Courses of Instruction

FILM STUDIES (FST-Arts and Science)

146 Media Aesthetics (3)

Introduction to media aesthetics. Students develop awareness of artistic choices necessary for good television production. They are introduced to design elements and techniques available for use in media production. Students discuss and participate in creative visual thinking. Prerequisite: major status or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with COM 146.

MPF, MPT 201 Introduction to Film Criticism and History (3)

Introduction to basic principles of cinematic form and to major movements and issues in the history of cinema. Primary emphasis given to principal methods of critical thinking in film studies, from close analysis of formal and stylistic elements in a single film to more global ways of understanding and interpreting films within their aesthetic, social, historical, and political contexts. Includes screenings of representative films, lectures, discussions, group activities, papers, and exams. IIB.

MPT 205 American Film as Communication (3)

Introduction to the study of communication via American motion pictures. Focuses on analysis of technical and narrative elements found in motion pictures. Screening of films provides backdrop for discussing visual impact of motion pictures as significant form of mass communication. Cross-listed with COM 205.

MPF 206 Diversity and Culture in American Film (3)

Analysis of the representation of diversity and culture as portrayed in American motion pictures. Cross-listed with COM 206 and IDS 206. IIIA.

MPT 220 Literature and Film (3; maximum 6)

Study of the relationship between film and genres of literature, focusing on a comparison of techniques of rhetoric, fiction, and drama, and those of film. Primary consideration given to film adaptations of works of fiction and drama. Extensive screenings of film. May be repeated once when topic changes. Cross-listed with ENG 220. CAS-B-LIT.

MPT 221 Shakespeare and Film (3)

Study of selected plays of Shakespeare that have been filmed. Students read plays and view one or more versions of each play. Cross-listed with ENG 221. CAS-B-LIT.

MPF 222 Italian American Culture (3)

A survey and investigation of the history of Italian immigration in America, the development of Italian American communities across the land, and the contributions that Italian Americans have made to American society and culture. Taught in English. No prerequisites. Offered once a year. Cross-listed with AMS and ITL. IIIA, IIB, H. CAS-B.

235 Classics of Film (3)

Study of film classics from the silent era to the present. Particular attention is given to the evolution of narrative conventions in films such as Birth of a Nation, Potemkin, The Last Laugh, M, Citizen Kane, Rome: Open City, Hiroshima Mon Amour, and others. Weekly screenings. Cross-listed with ENG 235. Offered infrequently.

MPT 236 Alternative Traditions in Film (3)

Study of major films and cinematic trends in world cinema. Emphasis on film in which the classical conventions of narrative are questioned or disrupted. Study motives and methods of film makers whose concern is not primarily the telling of a story or for whom the conventional entertainment narrative is an object of radical investigation. Cross-listed with ENG 236.

251 Gender & Third World Film (3)

Analysis of selected films from the perspectives of film technique and the political, economic and social context of filmmaking in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. How film techniques are used to highlight cultural views of gender. Cross-listed with HST 251.

252 Representation of History in Film and Video (3)

Attempts to familiarize students with ways that history is represented in film and video (as opposed to print). By comparing film to texts, analyzing narrative structure, and studying the techniques of film and video making, students learn how history is depicted in this medium. Introduces history of film by viewing and discussing works of several early directors who represented history. Films and directors selected for inclusion will vary from year to year. Cross-listed with HST 252. Prerequisite: FST 201 recommended (not required).

MPT 261 German Cinema (3)

Survey of the German cinema from its golden age in the 1920s to the present day. Representative films studied both as aesthetic works and as historical artifacts. Films with English subtitles. Readings, lectures, and discussions in English. Cross-listed with GER 261.

MPT 262 Italian Cinema (3)

Discussion and analysis of major movies and trends in Italian cinema. Topics may vary but attention is given to social and ideological implications of Italian cinema and the way movies produce a critique of cultural mores. Taught in English. No prerequisites. Offered once a year. Cross-listed with ITL 262. CAS-B-LIT.

MPT 263 Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian Cinema (3)

Critical survey of directors, genres, and movements in Soviet cinema. Screening of films from Eisenstein to current directors. Lectures, discussion, and readings in English. Cross-listed with RUS 263. CAS-B-LIT.

264 Chinese Cinema and Culture (3)

Study of selected films. Introduces Chinese cinema and, through films, Chinese culture. Works are from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and subject matter is both historical and modern. Knowledge of Chinese is not required. Cross-listed with CHI 264.

265 European Jewish Cinema (3)

Survey of films by Jewish filmmakers, or films dealing with Jewish themes, from the 1920s to the present. Films with English subtitles. Readings and discussions in English. Cross-listed with FRE/ GER 265.

266 Survey of Japanese Cinema (3)

This course examines representative Japanese films from the immediate post-war era to the new wave of Japanese anime (animated film). Offered in English. Cross-listed with JPN 266.

267 National Cinemas: African Film (3)

Explores the cinematography of Black Africa. Topics may vary but the focus will be given to social and ideological implications of African cinema and the way films produce a critique of cultural mores. Cross-listed with BWS 267.

272 Cultures and Identifies of Eastern Europe: An Introduction through Literature and Film (3)

An introduction to the cultures of Eastern Europe, from Poland to the former Yugoslavia, through representative twentieth-century literary works and films, with particular focus on the history of Eastern Europe's Jewish community and the tragedy of the Holocaust. Cross-listed with RUS 272. CAS-LIT-B.

282 Sexualities and Film (3)

An exploration of film representations of diverse sexualities (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered) from the silent era to the present. Cross-listed with COM 282.

302 War and European Cinema (3)

Explores how films have constructed ideas about war in 20th Century Europe. Examines films of the First World War, the Second World War, the Balkan War of the 1990s, and the Chechen War. Through readings, discussions, and viewings, students will gain a better understanding of how war is represented on the "big screen" and how wars of the 20th Century have been remembered and recast in film. Cross-listed with HST 302.

350 Topics in Film (3)

In-depth and concentrated studies in film. Focuses on specific topics in film such as national film traditions (American, Japanese, French, etc.), genres (science fiction, western, detective, etc.), and themes (film and society, women in film, political conspiracy, etc.). May be repeated once when topic changes. Cross-listed with ENG 350.

MPT 366 French Cinema In Translation (3)

Critical survey of major directors, genres, and movements in French cinema. Particular attention devoted to development of film theory and criticism in France and their relation to film production. Screening of films by Renoir, Bresson, Bunuel, Godard, Truffaut, Varda, Resnais, Tavernier, and others. Taught in English; reading in English translation. Cross-listed with FRE 366. CAS-B-LIT.

381 African Lusophone Literature (3)

A focus on questions of gender, race, class and stereotypes in the African Lusophone countries. Taught in English. Prerequisite: Any literature course. Cross-listed with ENG/BWS/POR.

401 Seminar in Film Study (3)

Students critique series of seminal analyses of films as preparation for development of their own research projects. Prerequisite: FST 201 and nine credit hours of course work in courses cross-listed for the film studies minor.

MPC 415 Cuba in Revolution: Its History, Politics, and Culture (4)

Emphasizes formative individuals: overview of the experience of Spanish domination; selections by Jose Marti; 20th century pre-revolutionary period, Fidel Castro's 1953 defense speech, ‘History Will Absolve Me'; the early revolutionary period; the role of writing of Che Guevara and Field; some early American reactions. Then takes a topics approach: the role of the U.S., the Soviet Union, relations with the rest of Latin America and the Third World, economics, political structures, the legal system and civil liberties, race relations, the status of women, education, health care, housing, religion, cultural developments. Prerequisite: priority given to students taking LAS Thematic Sequences and LAS minors. Cross-listed with LAS 415 and BWS 415.

MPT 460 Topics in French Cinema (3)

In-depth and concentrated study of French cinema. Focus on specific topics such as film's relation to society, its relation to the other arts and artistic movements, and its productive role as an object of philosophical thought. Topics may also include the work of particular directors, historical periods, and comparative social and aesthetic studies. Taught in English translation, available in French for French majors and French graduate students. Cross-listed with FRE 460/560.

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