Dr. Kristen Whissel

Professor

Build a Statement of Purpose

Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Kristen Whissel. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.

Biography

Kristen Whissel’s research focuses on cinema technological change, silent cinema modernity, digital cinema, visual effects, and the history and theory of stereoscope and 3D cinema. Her teaching includes courses on early cinema, film historiography, digital technologies, media transition, special/visual effects, modernity and post-modernity, as well as genre courses on film comedy and melodrama. She is the author of "Spectacular Digital Effects: CGI Contemporary Cinema" (Duke University Press 2014) and "Picturing American Modernity: Traffic, Technology, Silent Cinema" (Duke University Press 2008). Whissel was awarded the Katherine Singer Kovacs Book Award for English Language Media Studies (Honorable Mention) in 2010 and the Divisional Distinguished Teaching Award in the Arts and Humanities at U.C. Berkeley in 2007. She is currently a member of the editorial board for Film Criticism.

Research Interests

Digital Cinema Early Cinema Film History Visual Effects New Technologies

Experience

Professor

— Present

University of California, Berkeley • Berkeley, CA

Teaching and research in film and media studies.

Requirements for University of California, Berkeley

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
GRE Subject
Overall Score
Required:500
Overall
Required:500
TOEFL
Total
Required:90
IELTS
Overall
Required:7
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree or recognized equivalent Preparation comparable to undergraduate major at Berkeley in Mathematics or Applied Mathematics 2 full years lower-division work (Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus) 8 one-semester upper-division courses (Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra)
Application Checklist
  • Graduate Application
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Personal History Statement
  • Three Letters of Recommendation
  • Unofficial Transcripts
  • C.V./Resume
  • Course and Textbook List
Specialization Notes

The Mathematics Subject GRE is required for the Fall 2026 admissions cycle. General GRE is optional.