Course Listing Film Studies

The purpose of this course is to challenge students to engage in analytic reading, critical thinking and problem solving as it relates to the legal issues facing the sports, entertainment and art worlds.

Surveys the law of the protection of ideas, trade secrets, inventions, artistic creations, and reputation. The course will briefly review the bases for patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection, the distinction between the various forms of intellectual property, and the statutory and common law methods of enforcing rights.

Provides opportunity for small groups of advanced students to study selected topics.

Studies the elements of film as revealed in selected film classics with emphasis on critical analysis and evaluation.

Often when we encounter narratives (in the movies or in books) we tend to practice a "suspension of disbelief" letting the story unfold, following the conventions of film and fiction without question This course will direct our critical focus on the mechanisms through whic writers and filmmakers convey meaning to their audiences.

Surveys the image of women in commercial film from its beginnings to the present, with emphasis on the films of the 1930's-40's and the 1970's-80's. Several commercial viewings will be scheduled.

A rigorous examination of a topic of current interests in film studies organized by particular themes, genres or filmmakers.

This course is a critical examination of documentary filmmaking, from the late nineteenth century to the present. It focuses largely on what was happening in the United States but also investigates innovations and developments in Russia, Britain, France, Canada, Germany, and other parts of the world.

This course provides students with the basic conceptual and technical skills for developing and completing an historical documentary, including instruction about subject choice, narrative structure, camera work, and editing.

Ancient History in Film seeks understand the interconnection between ancient texts, social history and pop culture in American cinema. This course is more than an excuse to watch fun films and gain academic credit. It will engage the primary texts that are the foundation for these cinematic creations while investigating the social and cultural influences that shaped the making of these movies. Ultimately, this course will provide a clearer view of our own world through the lens of moviemakers mimicking the Greco-Roman world. We will read primary texts in translation, modern analyses of these movies and you are responsible to watch an entire film between class sessions. All films are on reserve in the Media Center of the O'Leary Library.

A philosophical inquiry into science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with special emphasis on film. This course will attept to provide interpretations of some classic examples from these genres, as well as to inquire into the philosophical significance of these literary categories and their relation to mythology and religion. Questions to be addressed will include the problem of knowledge and rationality and its limits, the nature of the human being, and the moral problem of the role of violence in the social order. The class will attempt to identify a continuous tradition between these modern genres and ancient Greek tragedy and mythology.

This course examines the political and philosophical values and ideas which constitute cinema. It analyzes film as an historical, cultural, commercial, and artistic endeavor. Students will develop the skills to watch film actively and critically.

Analysis of the role of film in creating, expressing, revealing, and responding to social and political ideas and values. Examines a variety of film and film styles and introduces students to elements of film theory, the theory of popular culture and the role of film in forming our ideas about the world.

This course is designed to give students the opportunity to survey primary sociological texts and view films, offer commentary on and analysis of social behavior.

This course examines the evolution of the Film Noir genre of Holywood detective film from the 1930's through the 1950's, paying attention to national and international cultural and political trends as well as gender roles. Students will view, discuss, and write short papers on the films.

Provides a critical appreciation of contemporary French cinema (1985-today) aiming at sorting out its eclecticism and focusing on the following aspects: 1) French cultural exception in the European Union: cultural integration and national identity; 2) Representation of the ongoing social and moral changes in contemporary France; 3) The new generation of French filmmakers. Class taught in French.

Covers the dramatic presentation French society gives of itself during the period of profound social and economic change, from the New Wave and the May 68 events to today's younger generation facing an uncertain tomorrow. Each screening (in French with subtitles) is preceded by an introduction placing the film in its historical context. In English.

Focuses on the way French film makers (male, and more recently female) have been portraying women in their films. Carefully selected French films with English subtitles are used to show the evolution that has taken place from Carne and Renoir's poetic realism to the present. Selected readings are also used to underscore various themes, such as how women have been represented in these films. Conducted in English.

Provides a critical appreciation of the notion of Francophone identity through modern and contemporary (1970-today) Francophone cinema from diverse places such as but not limited to North Africa, West Africa (especially Senegal), Canada (especially Quebec) the Caribbean, Belgium, and Switzerland. The course is aiming at showing the evolution of the Francophone identity in the postcolonial period until now and is focusing on the following aspects: 1) The emergence and importance of postcolonial Francophone cinema in the 1970s as a "cinema engage" (especially Sembene Ousmane in Senegal); 2) Contemporary issues of the postcolonial Francophone societies through films; 3) Representations of the cultural diversity in Francophone films; 4) Identity, race and immigration, women's status issues.

A course looking at the ways in which film addresses issues of ethnicity and its representation in the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural memory of American life. This will be an interdisciplinary course focusing on the relentless portrayal in the the news and entertainment industries of Italian Americans. It will shed light on the contributions of this ethnic group by analyzing the negative and positive stereotypes through films. Conducted in English.

This course, through a series of classic Italian films internationally recognized, will present how the style is not only something which comes from within the director reflecting that most intriguing of all subjects, he personality of the director, but also the film's influence upon American productions.

A guide to contemporary Italian studies through literary and cultural approaches. The works of central figures in contemporary Italian letters are examined in view of their impact on Italian life. Emphasis is given to poets, novelists, the new cinema, the influences of existentialism, and the impact of America on Italian literature. Conducted in Italian/English.

A study of Italian film history and its accomplishment by exploring the relationship of cinema to sociopolitical, economic, cultural, and literary events. The course will discuss in depth either a) one or two major and well known directors; b) a major thematic and stylistic division in a century of cinematic creativity.

Original short subject films in Spanish by contemporary Hispanic filmmakers as stimuli for discussion and writing in Spanish and/or English. Intriguing alternative to further your Spanish Language learning. Prerequisite: Having passed Intermediate Spanish 54-211 or 54-212 or equivalent

An exploration of representative Spanish and latin American films from a variety of major directors. Areas of investigation include the cinematic representation of nationality, ethnicity, identity, gender, history and politics. This course will be taught in English. Knowledge of Spanish is desirable but not required. Spanish majors and minors will complete written assignments, reviews, quizzes, and exams in Spanish.

This course surveys the major trends and functions of imaging and picturing, as well as its societal impact as it becomes a pervasive cultural and aesthetic entity since the invention of photograph, film and video. Lectures trace the chronological development of the medium; analyze images, culture and integrate discussions pertaining to the role of imaging as it affects the process of visual information as well as how imaging and picturing can affirm existing cultural structures or shape the course of new aesthetic images and ideas.

Examination of issues of content, theory and criticism in the traditional, modern and contemporary lives of artists; autobiographies, biographies and historiographies as source of filmic expression. Focus on the interpretation and transformation of art historical records into filmic vision as revealed in set and costume design, music, camera technique and other aesthetic elements of film, as well as how such elements function to extend and convey directorial vision to movements in art history.

This course surveys the major trends and functions of imaging and picturing, as well as its societal impact as it becomes a pervasive cultural and aesthetic entity since the invention of photograph, film and video. Lectures trace the chronological development of the medium; analyze images, culture and integrate discussions pertaining to the role of imaging as it affects the process of visual information as well as how imaging and picturing can affirm existing cultural structures or shape the course of new aesthetic images and ideas.

A cross-cultural study of contemporary European films with a specific focus on ethnicity. The following themes will be explored: the ethnicization of the colonial legacy, ethnicities at war, race and romance, working class ethnicities. Directors include; Sverak (Czechoslovakia), the Dardenne brothers (Belgium), Fassbinder and M. vonTrotta (Germany), Kassovitz and Klapisch (France), MacKinnon and O'Donnell (Ireland), Manchevski (Macedonia), Bodrov (Russia) Gutierrez-Aragon (Spain), Dizdar, Frears, and Prasad (UK). No knowledge of languages other than English is required. (All films have English subtitles) Conducted in English. AHD

This film theory seminar has several main objectives: to study the production of meaning in films; to analyze how moving images are used in social representation; and to introduce students to the visual and critical language of cinema. In this course, we will view a series of films by international authors. These address some of the most pressing issues of today's global world such as identity, subjectivity, difference and otherness, race relations, representations of gender and sexuality, immigration, war, colonialism and post-colonialism, poverty, and social inequalities. The films that we watch will be studied not as isolated cinematic texts but as illustrations and examples of theories of representation. Students will develop their critical analysis skills by being introduced to theoretical concepts such as "the gaze" in art and cinema as well as formal elements such as mise-in-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound.