Five College Film & Video Course
Guide
MOUNT HOLYOKE Spring 2009
N.B. This version of the Guide is a work in
progress. Please see the websites www.umass.edu/film or www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/film
for revisions and additions.
(updated 11/12/08)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
FILM STUDIES 202S
(01) TALKING PICTURES: AN INTRO TO
FILM [66267]
(also ARTH 202-01)
11:00AM-12:15PM T,TH;07:00PM-09:30PM W; 106B Art Bldg
P. Staiti Credits 4 Reqs; IA
(Art History 202) Some of the best feature-length films of the past century have commanded our attention because of their compelling artistry and the imaginative ways they tell stories visually and verbally. This course closely studies narrative films from around the world, from the silent era to the present, and in the process it introduces students to the basic elements of film form, style, and narration. Some of the films to be considered are: Broken Blossoms, Battleship Potemkin, Citizen Kane, Contempt, The Bicycle Thief, Ugetsu, Rear Window, Woman in the Dunes, The Marriage of Maria Braun, Days of Heaven, and Moulin Rouge.
4 credits; enrollment limited to 50; 2 meetings, (1 75 minute and 1 2-hour screening)
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: I
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 1 (core)
FILM STUDIES 220S (01) SPECIAL TOPICS IN FILM STUDIES: RELIGION AND FILM [66268] (also Religion 213)
11:00AM-12:15PM T,TH;07:00PM-09:30PM M; 220 Art Bldg
H. Atchley Credits 4 Reqs; IA
This course is an investigation of the intersections between film and religion. In it, we will examine how the cultural phenomenon of religion is represented in film and how religion, understood critically and theoretically, can be a useful means to interpret film. We will learn the basic issues inherent in the interpretation of this art form (e.g., How do the visual, aural, and narrative components of film work together to create meaning?), and we will critically investigate the concept of religion as a means to better understanding the significance of cultural practice (e.g., What is religion? What are the myriad ways it is made manifest in culture?).
Prereq. See Religion 213; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 20; 2 meetings (75 minutes), 1 screening 1 hour and 50 minutes
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIA
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 6 (core)
FILM STUDIES 220S
(02) SPECIAL TOPICS IN FILM STUDIES REEL
(also History 283s(01))
01:15PM-02:30PM M,W;03:15PM-05:05PM M; location TBA
D. Czitrom Credits 4 Reqs; IA
This course is an introduction to the social and cultural
history of the American film industry since the 1890s. The course surveys the
evolution of
Prereq. See (component); 4 credits; enrollment limited to 30; 2 meetings (75 minutes)
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIB
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 6 (core)
FILM STUDIES 220S
(03) SPECIAL TOPICS IN SOUND ART [66270]
(also ARTST 261-01 and MUSIC 221-01)
01:15PM-04:05PM W; 220 Art Bldg
D. Warner Credits 4 Reqs; IA
Increasingly, visual artists have turned to sound as a viable and powerful artistic medium. This course will focus on the evolution of sound art from the early 20th Century to the present, covering such areas as sound poetry, musique concrete, sound sculpture, sound installations, soundscape compositions, and turntablism. A survey of recent works by sound artists will be presented. Students will complete three sound art projects during the semester.
Prereq. none; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 15; 1 meeting (2 hrs.50 min.); # course offering subject to approval of the APC and faculty #
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: none
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 6 (component)
Film Studies 250s
(01) HISTORY
OF WORLD CINEMA [66271]
1:15PM-2:30PM TUTH, 7:00PM-10:00PM TU screening; 220 Art Bldg
N. Inouye Credits 4 Reqs; IA
This course offers an historical survey of the cinema as a
developing art form and a means of communication. We will consider the
national, economic, and social conditions of an international medium that has
existed for over a century. The national and thematic focus of the course
shifts through the semester. For example, we will focus on
Prereq. Film Studies 201 or 202 or permission of instructor; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 40; 2 meetings (75 minutes), 1 screening (2 1/2 hours)
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIA
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 2 (core)
Film Studies 310s
(01) PRODUCTION SEMINAR: LANGUAGE/IMAGE ADVANCED PRODUCTION WORKSHOP [66273]
09:00AM-12:00PM TH;07:00PM-09:00PM W; 231 Library
J. Perlin Credits
4
An advanced course in the theory and practice of film/video production as an art form. Topics for the seminar will vary from year to year.
Spring 2009: This
advanced production course will examine relationships between language and
image in film and video art. Text on screen, the resonance of the voice,
conceptual lists, experimental screenplays, online projects and video
installation will inspire independent and group production. Prior work in video
production required. In addition to class projects, students will be required
to write papers and give presentations. Screenings and readings may include
works by Acconci, Barthes,
Prereq. Permission of instructor only; 4 credits; enrollment
limited to 10; 1 meeting (3 hours), 1 screening (2 1/2 hours); a lab fee may be
charged; Students must apply for entrance into this course. Please go to the
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: V, IV
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 8 (core)
FILM STUDIES 320S (01) SEX, LOVE, GENDER
IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM [67930]
Also AFRAM 340-01
03:15PM-05:05PM M; location TBA
Kristin Elliott Hood
This course will explore the representation in film of intimate relationships among African Americans. Confronting an ongoing history of racist, sexist, and homophobic images, films produced by and featuring blacks can offer alternate interpretations of love, romance, and sexuality. Coupled with literature and theoretical readings by feminists and black cultural critics, students will consider the function of--and challenges to--intimacy in interpersonal relationships among African Americans. Directors under consideration include Spike Lee, Kasi Lemmons, Marlon Riggs, and Sanaa Hamri.
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIB
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 7 (core)
FILM STUDIES 370S
(01) TOPICS IN NATIONAL/TRANSNATIONAL CINEMAS: BOLLYWOOD FILMS [66274]
(also ARTH 360)
01:15PM-04:05PM M;07:00PM-09:30PM W; 221 Art Bldg.
A. Sinha Credits
4
Offers a critical, historical, and theoretical approach to the cinema of a single country or group of countries. Some examples of national cinemas that might be studied are: French cinema, Francophone cinema, Indian cinema, Eastern European cinema, or Latin American cinema.
(Art History 360 (Core)) How are we to respond to Indian popular film, which is notorious for its distracting song and dance numbers, meandering story line, and visually overblown spectacles? This seminar will develop historical and theoretical approaches to Indian films as what scholar Lalitha Gopalan calls a "constellation of interruptions." Students will examine feature films in class, write critical papers on scholarly essays, and pursue independent research projects on various aspects of Indian film.
Prereq. jr, sr,
8 credits in art history or
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIB, IV
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 5, 7 (core)
FILM STUDIES 370S (02) TOPICS IN
NATIONAL/TRANSNATIONAL CINEMAS
BREAKING NEW GROUND
IN FRENCH CINEMA [66275]
(also FREN 331)
01:15PM-04:05PM TH, location TBA
F. Guevremont Credits 4
Offers a critical, historical, and theoretical approach to the cinema of a single country or group of countries. Some examples of national cinemas that might be studied are: French cinema, Francophone cinema, Indian cinema, Eastern European cinema, or Latin American cinema.
(French 331s.) From the very beginning,
innovation, experimentation, and artistic ambitions have shaped the evolution
of French cinema. For more than a century, filmmaking in
Prereq. Two of the following courses: French 215, 219, 225, or 230, or permission of department chair and course instructor; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 16; 1 meeting (2 hours, 50 minutes)
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIB, IV
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 5 , 7 (core)
FILM STUDIES 380S
(01) TOPICS IN FILM AUTHORSHIP NATURES
NOT IN IT: PEDRO ALMODOVAR [66276]
(also SPAN 320)
01:15PM-04:05PM W;07:00PM-09:00PM W, location TBA
J. Crumbaugh Credits 4 Reqs; IA
Film Studies 380 offers a critical, historical, and theoretical approach to a specific cinematic author. While most courses focus on a director or group of directors, courses may also focus on designers, technicians, performers, producers, or some combination of these personnel.
(Writing-intensive course; Spanish 320s (01) Seminar on Spanish/Latin American Cinema) This course studies the films of Pedro Almodóvar, European cinema's favorite bad boy turned acclaimed auteur. On the one hand, students learn to situate films within the context of contemporary Spanish history (the transition to democracy, the advent of globalization, etc.) in order to consider the local contours of postmodern aesthetics. On the other hand, the films provide a springboard to reflect on larger theoretical and ethical debates. For instance, what can a weeping transvestite teach us about desire? What happens when plastic surgery and organ transplants become metaphors? Under what circumstances, if any, can spectators find child prostitution cute? Taught in English.
Prereq. FLMST 201, FLMST 202, or Spanish 221 or permission of instructor; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 16; 1 meeting (3 hours); Weekly evening screenings
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIB, IV
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 4, 7 (core)
FILM STUDIES 390S
(01) TOPICS IN FILM THEORY: FEMINIST THEORY AND FILM [66277]
(also ENGL 385-01 and GNDST 333-07)
01:15PM-04:05PM W;07:00PM-09:00PM M, location TBA
E. Young Credits 4 Reqs; IA
This seminar investigates contemporary feminist
theory--including but not limited to feminist film theory--in relation to film.
We will examine the influential formulations of the cinematic "male
gaze" and woman 's film, recent theorizations of
race and sexuality in cinema, gender complexities in classic and contemporary
You must apply for admission to this course by completing the application.
(Writing-intensive course; English 385: Feminist Theory)
Prereq. jr, sr, 8 credits in English and/or gender studies beyond 101, and permission of instructor; Film Studies 201 and/or other background in film strongly recommended; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 20; 1 meeting (3 hours) plus evening screening; 4 credits; satisfies English department seminar requirement
UMass Film Studies Certificate category: IIA, IV
5College Film Studies Major requirement: 3, 7 (core)