History and Theory of Film, FILM 2100 Syllabus

This course will explore major developments in film history, theory, and criticism. Students will become familiar with several different film movements in the development of the art form and will be introduced to basic ideas in film theory. Through a variety of film movements and historical periods, students will develop an understanding of the cultural, industrial, and political contexts for some of most significant debates about film.

This survey of important works in American literature will address several issues central to the conception of “American” identity: the encounter with and/or exploitation of the natural world; the quest for an independent, unified, and/or original self; the differentiation of the self from a series of “others” (or the production of “otherness”); and the conflicts and negotiations between social demands and values and the individual self. The readings for the course will consist of both canonical texts, such as The Scarlet Letter, and texts challenging the mainstream, such as Jean Toomer’s Cane. Furthermore, three cinematic texts, Last of the Mohicans (Mann, 1992), Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989), and The Virgin Suicides (Coppola, 1999), will complicate and complement the class’s literary instances of “Americanness.” This survey of important works in American literature will address several issues central to the conception of “American” identity: the encounter with and/or exploitation of the natural world; the quest for an independent, unified, and/or original self; the differentiation of the self from a series of “others” (or the production of “otherness”); and the conflicts and negotiations between social demands and values and the individual self. The readings for the course will consist of both canonical texts, such as The Scarlet Letter, and texts challenging the mainstream, such as Jean Toomer’s Cane. Furthermore, three cinematic texts, Last of the Mohicans (Mann, 1992), Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989), and The Virgin Suicides (Coppola, 1999), will complicate and complement the class’s literary instances of “Americanne

Introduction Art of Film,  FILM 2080 Syllabus

In this course students will consider the primary visual, aural, and narrative conventions by which motion pictures create and comment upon significant social experience. We will watch a wide range of films from a variety of countries and historical moments in film history. Students will have the chance to explore issues such as framing, photographic space, film shot, editing, sound, genre, narrative form, acting style, and lighting in the context of wider discussions of the weekly films.

Film as Literature: The Horror Film,  ENGL 4109 Syllabus

In this course students will examine the horror film genre and the way it affects popular culture, other film genres, and even the human mind. Horror films have transformed themselves from monster dramas drawn from nineteenth-century literature to psychological scare fests, which led to a great proliferation of slasher films and the inevitable postmodern horror film. This class will  offer a brief historical overview of the horror text and then students will begin to consider the larger cultural and theoretical debates around horror films and their audiences.In this course students will examine the horror film genre and the way it affects popular culture, other film genres, and even the human mind. Horror films have transformed themselves from monster dramas drawn from nineteenth-century literature to psychological scare fests, which led to a great proliferation of slasher films and the inevitable postmodern horror film. In fact, horror has a global place in cinema now, with the dominance of Japanese horror. This class will offer a brief historical overview of the horror text as it progressed into a genre of its own, and then students will begin to consider the larger historical, cultural, and theoretical debates around horror films and their audienIn this course students will examine the horror film genre and the way it affects popular culture, other film genres, and even the human mind. Horror films have transformed themselves from monster dramas drawn from nineteenth-century literature to psychological scare fests, which led to a great proliferation of slasher films and the inevitable postmodern horror film. In fact, horror has a global place in cinema now, with the dominance of Japanese horror. This class will offer a brief historical overview of the horror text as it progressed into a genre of its own, and then students will begin to consider the larger historical, cultural, and theoretical debates around horror films and their In this course students will examine the horror film genre and the way it affects popular culture, other film genres, and even the human mind. Horror films have transformed themselves from monster dramas drawn from nineteenth-century literature to psychological scare fests, which led to a great proliferation of slasher films and the inevitable postmodern horror film. In fact, horror has a global place in cinema now, with the dominance of Japanese horror. This class will offer a brief historical overview of the horror text as it progressed into a genre of its own, and then students will begin to consider the larger historical, cultural, and theoretical debates around horror films and their audiences.In this course students will examine the horror film genre and the way it affects popular culture, other film genres, and even the human mind. Horror films have transformed themselves from monster dramas drawn from nineteenth-century literature to psychological scare fests, which led to a great proliferation of slasher films and the inevitable postmodern horror film. In fact, horror has a global place in cinema now, with the dominance of Japanese horror. This class will offer a brief historical overview of the horror text as it progressed into a genre of its own, and then students will begin to consider the larger historical, cultural, and theoretical debates around horror films and their audiences. This course will examine the history and development of American independent cinema as well as the social, aesthetic, and industrial questions raised by that cinema. Debating the differences between “independent” and “mainstream” practices and products, the course will develop an understanding of production, distribution, and exhibition practices for both types of American film and discuss their inter-relations or interdependencies on each other. Issues relating to both formal components and innovations as well as narrative structures and devices will inform our discussion of the “independent” aesthetic. Finally, the end of the semester will be devoted to a few key filmmakers in the post-1980s incarnation of “independent” filmmaking who will act as case studies to illustrate points from our semester-long  The  In this course students will examine the horror film genre and the way it affects popular culture, other film genres, and even the human mind. Horror films have transformed themselves from monster dramas drawn from nineteenth-century literature to psychological scare fests, which led to a great proliferation of slasher films and the inevitable postmodern horror film. In fact, horror has a global place in cinema now, with the dominance of Japanese horror.