Overview
Description
Examination of the films of major directors from D.W. Griffith in the Biograph period (1908-1912) to the present. Filmmakers such as Lois Weber, Howard Hawks, Orson Welles, George Cukor, Dorothy Arzner, Frank Capra, Spike Lee, and others.
Units
Lecture3
Catalog Details
Offering
Offered: Other
Attributes
Standard
Learning Outcomes
- analyze the relationship between technological advancements and societal change in American film history, demonstrating how innovations such as sound, color, digital effects, and streaming technologies have influenced cultural discourse.
- evaluate the representation of race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability in American films across historical periods to assess how film has contributed to or challenged social inequities.
- compare sound and unsound interpretations of technology’s impact on American film, distinguishing between historically accurate and distorted narratives of progress or innovation in both scholarly and popular discourse.
- examine how American films reflect and shape public understanding of diversity and equity, with attention to historically marginalized voices by applying film studies’ interdisciplinary methods.
- synthesize course readings, film screenings, and scholarly debates to construct nuanced arguments about complex intersections between technology, identity, and ideology in U.S. cinema, both in written work and presentations.