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Film & Media Studies Current Courses

Fall 2024

Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
FMST 101-01 Introduction to Film Studies
Instructor: Mattia Mossali
Course Description:
An introductory study of the preeminent art form of the 20th Century. The course will focus upon the fundamentals of film study as an academic discipline, including formal analysis of film narrative and cinematic technique (the art of film), contextual approaches to film, study of various film genres, and rudimentary experience with film production. Students will be exposed to aesthetically and historically important films from a number of cultural traditions.
07:00 PM-10:00 PM, W
ALTHSE 106
03:00 PM-04:15 PM, TR
ALTHSE 106
FMST 210-01 Israeli Cinema
Instructor: Nitsa Kann
Course Description:
Cross-listed with MEST 200-03, RELG 233-01 and JDST 233-01. Israeli cinema has become increasingly diverse, critical, and multicultural and is often at the cutting edge of the Israeli cultural scene. Films provide an interesting lens to explore questions about Israeli life and identity: What was the experience of growing up in post-independence Israel? How were Holocaust survivors and new immigrants from Arab countries received during that period? What made kibbutz life distinct and how has it changed overtime? How is the impact of war and the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict depicted in film? What is the role of gender in the construction of Israeli identity and how has the portrayal of Israeli men, women, and LGBT identities changed overtime? What are the distinct issues facing Orthodox and Ultraorthodox Israelis? How are marginalized groups (Israeli Arabs, Middle Eastern Jews, Russian Jews and Ethiopian Jews) portrayed in film? The course discusses trends and processes in Israeli cultural history and in current Israeli society, as represented in Israeli films from the 1960s to present day Israel. Screenings of Israeli films are a central part of the course. Films from present day Israel, including the most recent, as well as from earlier decades, create the ideological and cultural universe that the course illuminates.
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
EASTC 314
FMST 210-02 Arab Cinema: Women and Sexuality, Politics and Revolution
Instructor: Magda Siekert
Course Description:
Cross-listed with MEST 200-01 and WGSS 201-03. This course introduces students to Arab society and culture through an exploration of Arab cinema, which has a long and rich tradition. Students will watch a representative selection of Arab films from across the Arab world that reflect the many challenges and narratives in the region. Through the films, we will explore Arab societies and cultures, especially women and sexuality, politics and revolution, and the role of religion and tradition in shaping public discourse and imagination on taboo topics including LGBTQ issues. In addition to weekly film viewings and discussions, we will read critical film and culture theory and analysis as they apply to Arab cinema. The class will be conducted in English and all films will have English subtitles.
01:30 PM-04:30 PM, W
DENNY 104
FMST 210-04 Russian Film of the Putin Era
Instructor: Alyssa DeBlasio
Course Description:
Cross-listed with RUSS 241-01. For Lenin, cinema was "the most important art"; for Stalin, it was "the greatest medium of mass motivation." Since Vladimir Putin's inauguration as leader of the Russian Federation in 2000, film has held an equally important role. We will track and analyze major themes in Russian cinema since 1991, including the rise of the Russian blockbuster, popular culture under Putin, festival films, and the intersections of politics and film art. Course taught in English. No prior knowledge of Russian culture required.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
BOSLER 208
FMST 210-05 Music in Media
Instructor: Kendall Winter
Course Description:
Cross-listed with MUAC 221-01. Music has been a central participant in digital storytelling since the technological advances of nineteenth-century opera. Through critical reading, listening, and viewing, you will become familiar with influential theories of musical representation, common compositional strategies for scene-building, and analytical modes of criticism and interpretation of music in film, television, video games, and other forms of media. The ability to read music is not required for this course and non-musicians are welcome and encouraged.
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
WEISS 235
FMST 211-01 Screenwriting
Instructor: Khris Baxter
Course Description:
Cross-listed with CRWR 219-01. This course will familiarize students with the fundamentals of good screenwriting: structure, theme, conflict, character, and dialogue. Students take part in weekly writing exercises as preparation for their final class project--creating a detailed outline of an original screenplay, and completing the first act. Topics include plot and subplot, character development, and commercial considerations such as format and genre. Students are required to read essential books on scriptwriting and to analyze several films and the screenplays on which they are based. Prerequisite: CRWR 218 or any film course. This course is cross-listed as CRWR 219.
01:30 PM-04:30 PM, W
EASTC 411
FMST 220-01 Introduction to Photography
Instructor: Andy Bale
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ARTH 221-01. An entry-level course in black-and-white photography emphasizing theory, history, and practice. Students learn how to create images, use cameras, develop film and make prints using conventional darkroom processes. Students will also be introduced to Photoshop as well as the basics of scanning and digital printing.
09:30 AM-11:30 AM, TR
WEISS 327
FMST 220-02 Introduction to Photography
Instructor: Andy Bale
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ARTH 221-02. An entry-level course in black-and-white photography emphasizing theory, history, and practice. Students learn how to create images, use cameras, develop film and make prints using conventional darkroom processes. Students will also be introduced to Photoshop as well as the basics of scanning and digital printing.
01:30 PM-03:29 PM, TR
WEISS 327
FMST 220-03 Interactive Media
Instructor: Russell McDermott
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ENGL 101-01. Much of new media is touted as being distinctly interactive. In this class we will unpack and explore interactivity and the interactive, historically, culturally and aesthetically. We will work through a variety of media, from the obviousvideo games, interactive films, choose your own adventure novelsto the less obviousthe novel, the art gallery, the film. Interactivity, as a concept, will tie together a variety of objects and practices in this survey class. Ultimately, we will ask, what makes something interactive? How do passive and active media differ? What is the future of interactive media? Example works include Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show, Skyrim, Hersheypark, House of Leaves, The Under, Pry.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
EASTC 411
FMST 220-04 Popular Culture and New Media
Instructor: Alyssa DeBlasio
Course Description:
Cross-listed with RUSS 335-01.
09:30 AM-10:20 AM, MWF
BOSLER 313
FMST 220-05 Digital Studio 1: Image Manipulation and Experimental Processes
Instructor: Todd Arsenault
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ARTH 223-01. This course will focus on 2-dimensional studio processes in the digital environment. It will also explore how digital processes can be used in conjunction with traditional processes like drawing, painting, and printmaking. The initial goal of this class will be to gain a thorough understanding of Adobe Photoshop for image manipulation. As the semester progresses, the class will explore uses of digital technology in contemporary art practice, including experimental processes. *Please note: this is not a photography course, some photo related processes will be part of the class, but those students looking for a more traditional approach to photography should consider the 221 Intro to Photography class.
03:30 PM-05:30 PM, TR
GDYRST 101
FMST 310-01 War and Memory in East Asian Literature and Film
Instructor: Alex Bates
Course Description:
Cross-listed with EASN 305-01. This class examines Japanese, Chinese, and some Korean and Taiwanese representations of the war fought in Asia between 1937 and 1945. This conflict affected the lives of millions and irrevocably changed the landscape of foreign relations in the region. We will investigate questions of collective (and contested) memory, victimization and responsibility, as well as how artists attempted to represent experiences that stretched the boundaries of imagination. Many of the issues we will discuss remain heated topics of debate in domestic and international politics today. This investigation into collective memory will involve in-depth engagement with fiction and films as well as scholarship relating to the war. By the end of the semester, students will gain experience expressing their ideas using the analytic and research tools that we practice in class. Students will evaluate responses to historical controversies in the realms of academia, politics, literature, film and popular culture, and consider how these debates shape the ways in which we remember and understand past conflicts.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
STERN 12
FMST 320-01 Media and Empathy
Instructor: Russell McDermott
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ENGL 331-02. This class asks us to interrogate the role of emotion and empathy in our engagements with media objects. Together we will construct working definitions of empathy, sympathy, and pity and apply these definitions to a variety of media. We will touch on the moral qualities of empathy, and the role of art in doing good or citizen making. Theoretically, the class will draw from a diverse set of readingsfrom philosophy to literary studies to neuroscienceand will task students with thinking across disciplines. Concepts drawn from these readings will be applied to a variety of objects: from autofiction and memoir, to video games and virtual reality. The course will culminate in a final critical or creative project which will extend or address key concepts from the class. Example readings/objects include What Remains of Edith Finch, Queers in Love at the End of Time, Up, Blackfish, and Kenneth Goldsmiths Fidget
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
EASTC 301
Courses Offered in ARTH
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
ARTH 221-01 Introduction to Photography
Instructor: Andy Bale
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 220-01. An entry-level course in black-and-white photography emphasizing theory, history, and practice. Students learn how to create images, use cameras, develop film and make prints using conventional darkroom processes. Students will also be introduced to Photoshop as well as the basics of scanning and digital printing.
09:30 AM-11:30 AM, TR
WEISS 327
ARTH 221-02 Introduction to Photography
Instructor: Andy Bale
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 220-02. An entry-level course in black-and-white photography emphasizing theory, history, and practice. Students learn how to create images, use cameras, develop film and make prints using conventional darkroom processes. Students will also be introduced to Photoshop as well as the basics of scanning and digital printing.
01:30 PM-03:29 PM, TR
WEISS 327
ARTH 223-01 Digital Studio 1: Image Manipulation and Experimental Processes
Instructor: Todd Arsenault
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 220-05. This course will focus on 2-dimensional studio processes in the digital environment. It will also explore how digital processes can be used in conjunction with traditional processes like drawing, painting, and printmaking. The initial goal of this class will be to gain a thorough understanding of Adobe Photoshop for image manipulation. As the semester progresses, the class will explore uses of digital technology in contemporary art practice, including experimental processes. *Please note: this is not a photography course, some photo related processes will be part of the class, but those students looking for a more traditional approach to photography should consider the 221 Intro to Photography class. Prerequisite: 122, 221, or permission of the instructor.
03:30 PM-05:30 PM, TR
GDYRST 101
Courses Offered in CRWR
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
CRWR 219-01 Screenwriting
Instructor: Khris Baxter
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 211-01. This course will familiarize students with the fundamentals of good screenwriting: structure, theme, conflict, character, and dialogue. Students take part in weekly writing exercises as preparation for their final class project--creating a detailed outline of an original screenplay, and completing the first act. Topics include plot and subplot, character development, and commercial considerations such as format and genre. Students are required to read essential books on scriptwriting and to analyze several films and the screenplays on which they are based.
01:30 PM-04:30 PM, W
EASTC 411
Courses Offered in EASN
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
EASN 305-01 War and Memory in East Asian Literature and Film
Instructor: Alex Bates
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 310-01. This class examines Japanese, Chinese, and some Korean and Taiwanese representations of the war fought in Asia between 1937 and 1945. This conflict affected the lives of millions and irrevocably changed the landscape of foreign relations in the region. We will investigate questions of collective (and contested) memory, victimization and responsibility, as well as how artists attempted to represent experiences that stretched the boundaries of imagination. Many of the issues we will discuss remain heated topics of debate in domestic and international politics today. This investigation into collective memory will involve in-depth engagement with fiction and films as well as scholarship relating to the war. By the end of the semester, students will gain experience expressing their ideas using the analytic and research tools that we practice in class. Students will evaluate responses to historical controversies in the realms of academia, politics, literature, film and popular culture, and consider how these debates shape the ways in which we remember and understand past conflicts.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
STERN 12
Courses Offered in ENGL
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
ENGL 101-01 Interactive Media
Instructor: Russell McDermott
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 220-03. Much of new media is touted as being distinctly interactive. In this class we will unpack and explore interactivity and the interactive, historically, culturally and aesthetically. We will work through a variety of media, from the obviousvideo games, interactive films, choose your own adventure novelsto the less obviousthe novel, the art gallery, the film. Interactivity, as a concept, will tie together a variety of objects and practices in this survey class. Ultimately, we will ask, what makes something interactive? How do passive and active media differ? What is the future of interactive media? Example works include Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show, Skyrim, Hersheypark, House of Leaves, The Under, Pry.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
EASTC 411
ENGL 331-02 Media and Empathy
Instructor: Russell McDermott
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 320-01. This class asks us to interrogate the role of emotion and empathy in our engagements with media objects. Together we will construct working definitions of empathy, sympathy, and pity and apply these definitions to a variety of media. We will touch on the moral qualities of empathy, and the role of art in doing good or citizen making. Theoretically, the class will draw from a diverse set of readingsfrom philosophy to literary studies to neuroscienceand will task students with thinking across disciplines. Concepts drawn from these readings will be applied to a variety of objects: from autofiction and memoir, to video games and virtual reality. The course will culminate in a final critical or creative project which will extend or address key concepts from the class. Example readings/objects include What Remains of Edith Finch, Queers in Love at the End of Time, Up, Blackfish, and Kenneth Goldsmiths Fidget
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
EASTC 301
Courses Offered in MEST
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
MEST 200-01 Arab Cinema: Women and Sexuality, Politics and Revolution
Instructor: Magda Siekert
Course Description:
Cross-listed with WGSS 201-03 and FMST 210-02. This course introduces students to Arab society and culture through an exploration of Arab cinema, which has a long and rich tradition. Students will watch a representative selection of Arab films from across the Arab world that reflect the many challenges and narratives in the region. Through the films, we will explore Arab societies and cultures, especially women and sexuality, politics and revolution, and the role of religion and tradition in shaping public discourse and imagination on taboo topics including LGBTQ issues. In addition to weekly film viewings and discussions, we will read critical film and culture theory and analysis as they apply to Arab cinema. The class will be conducted in English and all films will have English subtitles.
01:30 PM-04:30 PM, W
DENNY 104
Courses Offered in MUAC
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
MUAC 221-01 Music in Media
Instructor: Kendall Winter
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 210-05. Music has been a central participant in digital storytelling since the technological advances of nineteenth-century opera. Through critical reading, listening, and viewing, you will become familiar with influential theories of musical representation, common compositional strategies for scene-building, and analytical modes of criticism and interpretation of music in film, television, video games, and other forms of media. The ability to read music is not required for this course and non-musicians are welcome and encouraged. This course is cross-listed as FMST 210.
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
WEISS 235
Courses Offered in RUSS
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
RUSS 241-01 Russian Film of the Putin Era
Instructor: Alyssa DeBlasio
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FMST 210-04. For Lenin, cinema was the most important art; for Stalin, it was the greatest medium of mass motivation. Since Vladimir Putins inauguration as leader of the Russian Federation in 2000, film has held an equally important role. We will track and analyze major themes in Russian cinema since 1991, including the rise of the Russian blockbuster, popular culture under Putin, festival films, and the intersections of politics and film art. Course taught in English. No prior knowledge of Russian culture required.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
BOSLER 208
Courses Offered in WGSS
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
WGSS 201-03 Arab Cinema: Women and Sexuality, Politics and Revolution
Instructor: Magda Siekert
Course Description:
Cross-listed with MEST 200-01 and FMST 210-02. This course introduces students to Arab society and culture through an exploration of Arab cinema, which has a long and rich tradition. Students will watch a representative selection of Arab films from across the Arab world that reflect the many challenges and narratives in the region. Through the films, we will explore Arab societies and cultures, especially women and sexuality, politics and revolution, and the role of religion and tradition in shaping public discourse and imagination on taboo topics including LGBTQ issues. In addition to weekly film viewings and discussions, we will read critical film and culture theory and analysis as they apply to Arab cinema. The class will be conducted in English and all films will have English subtitles.
01:30 PM-04:30 PM, W
DENNY 104