Introduces students to the study of filmmaking traditions (and counter-traditions) within a national, geographic, cultural, or linguistic context through textual analysis, class discussion, and writing assignments. Some topics center on a national cinema tradition situated within a particular cultural, political, and/or historical context. Others examine the ways in which cinema transcends national boundaries and/or explore narrative and/or aesthetic strategies that reference more than one community, national, or cultural tradition. May be repeated for credit with a different topic.
| Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Arts and Humanities- or -Global Learning | 1 course |
This course introduces students to black filmmaking traditions across the globe. By approaching film as a text to be read, analyzed, and discussed, we will explore black cinematic storytelling through aesthetic, historical, and socio-political lenses. Course films include (but are not limited to) Ousmane Sembene's, Black Girl/La Noire de..., Djibril Diop Mambety's Touki Bouki, Rungano Nyoni's I am Not a Witch, and Sara Gómez's One Way or Another.
As a 'W' course, we will spend time on writing composition, with emphasis on how to craft a thesis statement, close read a text, track the argument(s) of scholarly articles, and read/annotate and strategically. Ultimately, students will learn how to effectively communicate observations, syntheses, and analyses in the form of article reading responses, argumentative essays, a final paper, film notes, and class discussions.