Summer Institute Scholarship Application Online Form will be available February 15, 2022. Deadlines and acceptances are on a rolling basis.