English 7051

Introduction to Film and Media Studies

Fall 2010, Monday, 6pm-9pm, 326 State Hall
Steven Shaviro (313-577-5475; 5057 Woodward, room 9309; office hours Wednesday 3:30-4:30 pm and by appointment)

http://www.shaviro.com/Classes/7051F10.html

Course Description

This class provides an introduction to the graduate study of film and new media. The focus will be on film theory and media theory: on the various ways that film has been theorized over the course of the past century, and that newer media (television, video and digital and network-based media) are coming to be theorized. We will watch a number of feature-length films and shorter films and videos in the course of the semester, but the emphasis will be on the readings, and on general questions in film and media theory and history, rather than on the interpretation of individual screen works.

Textbooks

There are four books required for the class, available at Marwil Bookstore (4870 Cass):

These will be supplemented by additional readings, which will either be linked through this syllabus, if they are available online, or else come in the form of handouts.

Schedule of Classes

September 13: MODERNITY AND THE SILENT FILM
Screenings of early cinema (1895-1910)

September 20: SOVIET FILM AND MONTAGE THEORY
Dziga Vertov, Man With a Movie Camera (1929)

September 27: BAZIN AND REALISM
Jean Renoir, The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)

October 4: PSYCHOANALYTIC AND FEMINIST FILM THEORY
Michael Powell, Peeping Tom (1961)

October 11: THEORIZING FILM SOUND

October 18: MCLUHAN AND MEDIA THEORY

October 25: MEDIA PAST AND FUTURE
Special guest Jussi Parikka.
Please attend Parikka's DeRoy Lecture, "Media Archaeology as Zombie Media Research," at 3:00 pm in the English Department Lecture Room (5057 Woodward, room 10302).

November 1: PHENOMENOLOGY IN FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES

November 8: STANLEY CAVELL AND FILM THEORY
Howard Hawks, Bringing Up Baby (1938)

November 15: GILLES DELEUZE AND FILM THEORY

November 22: FILM IN THE DIGITAL AGE

November 29: THEORIZING TELEVISION

December 6: NETWORKS AND NEW MEDIA

December 13: NEW MEDIA FORMS


Class Requirements

You must write four short papers (approx. 5 pages each) over the course of the semester, or one paper approximately every three weeks. Papers will be due on Mondays at the beginning of class, and each paper should be a commentary upon the readings and class discussion of the previous week. (The class will be divided into groups, so that several papers will be coming in each week).

In addition, each person in the class must help to lead class discussion for one class in the course of the semester. (Since the enrollment of the class is greater than the total number of classes, in a few cases there will be two discussion leaders, though usually there will be only one).