Screen Cultures

This topics course examines the intersections between culture, language and cinema or other screen-based media. Each topic provides students with an in-depth examination of a specific set of national, transnational or linguistic screen cultures. Students will watch a variety of feature films, employing the tools of film analysis to explore broader issues of history, culture, society and politics. While cinema is often considered through the lens of the national, this course considers the role of film in crossing borders, shaping identities and challenging assumptions about nation, language and culture. The course can be taken more than once and individual topics will canvass questions such as the relationship between fiction and history, gender, sexuality and agency, language and colonialism, and dealing with traumatic pasts. Topics include (See Class tab for scheduling details): - German Film since the Berlin Wall - Italy on Screen - Picturing Latin America and Spain - Films of the French-Speaking World - Australian Cinema - Moving Bodies: Aesthetics and Performance in German Cinema from 1900-1945