Fall 2015 Undergraduate Courses

Richard Allen
Fridays, 9:30am-12:00pm & 12:30-2:30pm
Room 648
4 points
class #14035

This course is designed to introduce the basic methods and concepts of cinema studies to new majors. The course aims to help students develop a range of analytical skills that will form the basis of their study of film and other moving-image media they will encounter in cinema studies. By the end of the semester, students will: 1) be fluent in the basic vocabulary of film form; 2) recognize variations of mode and style within the dominant modes of production (narrative, documentary, and experimental); 3) appreciate the relationship between formal analysis and questions of interpretation; and 4) grasp the mechanics of structuring a written argument about a film’s meaning. Lectures and readings provide a detailed introduction to the basic terms of film scholarship, and to some critical issues associated with particular modes of film production and criticism. Screenings introduce students to the historical and international range of production that cinema studies addresses. Recitations provide students with opportunities to review the content of readings and lectures, and to develop their skills of analysis and interpretation in discussion.  CINEMA STUDIES MAJORS and pre-approved minors ONLY.

RECITATIONS
Tuesdays
Section 002 / 9:30-10:45am, class #14036
Section 003 / 11:00am-12:15pm, class #14037
Section 004 / 12:30-1:45pm, class #14038
 

Chris Straayer
Thursdays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 648
4 points
Class #14039

This course closely examines a variety of theoretical writings concerned with aesthetic, social and psychological aspects of the medium. Students study the writing of both classical theorists such as Eisenstein and Bazin and contemporary thinkers such as Metz, Dyer, DeLauretis, Baudrillard, and Foucault. Questions addressed range from the nature of cinematic representation and its relationship to other forms of cultural expression to the way in which cinema shapes our conception of racial and gender identity.  CINEMA STUDIES MAJORS ONLY.

RECITATIONS
Mondays
Section 002 / 9:30-10:45am, class #14040
Section 003 / 11:00am-12:15pm, class #14041
Section 004 / 12:30-1:45pm, class #14042

Ed Guerrero
Tuesdays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 635
4 points
Class #14057

This course will explore black stardom and celebrity through varied critical and theoretical lenses and arguments. Concerning black American cinema, such tropes as “double consciousness,” “passing,” social ambivalence and alienation come to mind. But we will also engage such issues, as the commoditized, digital star persona; the politics and aesthetics of “crossover” appeal; class tensions and consumer hierarchies; as well as issues of sexuality and gender. Our readings, screenings will explore the star personas of such celebrities as Spike Lee, Oprah Winfrey, Jason Holliday, Sidney Poitier, Hallie Berry. As James Baldwin so eloquently put it, we will explore… the “smuggled in” realities of black stardom.

CINEMA STUDIES MAJORS ONLY, Permission code required.

William Simon
Wednesdays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 652
4 points
Class #14058

This seminar will involve an intensive exploration of the artistic career of Orson Welles, placing special emphasis on his films but also dealing with his radio, theatre, and television work. Central topics for discussion include: 1) an examination of narrative conception and structures with emphasis on the relationships among the theatre, radio, and film works; 2) the relations of the works to the changing historical, cultural, and production institutions of the relevant periods during Welles’ career (e.g. New Deal, World War II, Cold War); 3) the theorization of the works through Bakhtin’s formulation of the dialogic and through theories of sound; 4) a consideration of the problematic production histories of Welles’ filmmaking, hence a concern with the incomplete states of a great deal of his work and issues of restoration of the films. This concern will include screenings and discussion of the “unknown Orson Welles” which will greatly expand and enrich our understanding of Welles’ total output. Readings, response papers, and a research paper required.

CINEMA STUDIES MAJORS ONLY, Permission code required.

Marina Hassapopoulou
Thursdays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 635
4 points
Class #19205

Children, teenagers, and young adults have always been a central preoccupation in European filmmaking. The course “Youth in European Cinema”will focus on recent European films that prominently feature youthful perspectives and allegorically address young European citizens during crucial transitional moments in European history. Cinematic depictions of youngsters will be explored as representational devices for processing and coping with turbulent sociopolitical situations, cultural concerns, and ethical crises in contemporary Europe. The theme of youth will provide a starting point for interdisciplinary inquiry regarding “the capacity of film to represent different aspects of history, and potentially to explore dimensions which are beyond written history,” as Roger Hillman has argued. In addition, cinematic youth will motivate discussion on past and present opportunities offered to young people in Europe, and invite students to assess some of the initiatives available in the contexts of inter-European relations and globalization.

The course will analyze recent films in which the aesthetics of youth function as unapologetic political satire, inject pacifist messages into grave situations, exude a feeling of nostalgia, challenge and/or solidify collective memory, help cope with national trauma, and/or project utopian visions of past and future histories. The focus will be on influential and controversial European youth films that have managed to transcend their “entertainment” value and spark debate through their metacinematic reflexivity. To navigate the complexities of these films, the course will begin by introducing cinematic subgenres that revolve around child development and upbringing (such as coming-of-age narratives and teenpics), in order to discover the ways these motifs create tropes for issues that extend beyond the realm of the cinematic. 

CINEMA STUDIES MAJORS ONLY, Permission code required.

Kartik Nair
Wednesdays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 648
4 points

Section 001 (Cinema Studies majors): Class #19956
Section 002 (non-majors): Class #19957

Seeking to make sense of the proliferation and banalization of computer-generated imagery in contemporary cinema, this course introduces undergraduate students to histories, theories, and practices of special effects in film. Moving beyond an understanding of F/X as ‘technique’, the course focuses on the ways in which special effects perform, provoke and disturb existing discourses of cinematic realism, perception, narrative and ontology; spectacularize sexual, racial, and historical ‘difference’ in star-bodies (Scarlett Johannson, Michael Jackson, Meryl Streep and Arnold Schwarzenegger); and transform below-the-line work into the affective-ideological power of blockbuster genres: sprays of blood in horror movies, tidal waves in disaster movies, rustling fur in monster movies, and falling debris in superhero movies. Screenings will include Jurassic Park, Inception, Pan’s Labyrinth, Gravity, Lucy, Cabin in the Woods, 2012, Spiderman, Thriller, T2: Judgment Day, Death Becomes Her, Inside, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Jurassic World.

Toby Lee
Tuesdays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 670
4 points

Section 001 (Cinema Studies majors): Class #14760
Section 002 (non-majors): Class #19204

The term "expanded documentary" points both to the ways in which traditional documentary practices have diversified and transformed over the last few decades, particularly with changes in media technologies, as well as to different ways we might re-examine other film, media and art traditions through the lens of documentary practice. In this course, we consider how the documentary impulse functions in film, video, animation, sound; in the gallery, in the archive, in public space, in cyberspace; in forms linear and nonlinear, online and off. We also investigate the role of documentation in relation to performance and social practice art. In tracing these variations of documentary practice over time, we approach these expanded forms of non-fiction media not as addenda to documentary traditions, but rather as opportunities to reflect critically on those traditions, to connect present developments to historical precedents, and to pry open our sense of documentary as form, endeavor and practice

Linnea Hussein
Thursdays, 6:00-10:00pm
Room 674
4 points

Section 001 (Cinema Studies majors): Class #19953
Section 002 (non-majors): Class #19954

This course studies film history through the lens of US censorship practices from the beginning of the sound era until today. By incorporating primary sources such as contemporary reviews and original trailers, we will examine trends in censorship and Hollywood’s relationship to reigning political agendas. In the first part of the course, starting with pre-code Hollywood, we will work our way from the rise and fall of the Hays’ code to McCarthyism and the Red Scare to the current MPAA rating system. In the second part, we will examine case studies of banned or xrated films, involving topics such as obscenity, violence, or blasphemy. In these discussions we will pay special attention to a critical understanding of the socio-political and economic reasons for banning, censoring, or blacklisting a movie. To discuss whether there are cases in which banning is not only justified but maybe morally defensible, we will look at cases of retroactive banning and consider the pros and cons for keeping racially dismissive films such as D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation or Disney’s Song of the South in circulation.

Zhen Zhang
Mondays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 674
4 points

Section 001 (Cinema Studies majors): Class #19202
Section 002 (non-majors): Class #19203

Critically evaluating select influential scholarship in Asian film studies from the last two decades, this seminar aims to reconsider and move beyond existing paradigms such as national cinema, world cinema, and transnational cinema, in addition to categories or assumptions derived from traditional area studies with origins in the cold war cultural politics.  While critically reviewing literature on specific cases of national and regional cinemas (e.g.; China, Japan, India), we will explore alternative perspectives on trans-Asian and trans-hemispheric film culture histories (for example, film policy, censorship, co-production, traveling genres, festivals), as well as contemporary formations under the impact of globalization and digital media.  With a focus on historiography and methodology, the course serves as a forum for developing innovative research projects that cut across disciplinary as well as geopolitical boundaries.

Leo Goldsmith
Tuesdays, 6:30-9:50pm
Cantor 102
4 points

Class #14043

This course introduces the history of American cinema from its origins in late-nineteenth century entertainment and technological innovation to the rise of the American film industry to the diverse (and divisive) culture of the late 1950s. Underscoring continuities between contemporaneous cinematic forms, the course will situate classical Hollywood films alongside documentary, sponsored, and experimental films to emphasize the breadth of film production in commercial, state-sponsored, and independent contexts. The course will proceed chronologically, from the optical technologies and theatrical traditions that informed its early development, through the principal genres of the Hollywood studio system (including comedy, musicals, melodrama, westerns, science fiction, animation), to the emergence of documentary and avant-garde traditions. In addressing significant historical periods in American history and their representation in cinema (the Great Migration, the Depression, World War Two, the Cold War), the course will also sustain a discussion of key themes such as the representation of race, gender, and sexuality; the mythologies of American landscape and domestic space; and the roles of the state, the economy, and the artist in the construction of a national cinema.

RECITATIONS
Thursdays, Room 646
Section 002 / 9:30-10:45am, Class #14044
Section 003 / 11:00am-12:15pm, Class #14045
Section 004 / 12:30-1:45pm, Class #14046
Section 005 / 2:00-3:15pm, Class #14047
Section 006 / 3:30-4:45pm, Class #14048
Section 007 / 4:55-6:10pm, Class #14049

Kristin Harper
Mondays, 6:20-9:50pm
Cantor 102
4 points

Class #14050

This course surveys the major aesthetic movements and technological developments within international cinema from the birth of the art form until the 1960s. The course will approach films, from a variety of countries, as products of their time, as responses to technological developments, or as contributions to ongoing dialogues about the nature of cinema as an artistic medium. Later sections of the course, after the war and coming of sound, follow more traditional national cinema models. The course will also explore a wide variety of formats including short subjects, serials, and features as well as documentaries and experimental works. The course will introduce students to central texts and concepts of key aesthetic movements such as Expressionism, Surrealism, Poetic Realism, and Neorealism, movements that continued to influence filmmaking far beyond the course’s endpoint in the 1960s. 

RECITATIONS
Wednesdays, Room 646
Section 002 / 9:30-10:45am, Class #14051
Section 003 / 11:00am-12:15pm, Class #14052
Section 004 / 12:30-1:45pm, Class #14053
Section 005 / 2:00-3:15pm, Class #14054
Section 006 / 3:30-4:45pm, Class #14055
Section 007 / 4:55-6:10pm, Class #14056

Eric Kohn
Tuesdays, 6:00-10:00pm
Room 670
4 points
Class #14534

This course demystifies the professional and intellectual possibilities of film criticism in the contemporary media landscape through a historical foundation. Students will write reviews and critical essays as well as produce analyses of existing work, all of which should aid those interested in pursuing further opportunities in criticism and/or developing a deeper understanding of the craft. Through a combination of readings, discussions and screenings, we will explore the expansive possibilities of criticism with relation to global film culture, the role of the Internet, distinctions between academic and popular criticism, and the impact of the practice on the film industry itself. We will cover the influence of major figures in the profession with course readings and discussions based around work by major figures including Bazin, Ebert, Haskell, Farber, Kael, Sarris, Sontag, Tyler and many others. Major critics will visit the course to provide additional context. Emerging forms of critical practices, including podcasts and video essays, will also figure prominently, as will discussions surrounding the value of entertainment reporting and other related forms of journalism. In addition to engaging in classroom discussions, students will be expected to write weekly reviews, pitch essay ideas, file on deadline during certain courses and complete a final research paper. 

NOTE: Seats in this class are very limited.  Cinema Studies Undergraduates ONLY.

Ken Dancyger
Mondays, 6:20-9:00pm
Room 109
4 points
Class #20442

This class is designed to help the students analyze a film script. Plot and character development, dialogue, foreground, background, and story will all be examined. Using feature films, we will highlight these script elements rather than the integrated experience of the script, performance, directing, and editing elements of the film. Assignments will include two script analyses. Seats VERY limited.

CINE-UT 900
1-4 points (variable)
Class #14059

CINE-UT 902
1-4 points (variable)
Class #14060

A student wishing to conduct independent research for credit must obtain approval from a faculty member who will supervise an independent study for up to 4 credits. This semester-long study is a project of special interest to the student who, with the supervising faculty member, agrees on a course of study and requirements.  The proposed topic for an Independent Study project should not duplicate topics taught in departmental courses.  This is an opportunity to develop or work on a thesis project. To register, you must present a signed “Independent Study Form” at the department office when you register.  This form must be completely filled out, detailing your independent study project.  It must have your faculty sponsor’s signature (whomever you have chosen to work with - this is not necessarily your advisor) indicating their approval.

CINE-UT 950
1-4 points (variable)
Class #14780

CINE-UT 952
1-4 points (variable)
Class #14761

A student wishing to pursue an internship must obtain the internship and submit the Learning Contract before receiving a permission code.  All internship grades will be pass/fail. 

David Bagnall
Mondays, 6:20-9:00pm
Room 108
4 points
Class #5683

This course examines documentary principles, methods, and styles.  Both the function and the significance of the documentary in the social setting, and the ethics of the documentary are considered.

Ed Guerrero
Mondays, 6:20-9:00pm
Room 670
4 points
Class #19207

In this course we will explore how commercial cinema forecasts, initiates, records, depicts, historicizes and overall represents social change. But conversely and obviously cinema is also changed by tidal shifts and sudden upheavals in society. So our readings, screenings and critical writing will examine how Hollywood, as well as a number of national and emergent cinemas, and independent cinema movements, coopt, repress, diagnose, or call for social change, but also how change creates new cinematic styles, genres, narratives and formulas. We will also look at various modes of change in society including nationalist, independence and anti-colonial struggles, resistance movements, emergent identities, eco-change and gender and sexual shifts. Moreover, we will examine a number of key theories and concepts related to social change and the cinema, such as “third cinema” “cinema novo” “blaxploitation” “the social problem picture” “the historical epic” “crossover” and “imperfect cinema.”

EXTREMELY LIMITED SEATS.

Mona Jimenez
Wednesdays, 12:30-4:30pm
Room 674
4 points
Section 002 / Class #19180

Mona Jimenez, Wednesday 12:30pm – 4:30pm, Room 674               4 Points
This graduate seminar combines research into moving image collections, both institutionally and individually held, with hands-on archival tasks that will provide insight into the way that media is collected, cared for, and accessed. Through direct engagement with endangered independent media collections from the 1960s-1980s, students will gain an understanding of key philosophies and practices of video production in the US during this period, as well as of the practical labor and the decision-making involved in access for their scholarship and creative re-use. Students will plan and carry out community archiving events where they will work side by side with caretakers and other stakeholders, taking preparatory steps necessary to understanding the content, relative value, and physical condition of the tapes – tasks designed to aid in selection, preservation planning and access. Students will use primary and secondary materials and discussions with creators and caretakers to gain an understanding of the context within which the collections were made, distributed and collected. Students will also be assigned key texts on archival theory and methodologies, particularly those addressing theories and practices of community-based documentation, ethical practices, and the roles of specialists and non-specialists in archiving and maintaining media materials. Students need not have experience with moving image archiving and preservation; those studying in MIAP or other archival/library programs will gain depth in skills and in media history. Advanced undergraduates may enroll with the permission of the instructor : mona.jimenez@nyu.edu

This course is open to Cinema Studies majors who have completed the first four courses in the Tier One course sequence.