Film

Film Studies

FILM 124: Introduction to Film (1)
Film as a distinct art form with its own means and ends. Films are selected that are representative of various periods or major advances and are studied from historical, theoretical, and formal perspectives. HUMRSmith

FILM 225: (1)
This course is an introduction to Chinese cinema in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with emphasis on the ways film represents China, Chinese identity, cultural heritage, and Chinese modernity The course will include weekly film viewings and in-class discussion.

FILM 227: The Black Image in American Film (1)
Since the beginning of the American film industry, white, black and other filmmakers have used the black image to interrogate American identity. This course focuses upon the often contentious dialog between white and black filmmakers, critics, and activists over the creation and control of the black image - a struggle that has been a fundamental component of the American film industry since its creation. Examination of this artistic conflict helps students to explore the larger social struggles and issues surrounding race in American society, as well as to experience the richness of African American culture and the vibrant history of American film and criticism. Above all, students learn to see the political, social and economic context in which film is created, viewed, and understood. Some of the issues to be discussed include: the black aesthetic; representations of the black family, religion, and gender/sexuality by Hollywood vs. independent black films; the changing black image in film over time; the business and economics of filmmaking. MRoy-Fequiere

FILM 240: Introduction to French Cinema (1/2 or 1)
The French often assert that in the domain of international cinema French films represent the only serious challenge to Hollywood's hegemony. Regardless of the truth of this assertion, it is true that film as an art form occupies a privileged position in France. The purpose of this course is to examine the evolution of filmmaking in France by studying a number of the most important periods, movements, styles and artists in the history of French cinema.BDavis

FILM 246: Philosophy of Film (1)
Philosophers argue that movies have a transparent relation to the physical world, and hence can show us the world as it really is, as opposed to how it merely appears to us. Philosophers claim that movies can turn space into time and time into space, thereby shedding new light on these fundamental concepts. Some philosophically minded social critics think that movies are a rich medium of social change and improvement, although others worry that films are enormously powerful devices for controlling people's understanding of themselves and their place in society. Are any of these claims true?DWack

FILM 250: Independent Study (1/2 or 1)
Intermediate level guided reading, guided research, or other independent studyStaff

FILM 270: Psychology and Film (1)
This course is an introduction to psychology and film. We will study this topic from a number of perspectives: the psychology of making movies, the effect of film on the audience, and the representation of psychological topics in film. The focus of the course will be on watching and discussing films, as well as on reading and writing about psychological aspects of film. KShaw

FILM 295: Special Topics (1/2 or 1)
Courses offered occasionally to students in special areas of Film not covered in the usual curriculum.Staff

FILM 309: Contemporary Latin American Cinema (1)
A survey of contemporary cinema of Spanish speaking countries of Latin America. We follow a trend starting with the avant-garde cinema of the political revolutionary turbulence of the 1960's, the "New Latin American Cinema", which continues today with a series of films that originated as a reaction to the neo-liberal and globalized capitalism of the 1990's. The films are treated as visual texts, studying the film as a genre with particular stylistic forms and techniques to represent social reality ideologically and in the context of social and cinematic history.APrado del Santo

FILM 323: Visual Culture Theory (1)
This course examines the emerging interdisciplinary field of Visual Culture Theory and will introduce students to a study of modern and post-modern discourses on vision and visuality. Drawing from art history, sociology, psychology, film and media studies, Marxism, feminist and post-colonial theory, Visual Culture Theory analyzes the role of visual images in shaping philosophical, cultural, poliical, racial and sexual notions of identity. The course also investigates the meaning of images in relation to such popular media as photography, film, television, video, animation, advertising, pornography and the digital culture of the web.GGilbert

FILM 325: The Social Practice of Media (1)
In recent years the extraordinary expansion of global media industries has reinforced the idea of an emerging "global village", with globalization as a uniform and homogenizing process. But when we ask how communication technologies are incorporated into the social practices of everyday life across the globe, complex configurations arise. The cultural meanings of media technologies and the social relations they create must be produced through local negotiations and struggles. This is an anthropological examination of these social spaces of negotiation in which media technologies are produced, circulated and consumed. For such investigations, the course will set up a conversation between cultural studies and anthropology.YPark

FILM 337: German Society and Film (1)
Survey and analyses of German films within their social, political, and intellectual contexts. The course may present a broad survey from 1919 to the present, focus on an individual historical period, a director or group of directors, or on a theme in German film.Staff

FILM 350: Independent Study (1/2 or 1)
Advanced level guided reading, guided research, or other independent studyStaff

FILM 363: Film Theories (1)
This course will explore one or more of the main currents in film theory, which include formalist, realist, structuralist, psychoanalytic, feminist, poststructuralist, cognitivist, and cultural-contextualist approaches to questions regarding the nature, function and possibilities of cinema. Specific offerings will vary from year to year. Topics of study may include "Genre versus Auteur", "Psychoanalysis and Film", "Narrative and Film", "Experimental Film", and "Noir".HUMRSmith

FILM 395: Special Topics (1/2 or 1)
Courses offered occasionally in special areas not covered in the usual curriculum. May be repeated for credit if different topics are offered.Staff

FILM 395F: (1)
This course is an introduction to Japanese cinema, historical and contemporary, from silent films to anime. In our consideration of key films in the Japanese corpus we will tackle questions of nationality, identity, and modernity as appropriate to the specific popular critically acclaimed or auteur films of the course, while developing our own critical apparatus for basic film appreciation. The course will include weekly film viewings and in-class discussion. No prior knowledge of Japanese is required. Prerequisite: One literature course; or one 200-level Asian Studies/Japanese course; or ENG/FILM 124, or permission of instructor.

FILM 400: (1/2 or 1)
See College Honors Program.