Fall 2020 Undergraduate Courses

Josslyn Luckett
Fridays / 12:30 – 4:30pm
CINE-UT 10 / Class # 15209 / 4 points

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
                                            Class #       
002:  8:00-9:15am                  15210
003:  9:30-10:45am                15211
004:  11:00am-12:15pm          15212

Chris Straayer
Thursdays / 12:30PM - 4:30pm
CINE-UT 16 / Class # 15213 / 4 points

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. Prerequisite: Intro to Cinema Studies or Expressive Cultures: Film.

Recitations
Mondays
                                            Class #       
002:  8:00-9:15am                  15214
003:  9:30-10:45am                15215
004:  11:00am-12:15pm          15216

Feng-Mei Heberer
Wednesdays, 6:00 - 10:00pm
CINE-UT 702 / Class # 15855 / 4 points

This course explores film and social media through the intersections of gender, sexuality, and race. We will examine how media texts and practices in and beyond the United States shape our understandings of race and gender, and vice versa, how theories and practices of gender and race can influence our understanding of media. To do so, we will combine studies of representation, with inquiries into media reception, participation, and infrastructures. Our study of the relation between national borders, race, gender, and sexuality will be broad, but the focus will lie on both deconstructing normative ideas and engaging with queer expressions. Readings from film and media scholarship, ethnic studies as well as feminist and queer theory will define our theoretical framework. The goal is to develop a critical vocabulary to approach media texts, systems, and practices through a historically engaged and socially attuned critical analysis of identity.

Cinema Studies majors only. Permission code required.

Antonia Lant
Mondays / 12:30 - 4:30pm
CINE-UT 707 / Class # 22025 / 4 points

This seminar approaches cinema as an international entertainment form emerging within a diverse range of settings: traveling shows; waxworks; universal expositions; amusement parks; laboratory experimentation. The course provides a context for us to read recent scholarship on this history together, and allows us to go into depth on a range of topics including: the historiography of early cinema; science and cinema; the still versus animated image; constructions of race and gender in early screen culture; early women directors.  Readings will include the scholarship of Susan Potter (on lesbian sexuality in early cinema); Marta Braun (on scientific study and the early moving image); Jacqueline Stewart (on African-American film culture); Joshua Yumibe (on color in early film); Vito Adriaensens (on the tableaux vivants). Requirements include presentations of weekly readings, participation in discussion, conducting primary historical research, and developing a midterm and final paper.

Cinema Studies majors only. Permission code required.

Marina Hassapopoulou
Tuesdays / 12:30 - 4:30pm
CINE-UT 710 / Class # 16055 / 4 points

This course will explore the film-philosophy of mind-bending cinema. Mind-game films are usually commended for the unusual ways in which they tell stories, experiment with narrative and form, and intellectually engage cinephiles. These films address philosophical issues on the fringes of human perception, and their often-disorienting formal structures could thus be tied to an uncertainty on how to organize and adequately convey such complex inquiry. This course will study mind-bending cinema’s universal, cognitive, and culturally-specific aspects, and question whether the increased popularity of disordered narratives can be regarded as symptomatic of the changing role of the moving image within contexts of “global” connectivity and interactive media. Students will also have the opportunity to study the work of influential international auteurs through the mind-game lens (such as Luis Buñuel, Maya Deren, Akira Kurosawa, David Lynch, Park Chan-wook, and Michel Gondry), as well as discover experimental mind-game films from multiple cultural contexts and industries (including Latin America, Australia, and Europe). Mind-game films are some of the most challenging films to write about, which means that students will be engaging in rigorous and multifaceted film analysis that often pushes the boundaries of linguistic expression; for this reason, the course will attempt to supplement and expand written and verbal critique with other modes of interpretation, including visualizations and digital tools.

Assignments for this course include film response papers, presentations, online discussion, blogging, visualizations, and a final research paper or project (with professor’s approval).

As this course covers a broad range of challenging material, it is recommended for students who have already taken other intensive Cinema Studies core courses such as Film Theory.

Cinema Studies majors only. Permission code required.

Feng-Mei Heberer
Wednesdays, 12:30 - 4:30pm
CINE-UT 702 / 4 points
Section 001 Class # 21092
Section 002 Class # 21093

This course surveys Asian media and popular culture with an emphasis on cultural developments from the 1990s onward. The material we explore hails from various parts of Asia and the Asian diaspora, including East and Southeast Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Rather than looking for a single meaning of “Asianness,” we examine the transnational flows, fissures, and movements of images, capital, and politics associated with the term (think memes, BTS, anime). Likewise, we scrutinize the “popular” in popular culture, asking how it might signify beyond mass entertainment, as an omnipresent yet invisible infrastructure defining our daily life

This course fulfills the international cinema requirement.

Zhen Zhang
Tuesdays / 12:30-4:30pm
CINE-UT 227 / Class # 23155 / 4 points

Part one of a year-long historical survey, this course traces the origins of Chinese cinema and its transformation and diversification into a multi-faceted, polycentric trans-regional phenomenon in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan up to the 1960s. We study a number of film cultures in Shanghai/China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, including the complex web of their historical kinship ties, and place them within the regional and global contexts of modernity, revolution, nation-building, and attendant socio-cultural transformations. To investigate these unique yet interrelated film cultures together raises the question of national cinema as a unitary object of study, while suggesting new avenues for analyzing the complex genealogy of a cluster of urban, regional, commercial or state-sponsored film industries within a larger comparative and transnational framework. Topics related to screenings and discussions include urban modernity, exhibition and spectatorship, transition to sound, stardom and propaganda, gender and ethnic identities, and genre formation and hybridization.

All students should register for section 001.

Antonia Lant
Wednesdays / 12:30 - 4:30pm
CINE-UT 304 / 4 points
Section 001 Class # 22026
Section 002 Class # 22027

This course surveys the film musical genre from the coming of sound to the present, engaging the rich critical literature it has engendered. We examine the musical’s relation to technological changes (the use of optical sound, dubbing, widescreen, motion capture) and also to social and economic transformations (the rise of teen audiences, the Depression, shifting factors in casting decisions). By paying close attention to editing, cinematography, lighting and other aesthetic elements as well as to the multiple techniques of performance that build the musical’s milieu, we uncover both its utopian and its grittier sides. The course pays attention to: the history of classical Hollywood musicals of the 1930s-1950s (with Maurice Chevalier, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse for example); a range of genre appropriations and deconstructions by non-Hollywood and often non-American filmmakers (Julie Dash, Chantal Akerman, Jacques Demy, Baz Luhrman, and Lars von Trier); and weighs more recent musical titles within this history (La La Land, et al). Coursework: class participation, a short mid-term paper, a presentation and final paper.

Fabio Andrade
Fridays / 12:30-4:30pm
CINE-UT 421 / 4 points
Section 001 Class # 22090
Section 002 Class # 22091

In the late 1960s, a group of young filmmakers took Hollywood by storm during a moment of crisis in the then-hegemonic studio system. Directors such as Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, Steven Spielberg, Brian de Palma, among others, established new ways to make and market films that earned the rubric of a 'New Hollywood.' Directed by the first generation of filmmakers to come out of film schools (NYU, USC, AFI, etc) and thrive in the industry, these films allied a profound knowledge of the history of cinema with a direct connection to the pulse of their time, and an acute awareness of the discoveries of New Cinema movements worldwide (the French, Czech, and Japanese New Waves, the Brazilian Cinema Novo, Third Cinema, etc). However, what's behind the term 'New Hollywood' is not only a group of filmmakers, but a specific convergence of social, cultural, technological, and economic changes that presented an opportunity. As no-less impactful cultural and technological changes accelerated in the late 1990s, the New Hollywood was no longer new, and the surviving filmmakers of that generation were forced to reposition themselves in a mediascape that is vastly different from the one they helped shape. This class will focus primarily on works made in the 21st century by prominent filmmakers directly or indirectly associated with the 'New Hollywood' from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s - to quote David Thomson, "the decade when movies mattered." The course will track significant changes in the film industry and art through the films, and the individual trajectories of these ​auteurs​, identifying how they reveal and comment upon the social, cultural, economic, and political structures that determine them.

Howard Besser
Tuesdays / 12:30 - 4:30pm
CINE-UT 611 / 4 points
Section 001 Class # 23188
Section 002 Class # 23189

At the root of "Free Culture" and "Open Access" lies the idea that aesthetic and informational works, once shared with the public, become public resources that should be further shared, built upon, and incorporated into new creative works. This interdisciplinary class examines both ideas from a variety of perspectives: aesthetics, politics, law, and social movements. It pays particular attention to the relationship between these ideas and the rise of new forms of media that allow age-old concepts like "The Commons" to flourish. It also situates these ideas within longstanding practices of scholarship, librarianship, and artistic practice.  The class highlights the positive results that can come from seemingly transgressive acts. The course places a focus on contemporary and very recent activities, and will deal extensively with ways in which the 2020 pandemic prompted a loosening of copyright maximalization and a surge in open access activities, particularly to support distance learning environments. The course will also examine closely related ideas and movements such as "Information Wants to be Free", Illegal Art, Culture Jamming, Appropriation, Remix, Tactical Media, Fair Use, Free Software/Open-Source, CopyLeft, and "Access to Knowledge". Prominent public figures will make presentations to the class.

Dana Polan
Tuesdays / 6:00-10:00pm
CINE-UT 50 / Class # 15217 / 4 points

This course offers a broad survey of American cinema from its beginnings (and even its pre-history) up to 1960.  While the emphasis will be on the dominant, narrative fiction film, there will be attention to other modes of American cinema such as experimental film, animation, shorts, and non-fiction film.  The course will look closely at films themselves -- how do their styles and narrative structures change over time? -- but also at contexts:  how do films reflect their times?  how does the film industry develop? what are the key institutions that had impact on American film over its history?  We will also attend to the role of key figures in film's history:  from creative personnel (for example, the director or the screenwriter) to industrialists and administrators, to censors to critics and to audiences themselves.  The goal will be to provide an overall understanding of one of the most consequential of modern popular art forms and of its particular contributions to the art and culture of our modernity.

Recitations
Thursdays
                                            Class #       
002:  8:00-9:15am                  15218
003:  9:30-10:45am                15219
004:  11:00am-12:15pm          15220 

Anastasia Saverino
Thursdays / 6:00-9:30pm
CINE-UT 55 / Class # 15221 / 4 points

This course surveys the history of international cinema from the competing technologies of its origins through its entry into the modern phase of its history. In addition to tracing the development of narrative traits and stylistic techniques that are familiar to us today, we will explore a wide variety of visions for the medium as it grew from amusement-arcade business to an international industry, including a number of approaches to filmmaking, including Surrealism, Soviet Montage, and German Expressionism. Another focus of this course will be the impact of technological developments, most notably the coming of sound cinema from 1930 to 1945. Finally, the intersection of film style, subject matter, and subjectivity will inform this course, especially our study of the history of film after World War II, which will address Italian Neorealism as well as the cinemas of post-war Eastern Europe, China, India and Japan and the development of a transnational critical framework and distribution network, the international art-cinema.

Recitations
Wednesdays
                                            Class #       
002:  8:00-9:15am                  15222
003:  9:30-10:45am                15223
004:  11:00am-12:15pm          15224 

Eric Kohn
Tuesdays / 6:00-10:00pm
CINE-UT 600 / Class # 15573 / 4 points

This course demystifies the professional and intellectual role 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, and the impact of the practice on the film and television industries themselves. We will cover the influence of major figures in the profession with course readings and discussions based around work by major figures including Ebert, Kael, Sontag, and many others. Major critics and publicists will visit the course to provide additional context. We will also explore newer critical forms, such as the video essay, and explore the related field of entertainment reportage. In addition to engaging in classroom discussions, students will be expected to write reviews, pitch essay ideas, file on deadline during certain courses, and complete a final essay.

Cinema Studies majors only. Limited seats available.

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 900 / Class # 15225      1-4 points variable
CINE-UT 902 / Class # 15226      1-4 points variable

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.  

CINE-UT 950 / Class # 15714        1-4 points variable
CINE-UT 952 / Class # 15715        1-4 points variable

Kenneth Dancyger
Thursdays / 3:30-6:10pm
CINE-UT 146 / Class # 15751 / 4 points

This class is designed to help the students analyze a film script. Premise, character population, plot and genre, 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 three script analyses.

Limited seats available.

Ed Guerrero
Tuesdays / 4:55-7:35pm
CINE-UT 412 / Class # 15573 / 4 points

From the first mass, black migrations into the cities of the North at the beginning of the 20th Century, through the rise of ‘black, industrial modernism’ and the Harlem Renaissance, to contemporary ‘hood-homeboy’ flicks, and beyond, with few exceptions African American cinema has been an urban experience. This course will survey and critically explore an historical range of black films in relation to the modern city, as inspiration, as narrative, as a scene, set, and site of production. We will screen, discuss, read and write about a sampling of important black independently made, and/or black cast and narrative feature films, such as Juke Joint, Moon Over Harlem, Killer of Sheep, Bush Mama, Stormy Weather, Soul Food, Do the Right Thing, Paid in Full. Accordingly, our discussions and readings will cover the full range of issues and debates current in black cinema studies, from independence vs. mainstream filmmaking; gender and sexuality; class and color caste; the ghettoization and upwardly mobile integration of urban zones; cooptation and the rise of the bourgeois wedding flick as genre… and so on.

Nilita Vachani
Mondays / 6:20-9:00pm
CINE-UT 454 / Class # 15823 / 3 points

This course explores the blurred boundaries that have always existed between documentary and fiction filmmaking.  Intended to widen the horizons of the creative filmmaker and film student we will analyze major documentary traditions with a specific focus on narrative techniques used in the telling of powerful stories. Alongside, we will examine contemporary fiction filmmaking that has broken new grounds by a creative absorption and exploitation of the documentary method. The course consists of film analysis of a variety of documentary tropes, interviews with filmmakers, readings in documentary theory and case studies of seminal films. Students write theoretical papers and have the opportunity to work in groups to propose a ‘docfiction’ idea of their own. This course will provide a firm grounding in documentary history and theory, through the lens of the complicated nature of ‘truth’ in documentary practice.

Cinema Studies majors only. Limited seats available.

David Bagnall
Tuesdays / 6:20-9:00pm
CINE-GT 1400 / Class # 7726 / 4 points

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.

Dana Polan
Wednesdays / 12:30-4:30pm
CORE-UA 750 / Class # 9177 / 4 points

Hollywood, 1941—the year that crystallized the cultural and even artistic potential of the studio system as it stood on the brink of war: this, after all, was the moment of such revered works as Citizen Kane, How Green Was My Valley, The Little Foxes, The Maltese Falcon, Sullivan’s Travels, and Sergeant York, among others. Intending to avoid any notion of special genius or historical accident, we set out to account for Hollywood’s achievement in concrete cultural terms: what was the Hollywood studio system and what sorts of films did it produce and how and to what effect? We look at studio structure and its operations, institutional support and pressure (for example, the role of censorship and regulation), the role of critics, and audience taste. 

Recitations
Fridays                                  
                                           Class #
002:    8:00-9:15am                9178
003:    9:30-10:45am              9179
004:    9:30-10:45am              9180
005:    11:00am-12:15pm        9181
006:    12:30-1:45pm              9182
007:    2:00-3:15pm                9183
008:    3:30-4:45pm                10752

Juana Suarez
Mondays / 12:30-4:30pm
CINE-GT 1800 / Class # 7361 / 4 points

This course introduces all aspects of the field, contextualizes them, and shows how they fit together. It will discuss the media themselves (including the technology, history, and contextualization within culture, politics, and economics) Topics include: conservation and preservation principles, organization and access, daily practice with physical artifacts, restoration, curatorship and programming, legal issues and copyright, and new media issues. Students will learn the importance of other types of materials (manuscripts, correspondence, stills, posters, scripts, etc.). Theories of collecting and organizing (as well as their social meanings) will be introduced. 

Interested students should email tisch.preservation@nyu.edufor permission to enroll.

Gregory Cram
Thursdays / 6:30-9:30pm
CINE-GT 1804 / Class # 7363 / 4 points

With the advent of new technologies, film producers and distributors and managers of film and video collections are faced with a myriad of legal and ethical issues concerning the use of their works or the works found in various collections. The answers to legal questions are not always apparent and can be complex, particularly where different types of media are encompassed in one production. When the law remains unclear, a risk assessment, often fraught with ethical considerations, is required to determine whether a production can be reproduced, distributed, or exhibited without infringing the rights of others. What are the various legal rights that may encumber moving image material? What are the complex layers of rights and who holds them? Does one have to clear before attempting to preserve or restore a work? How do these rights affect downstream exhibition and distribution of a preserved work? And finally, what steps can be taken in managing moving image collections so that decisions affecting copyrights can be taken consistently? This course will help students make intelligent decisions and develop appropriate policies for their institution. 

Interested students should email tisch.preservation@nyu.edu for permission to enroll.