undergraduate credit courses
Spring 2009 Credit Courses: Film
Documentary Production
An examination of the history, cultural impact, and aesthetics of documentary film and video production. Through viewings, lectures, discussions, and hands-on exercises, students learn how to research, write, interview, direct, shoot, and edit a documentary. The class works in small production teams, using camcorders and editing equipment to produce mini-documentaries designed by each team.
FTF2110.20 / 3 credits
Daniel Baer
Mon., 6:30–9:50 p.m.
Jan. 26–May 11
Room to be announced
Frontline Reporting: Global Conflict
The past century saw two world wars and countless smaller, armed conflagrations over land, political influence, and ancient hatreds. This course focuses on a variety of post-World War II conflicts as reported by international journalists. Students learn about the atrocities in Bosnia, the Middle East, and Africa, among others, but most of all, they learn how war and conflict are reported. Also offered as ALI 3086.
FTF3086.45 / 4 credits
Michael Taub
Wed., 6:30–9:50 p.m.
Jan. 21–May 6
Humanities Bldg., Room 1074
American Film, Reflections of a Century II: 1950–1999
Defining trends in U.S. cultural history between 1950 and 1999, as reflected in film. Topics include the re-introduction of realism; counterculture films; films by socially oriented and “new auteur” directors; and the impact of AIDS, relations between the sexes, and modern special effects. Aspects of cinema history are also examined, including the construct and use of certain genres, the relationship between cinematic realism and censorship, and the rise of independent film.
FTF3175.45 / 4 credits
CSS3175.45 / 4 credits
Michael Garber
Wed., 6:30–9:50 p.m.
Jan. 21–May 6
Humanities Bldg., Room 2073
East–West: Film and Literature of Cultural Formation
Students explore contemporary literary and cinematic expressions of immigrant groups seeking acceptance in Western cultures. The focus is on issues related to assimilation, identity, and the reactions of the Western mainstream cultures as outside forces compete for recognition. The immigrant groups depicted include those originating in Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Middle East. Also offered as ALI 3415.
FTF3415.45 / 4 credits
Michael Taub
Tues., 6:30–9:50 p.m.
Jan. 27–May 12
Humanities Bldg., Room 2073
NEW! Green Screen: Environmentalism and Film
Offering an ecological approach to cinema and drawing on documentaries and popular Hollywood films, this course examines the representation of nature and wildlife across genres and explores how film depicts and dramatizes the current environmental crisis. It also asks how the technology of film is a means for the domination and exploitation as well as the exploration and veneration of nature. Also offered as CSS 3545.
FTF3545.45 / 4 credits
FTF9545.45 / noncredit option / $595
Graig Uhlin
Thurs., 6:30–9:50 p.m.
Jan. 22–May 7
Social Sciences Bldg., Room 1006
The American Crime Film
An examination of the transformations, both stylistic and thematic, within the crime film. Topics include the ways in which social attitudes toward crime and criminals are mediated in the social conventions of the cinema, the relationship of the crime film to distinct periods of American history, and the relevance of the crime film to other genres.
FTF3760.45 / 4 credits
CSS3760.45 / 4 credits
FTF9760.45 / noncredit option / $595
John Butchko
Thurs., 6:30–9:50 p.m.
Jan. 22–May 7
Humanities Bldg., Room 2073
Posted Oct. 24, 2008
