MACS 361 B - Film Theory and Criticism

Campus: Urbana-Champaign

Description:

Study of major aesthetic and critical theories about film; study of theory and practice of film criticism.

Special Instructions:

This course engages with, uses, and challenges various theoretical ideas and approaches to film. Throughout the semester, we will address questions such as: What is cinema and what is film studies- How do we relate to and interact with films and media- What are the relationships among film, media, and the larger global society- We will discuss the historical and cultural context in which particular theories emerged, and we will reflect on the role of film theory in the development of film studies as a discipline. Additionally, we will look at how film studies has both taken up and influenced theoretical lines of thought such as ideology, Marxism, semiotics, Russian formalism, psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, feminism, critical race theory, sexuality studies, queer theory, transnationalism, and critiques of neocolonialism. While considering many of the most influential theories in film studies, we will read canonical authors, e.g., Bazin, , Bordwell, Comolli and Narboni, Dyer, M

Option 1

Course Level: Undergraduate

Credit: 3

Term(s): Spring