C LIT 520 A: Methods And Issues In Cinema And Media Studies

C LIT 520: Methods and Issues in Cinema and Media Studies
This course is designed to give graduate students a basic grounding in the theory, history and criticism of cinema and media studies, and introduce them to central debates, topics, and methods in the field. The central objectives of the course include familiarizing class participants with the:
 *theories most germane to film and media critics since the early 20th century
*methods and problems of textual analysis and interpretation of films
*representative cannon of films and related media texts from diverse historical periods
*historical and cultural paradigms as they relate to film and media studies (mass culture/modernity/nationalism/etc.)
*pedagogical techniques specific to film and media studies
To achieve these goals, all class members will offer a 20-minute “pedagogical presentation” during the quarter in order to practice teaching film analysis; class members will also write several responses to reading materials and to films in order to facilitate weekly seminar discussions, and will participate in a “course conference” at the end of the quarter to practice techniques for professional panel presentations.