Teaching

Media and Cultural Studies, Fall 2010

COMM 6160/8690, Fall 2010
Wednesdays 4:30-7:00 PM
835 One Park Place South

Dr. Ted Friedman
Office: 738 One Park Place South
ted@tedfriedman.com
http://twitter.com/tedfriedman
http://tedfriedman.com

Course Description
What are the political dimensions of popular culture? How does culture reflect, influence, and embody structures of power? Where does hegemony end and resistance begin? This class will engage the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies, which attempts to understand the relationship between culture and politics. We’ll be reading both founding theoretical texts and cutting-edge scholarship. We’ll address a range of media, from film and television to music, computer games and romance novels. We’ll look at multiple, intersecting structures of power, including class, nation, gender, and race.

Readings
Class readings will include books and a coursepack of articles. Here are the books you’ll need:

Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
One romance novel of your choice
Angela McRobbie, The Aftermath of Feminism
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Commonwealth
Philip Wegner, Life Between Two Deaths, 1989-2001
Michael Berube, The Left at War
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
Janice Hocker Rushing and Thomas Frentz, Projecting the Shadow
Stephen Batchelor, Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist

Most course books should be available at the GSU bookstores. They can also be ordered through online retailers such as amazon.com/student, bn.com, and powells.com. The coursepack is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Podcasts, Screenings and Activities
In addition to readings, some weeks’ assignments will include listening to podcasts, screening films and TV shows, and visiting locations around Atlanta.

Twitter Feed
Relevant news and commentary will be shared with the class via the Twitter hashtag #cultstud. Feel free to respond to tweets or post your own.
Schedule

Unit I: Roots

8/25 The Politics of Culture
In-class screening: Barbie Nation

9/1 Culture and Power
Graeme Tuner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction: Introduction, Chapter 1
Karl Marx, excerpts from The German Ideology
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01a.htm;
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01b.htm
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment
as Mass Deception”
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/Some_writings_of_Adorno.shtml
Walter Benjamin, “On the Concept of History”
http://www.sfu.ca/~andrewf/CONCEPT2.html
Watch or listen to Reading Marx’s Capital with David Harvey, Class 1: “Introduction”
http://davidharvey.org/2008/06/marxs-capital-class-01/
Watch or listen to Paul Fry’s Literary Theory, Class 17: “The Frankfurt School of
Critical Theory”
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/17-the-frankfurt-school-critical/id341652579?i=63753382

9/8 Hegemony and Resistance
Turner, Chapters 2-7, Conclusion
Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm
Atonio Gramsci, “Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State” (CP)
Stuart Hall, “Encoding/Decoding” (CP)

9/15 Cynicism and Utopia
Slavoj Zizek, excerpt from The Sublime Object of Ideology (CP)
Fredric Jameson, “Reification and Utopia in Mass Culture,” (CP)
Douglas Kellner, “Ernst Bloch, Utopia and Ideology Critique”
http://www.uta.edu/english/dab/illuminations/kell1.html
Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia” (CP)
Ted Friedman, “Introduction,” Electric Dreams
http://www.tedfriedman.com/electricdreams/2005/02/introduction.php
Watch or listen to Paul Fry’s Literary Theory, Class 18: “The Political Unconscious”
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/18-the-political-unconscious/id341652579?i=63753375

Unit II: Branches

9/22 Audience and Gender
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
Go to a bookstore, buy a romance novel, and read it.

9/29 Postfeminism
Angela McRobbie, The Aftermath of Feminism
Watch a make-over TV show

10/6 Globalization
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Commonwealth

10/13 Periodization
Philip Wegner, Life Between Two Deaths, 1989-2001
Watch Independence Day

10/20 War
Michael Berube, The Left at War

Unit III: Seeds

10/27 Ecocriticism
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
David Abram, “Language and the Ecology of Sensory Experience”
http://www.aislingmagazine.com/aislingmagazine/articles/TAM33/monotheism/DavidAbram.html
Ted Friedman, “The Politics of Magic”
http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/article.php?issue=14&id=1138
Take a walk in a park. I recommend Avondale Lake and Pine Lake.

11/3 Transhumanism
Janice Hocker Rushing and Thomas Frentz, Projecting the Shadow: The Cyborg Hero in
American Film
Ted Friedman, “Jung and Lost”
http://flowtv.org/2009/05/jung-and-lost-ted-friedman%C2%A0%C2%A0georgia-state-university-atlanta%C2%A0%C2%A0/
Ted Friedman, “Myth, the Numinous, and Cultural Studies”
http://flowtv.org/2009/08/myth-the-numinous-and-cultural-studies-ted-friedman-georgia-state-university-atlanta/
Watch Jaws

11/10 Meaning
Stephen Batchelor, Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist
Ted Friedman, “Vertigo”
http://flowtv.org/2009/09/vertigoted-friedman-georgia-state-university/
Listen to Stephen Batchelor, “Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist”
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/169/talk/8455/
Try at least one of the meditation exercises from the Sounds True Guide to Meditation:
http://www.soundstrue.com/guide/meditation/

11/17 Research Presentations
No reading

11/24 No Class - Thanksgiving Break

12/1 Research Presentations/Party
No reading
Party at Ted’s house
Assignments

The class assignments add up to total of 100 possible points. Your final grade for the class is determined by adding up your grades for each assignment, adjusting for attendance, then applying the final number to the following scale:

A+ 100-98 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 69-65
A 97-93 B 87-83 C 77-70 F 64-0
A- 92-90 B- 82-80

I. Theorist Discussion – Comm 6160: 15% of final grade; Comm 8690: 10% of final grade
You will lead, with a group, a 30-45 minute discussion of one of the theorists covered in the opening weeks of class. One group member should present a brief (5 minute) biographical introduction, incorporating video clips of the author if available. Each other member should introduce a contemporary media example and suggest how the author’s ideas could be applied to the text. Together, the group should prepare a short 1-page summary of the key facts about the author, reading, and media examples. Note: it is not necessary to summarize the reading beyond a brief 1-2 sentence statement of its key arguments. Further exegesis will be developed in lecture and class discussion. The choice of theorists includes: Adorno, Benjamin, Althusser, Gramsci, Hall, Zizek, and Jameson.

II. Book Discussion – 6160: 25% of final grade; 8690: 20% of final grade
You will lead, with a group, discussion of one assigned books. To prepare for the discussion of the reading, research these questions to put the reading in a broader context:

What is the author’s background? What discipline is the author trained in? What else has s/he written? In which journals has s/he published?

What was the reception of the book? How was book reviewed? What criticisms have been made of the author’s work? How has the author responded? Whom has the author influenced?

Then, meet with your group to prepare for a class discussion. Don’t bother summarizing the work. Rather, concentrate on how the work relates to the key questions we’ll be asking all semester. In addition to the research topics, other subjects for discussion should include:

Methodology: What research methods does the author use? (Possibilities include textual analysis, ethnography, historical research, quantitative social science, etc.) How does the author approach and justify this methodology? What are the advantages and limitations of this methodology?

Theoretical debates: In what theoretical debates does the work intervene? Where does the author stand? Whom does the author criticize? How does this work move the debate forward?

Example of Analysis: Pick one media example that’s either directly addressed by the author, or that can be illuminated by applying the author’s ideas. Show a representative sample from the text (any clip should be no more than 5 minutes). Discuss how the author would (or does) interpret the example. What are the strengths and limitations of this interpretation? What alternate interpretations are possible?

Outline the key topics of discussion in a short (1-2 page) handout for the class. There’s no need to include more detail, or to prepare a PowerPoint presentation – the focus should be on presenting material orally and facilitating a good class discussion.

Note: you don’t need to organize your discussion in the order listed above. It may help to present the example up front, to ground your discussion of methodology and theory. It’s often also a good icebreaker to begin discussion by going around the room, asking everybody to answer a specific question related to their response to the book.

III. Outside reading presentation - 8690 only: 10% of grade
PhD students will read one additional book, and give a short (10-15 minute) presentation on the work to the class, summarizing the book’s key arguments, the critical response to the book, and how its ideas relate to the themes of the course. A list of suggested readings will be distributed separately.

IV. Final Project – 50% of final grade
Option 1: Write a paper on a subject relating to the politics of popular culture. 6160: 12-15 pages. 8690: 18-25 pages. Doctoral work will be expected to meet a higher standard of theoretical sophistication.

Option 2: Produce a creative work which engages some of the ideas of the class. The project can be a short film, a screenplay, or a new media work. Along with the project, include a short paper relating your work to ideas from the class. 6160: 3-5 pages; 8690: 8-10 pages. Doctoral work will be expected to meet a higher standard of theoretical sophistication.

For either option, the deadlines are the same:
A one-page prospectus is due October 13. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss the prospectus.
You will give a short (10 minute) presentation of your research project on either November 17 or December 1.
The final project is due December 8.

V. Attendance Adjustment
As Woody Allen put it, “80 percent of success is showing up.” It’s less than that in this formula, but the bottom line is that you can’t contribute to the class if you’re not there. You’re allowed one unexcused absence for the semester. After that, each unexcused absence subtracts one point from your grade total. Excused absences include medical and family emergencies. You will be expected to schedule any employment responsibilities around this class, or accept the consequences of missed classes for your grade. If you do need to miss a class, please contact me ahead of time, and make arrangements to catch up on missed material.

Policies

Office Hours
Office hours are by appointment. I’m usually available to meet before and after every class.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Assessment
Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia State. Upon completing the course, please take time to fill out the online course evaluation.

Disability
Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by registering with the Office of Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance by the Office of Disability Services of a signed Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy of that plan to instructors of all classes in which accommodations are sought.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Fantasy and Science Fiction Media, Fall 2010

FILM 4280/6280, Fall 2010
Tuesdays 4:30-7:00 PM, 408 Classroom South
Screenings Thursdays, 4:30-7:00 PM, 406 Arts & Humanities
Prerequisites for Film 4280: Film 1010 and Film 2700

Dr. Ted Friedman
Office: 738 One Park Place South
ted@tedfriedman.com
http://twitter.com/tedfriedman
http://tedfriedman.com

Course Description
How do we dream our visions of the future? How do we explore our fantasies of the past?

Science fiction extrapolates the trends of the present to imagine possible future worlds, both utopian and (more often) dystopian. Fantasy looks back to imagine past worlds in which technology has not yet usurped nature. Both genres are rooted in mythic traditions that push beyond the boundaries of realism to reach for deeper truths.

This class will examine the genres of fantasy and science fiction across multiple media, including film, television, literature, comics and gaming. We’ll survey their history, while at the same time tracing the influence of each text forward into the present. We’ll look at how these works have reflected and influenced American society, as each new generation of creators has responded to changing social conditions by re-imagining the key tropes and themes of the genres. And we’ll try to understand why these visions continue to capture the world’s imagination.

Readings
Class readings will include books, a coursepack of articles, and news items distributed via the class email list. Here are the books you’ll need:

Maggie Hyde and Michael McGuinness, Introducing Jung
Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz
Lev Grossman, The Magicians
Neal Gaiman, The Sandman: Season of Mists
Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game

Students in Film 6280 will read two additional books of their choice: one scholarly book to present to the entire class, and one novel to discuss in a separately scheduled meeting with the other graduate students.

Twitter Feed
Relevant news and commentary will be shared with the class via the Twitter hashtag #fsfmedia. Feel free to respond to tweets or post your own. Class Schedule

Unit I: Modern Myths

T 8/24 Understanding Fantasy and Science Fiction

T 8/31 Star Wars and the Power of Myth
Ted Friedman, “Myth, the Numinous, and Cultural Studies”:
http://flowtv.org/?p=4161
Ted Friedman, “The Politics of Magic,”
http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/article.php?issue=14&id=1138§ion=article&q=rose
Joseph Campbell, excerpt from The Hero With a Thousand Faces (CP)
Christopher Vogler and Stuart Voytilla, excerpt from Myth and the Movies (CP)

T 9/7 The Lord of the Rings and the Collective Unconscious
Hyde and McGuinness, Introducing Jung
Ted Friedman, “Jung and Lost”:
http://flowtv.org/?p=3865
Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Child and the Shadow” (CP)
J.R.R. Tolkien, “Introduction to The Fellowship of the Ring” (CP)

Unit II: Folklore and Fantasy

T 9/14 The Wizard of Oz and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz

T 9/21 The Company of Wolves and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angela Carter, “The Company of Wolves” (CP)
Selections from Marjorie Tatar, ed., The Classic Fairy Tales (CP)
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, “Why Vampires Never Die”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31deltoro.html?_r=1
Laura Miller, “Real Men Have Fangs”:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122540672952785957-lMyQjAxMDI4MjE1MTQxMDE2Wj.html

T 9/28 Harry Potter, The Magicians and True Blood
Lev Grossman, The Magicians

T 10/5 Spirited Away and Futurama
Margaret Talbot, “The Auteur of Anime” (CP)
James W. Boyd and Tetsuya Nishimura, “Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki’s Anime Film Spirited Away,” The Journal of Religion and Film 8.2 (October 2004):
http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol8No2/boydShinto.htm
Norkio T. Reider, “Spirited Away: Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols,” Film Criticism 29.3 (2005): 4-27:
http://www.corneredangel.com/amwess/papers/spirited_away.pdf
Aaron Sherwood, “Characterization, Narrative Structure and Mythopoeia in the Films of Hayao Miyazaki” (2006):
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/essay/files/AaronSherwood_Mythopoeia.pdf

T 10/12 Pan’s Labyrinth, Sandman and Lost
Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: Season of Mists

Unit III: Science Fiction

T 10/19 Metropolis
J. P. Telotte, “The Seductive Text of Metropolis” (CP)
Take-home midterm due

T 10/26 Bride of Frankenstein and Twilight Zone
William Gibson, “The Gernsback Continuum” (CP)
Andrew Ross, “Getting Out of the Gernsback Continuum” (CP)
David Hartwell, excerpt from Age of Wonders (CP)
Gary Morris, “Sexual Subversion: The Bride of Frankenstein”:
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/19/19_bride1.html

T 11/2 Blade Runner and Star Trek
Donna Haraway, “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” (CP)
Fredric Jameson, “Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism” (CP)
Henry Jenkins, “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” (CP)
Ted Friedman, “Capitalism: The Final Frontier”:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/essays/2005/03/capitalism_the.html

T 11/9 Brazil, Ender’s Game and The X-Files
Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game
Carl Jung, “Flying Saucers as Modern Myths” (CP)

T 11/16 The Matrix and Battlestar Galactica
David Weberman, “The Matrix: Simulation and the Postmodern Age” (CP)
Slavoj Zizek, “The Matrix, or the Two Sides of Perversion” (CP)
Spencer Ackerman, “Battlestar: Iraqtica,”
http://www.slate.com/id/2151425/nav/tap2/

T 11/23 No Class - Thanksgiving Break

T 11/30 Children of Men, World of Warcraft and The Guild
Download and play the free World of Warcraft trial:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

Take-Home Final Due Tuesday, December 7, 5 PM

Screening Schedule

You are responsible for viewing assigned films in time for class discussion. Screenings are held on Thursdays at 4:30 PM in 406 Arts & Humanities.

8/26 Star Wars
9/2 The Lord of the Rings
9/9 The Wizard of Oz
9/16 The Company of Wolves
9/23 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
9/30 Spirited Away
10/7 Pan’s Labyrinth
10/14 Metropolis
10/21 Bride of Frankenstein
10/28 Blade Runner
11/4 Brazil
11/11 The Matrix
11/18 Children of Men
11/25 Thanksgiving Break - play World of Warcraft
12/2 No screening

Assignments

A+ 100-98 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 69-65
A 97-93 B 87-83 C 77-70 F 64-0
A- 92-90 B- 82-80

TV Presentation - 10 points (Film 4280)
As part of a 2-3 person team, you will give a presentation on an influential fantasy or science fiction television show. Your team has two presentation options:

Research Presentation: Each member of the team gives a 5-minute presentation on a different aspect of the show: 1) the creator; 2) the economics of the production; 3) audience responses. Each member hands in a list of sources. A minimum of five separate sources is required. (Wikipedia can be consulted and, if so, should be listed on the bibliography, but does not count toward the five sources.) PowerPoint is not necessary, but short video clips (such as creator interviews, news stories, and fan films) should be incorporated into each presentation when available.

Creative Presentation: Alternately, the presentation team can choose to collectively produce a short film about the TV show. Options include an edited selection of clips with voice-over commentary, a series of interviews with viewers, or a fan film.

Book Presentation - 10 points (Film 6280)
Instead of the TV presentation, each graduate student will give a 15-20 minute presentation on a relevant scholarly book of the student’s choice. The presentation should include an examination of the book’s main arguments and how they relate to the themes of the course, an application of the book’s ideas through a media example, and a class discussion period.

Take-Home Midterm - 45 points (Film 4280 and 6280)
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the assigned films, series, novels and comics. Undergradate and graduate students will take the same exam, but graduate students will be expected to submit more detailed answers. Due October 19.

Take-Home Final - 45 points (Film 4280 and 6280)
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering the second half of the semester. Due December 7.

Attendance Adjustment
As Woody Allen put it, “80 percent of success is showing up.” It’s less than that in this formula, but the bottom line is that you can’t contribute to the class if you’re not there. You’re allowed one unexcused absence for the semester. After that, each unexcused absence subtracts one point from your grade total. Excused absences include medical and family emergencies. You will be expected to schedule any employment responsibilities around this class, or accept the consequences of missed classes for your grade. If you do need to miss a class, please contact me ahead of time, and make arrangements to catch up on missed material.

Policies

Office Hours
Office hours are by appointment. I’m usually available to meet before and after every class.

Late Papers
Late midterms are penalized at the rate of 1/2 point per day overdue. Late finals cannot be accepted without an extension.

Rewrites
Rewrites of any midterm question are welcome. The final grade on the question will be the average of the original grade and the rewritten version’s grade. Rewrites of the final are unavailable, but rough drafts of the final can be submitted for feedback through November 30.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

American Film History I, Summer 2010

Film 4170/6170, Summer 2010
Class: Mondays & Wednesdays 10:55-1:40, GCB 505
Screenings: Wednesdays 1:50-3:40, Arts & Humanities 406
Office: 738 One Park Place South
email: ted@tedfriedman.com
website: http://tedfriedman.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/tedfriedman

Course Description

The past is a foreign country. Viewing the silent films of over one hundred years ago, we are reminded of the strangeness of this distant culture. It is a challenge of the imagination to recapture the pleasures of these entertainments, to put oneself in the minds of those early spectators viewing a brand-new medium. Like the best foreign travel, a journey into the history of American film can be an act of defamiliarization, shaking up our assumptions about how movies work.

At the same time, the past is prologue. In the history of American film, we find the roots of contemporary culture, as well as hints about the future. Watching even the earliest “cinema of attractions,” we see versions of the spectacles which fill multiplexes today.

This class, then, takes two approaches to American film history. On the one hand, it seeks to understand the culture of earlier eras on their terms, in all their strangeness and specificity. On the other hand, it attempts to chart the distance between past and present, and attempt to understand the historical changes that film has both reflected and, in some ways, influenced. Along the way, we’ll address questions of aesthetics, semiotics, economics, ideology, race, gender, and national identity.

Screening Schedule

On Mondays, films will be screened during class time. On Wednesdays, screenings will be held from 1:50-3:40 in 406 Arts & Humanities. Additional film clips and documentaries will also be screened during class time.

6/14 Selections from vaudeville routines
6/16 Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Reisner, 1928)
6/21 Silent film shorts
6/23 The Public Enemy (Wellman, 1931)
6/28 His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)
6/30 Gone With the Wind (Fleming, 1939)
7/5 No class - Independence Day observed
7/7 The Big Sleep (Hawks, 1946)
7/12 It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1944)
7/14 All About Eve (Mankiewicz, 1950)
7/19 Singin’ in the Rain (Donen and Kelly, 1952)
7/21 Rebel Without a Cause (Ray, 1955)
7/26 North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959)

7/28 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (Ford, 1962)
8/2 Class choice

Reading Schedule

The course-pack for this class is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South). The graduate section will choose one additional book to read.

6/14 The Roots of Hollywood
No reading; Vaudeville documentary screened in class

6/16 Historicizing Hollywood
No reading; Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own documentary screened in class

6/21 Early Silent Film: The Cinema of Attractions
Tom Gunning, “An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)credulous Spectator,” Film Theory and Criticism, eds. Braudy and Cohen (Oxford, 2004), 862-876.
Donald Crafton, “Pie and Chase: Gag, Spectacle and Narrative in Slapstick Comedy,” Classical Hollywood Comedy, eds. Karnick and Jenkins (Routledge, 1995), pp. 106-119.
James Agee, “Comedy’s Greatest Era,” Agee on Film (Modern Library, 2000), pp. 393-412.

6/23 Silent Film Audiences and Identities
Kathy Fuller-Seeley, “Coming of Age at the Picture Show: Middle Class Youth in the 1910s and 1920s,” At the Picture Show (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996), pp. 169-193.
Michael Rogin, “Blackface, White Noise: The Jewish Jazz Singer Finds His Voice,” Blackface, White Noise (U California Press, 1996), pp. 73-120.

6/28 Hollywood Genres: Gangster and Screwball
Thomas Schatz, excerpts from Hollywood Genres (McGraw-Hill, 1981), pp. 3-41, 81-110.
Robert Warshow, “The Gangster as Tragic Hero,” The Immediate Experience (Atheneum, 1970), pp. 127-133.
Tina Olsin Lent, “Romantic Love and Friendship: The Redefinition of Gender Relations in Screwball Comedy,” Classical Hollywood Comedy, eds. Karnick and Jenkins (Routledge, 1995), pp. 314-331.

6/30 The Politics of Hollywood
Robert Ray, “A Certain Tendency of the American Cinema: Classic Hollywood’s Formal and Thematic Paradigms,” A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Princeton UP, 1985), pp. 25-69.
Larry May, excerpts from The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the Poltics of the America Way (U Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 1-10, 101-138, 257-269.

7/5 No class - Independence Day observed

7/7 Race, Gender and Region in Gone With the Wind
Ruth Elizabeth Burks, “Gone With the Wind: Black and White in Technicolor,” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 21 (2004): 53-73.
Leonard J. Leff, “Gone With the Wind and Hollywood’s Racial Politics,” The Atlanic, December 1999, pp. 106-114.
Charles Rutheiser, “Going, Going, Gone with the Wind,” Imagineering Atlanta (Verso, 1996), pp. 40-46.

7/12 Film Noir
Thomas Schatz, “The Hardboiled-Detective Film,” Hollywood Genres (McGraw-Hill, 1981), pp. 111-150.
Midterm due

7/14 The Capra Consensus
Robert Ray, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Princeton UP, 1985), pp. 175-215.

7/19 Backstage
Robert Corber, “Cold War Femme: Lesbian Visibility in Joseph Mankiewicz’s All About Eve,” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 11.1 (2005): 1-22.

7/21 The Musical and Utopia
Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia,” The Cultural Studies Reader, ed. Simon During (Routledge, 1999), pp. 371-381.
Steven Cohan, “Case Study: Interpreting Singin’ in the Rain,” Reinventing Film Studies, eds Gledhill and Williams (Hodder Arnold, 2000), pp. 53-75.

7/26 The Invention of the Teenager
Peter Biskind, “Wild in the Streets,” from Seeing Is Believing (Pantheon, 1983), pp. 197-227.

7/28 Hitchcock’s Gaze
Slavoj Zizek, “The Individual: Hitchcock’s Universe,” Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lacan But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock, ed. Slavoj Zizek, pp. 211-272.

8/2 The Beginning of the End of the Western
Robert Ray, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence,” A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Princeton UP, 1985), pp. 215-243.
Garry Wills, “John Wayne’s Body, The New Yorker, August 16, 1996, pp. 39-49.

Take-home final due Wednesday, August 4

Assignments

A+ 100-98 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 69-65
A 97-93 B 87-83 C 77-70 F 64-0
A- 92-90 B- 82-80

Take-Home Midterm - 50 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films screened in the first half of the semester.

Take-Home Final - 50 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering the second half of the semester.

Policies

Late and Unsubmitted Papers
Late papers will be marked off by ½ point for every day overdue unless an extension is agreed upon before the due date. Any unsubmitted papers will receive a 0. Likewise, any unanswered exam questions will receive a 0. So, if you answer only 2 out of 3 required exam questions, you will get a 0 on the third question.

Academic Honesty
The university’s policy on academic honesty is published in On Campus: The Undergraduate Co-Curricular Affairs Handbook, available online at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwcam. The policy prohibits plagiarism, cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, and multiple submissions. Violation of the policy will result in failing the class, in addition to disciplinary sanctions.

The Internet makes it easy to plagiarize, but also easy to track down plagiarism. Bottom line: Don’t plagiarize. It’s wrong, and it’s not worth it. There’s always a better way. Cite all your sources, put all direct quotations in quotation marks, and clearly note when you are paraphrasing other authors’ work.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Course Evaluation
Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia State University. Upon completing the course, please take the time to fill out the online course evaluation.

Media and Popular Culture, Spring 2010

Film 4810, Spring 2010
Wednesday 1:00-3:30, 506 Classroom South
Office: 738 One Park Place South
Email: ted@tedfriedman.com
Website: http://www.tedfriedman.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tedfriedman

Course Description
Popular culture is often described as “escapist” entertainment. But this dismissal evades some very serious questions. What are we escaping? Where are we escaping to? Does everybody go to the same place? How might the trip affect us, once we get back? This class looks at the social consequences and political implications of mass mediated entertainment. Its goal is to develop the theoretical tools and critical perspective to interrogate the TV shows, commercials, films, books, songs, videos, and web sites that saturate our lives.

Readings
The coursepack is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South). Links to additional optional readings will be distributed via the Twitter hashtag #popcult.

Schedule

Unit I: Introducing Cultural Studies

1/13 Culture as Struggle and Negotiation

1/20 Sentimental Education and the Circuit of Culture
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: http://godsaveprint.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/mechanicalrepro1.pdf
Clifford Geertz, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight”:
http://webhome.idirect.com/~boweevil/BaliCockGeertz.html
Ted Friedman, “Introduction,” Electric Dreams: Computers and American Culture: http://www.tedfriedman.com/electricdreams/2005/02/introduction.php

1/27 Subcultures and Mass Culture
Dick Hebdige, excerpt from Subculture: The Meaning of Style
Malcolm Gladwell, “The Coolhunt”: http://gladwell.com/1997/1997_03_17_a_cool.htm
Gladwell, “The Science of Shopping”: http://gladwell.com/1996/1996_11_04_a_shopping.htm

Unit II: The Circuit of Culture

2/3 Regulation and Production
Thomas Schatz, “The New Hollywood”
Robert McChesney, “The Market Uber Alles”
Chris Anderson, “The Long Tail”:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html

2/10 Representation
Ellen Seiter, “Semiotics, Structuralism and Television”
Roland Barthes, “Myth Today”

2/17 Audience and Identity
Barbara Ehrenreich et al, “Beatlemania: Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
Henry Jenkins, “Strangers No More, We Sing: Filking and the Construction of the Science Fiction Fan Community”
Choose one article to read from Transformative Works and Cultures:
http://journal.transformativeworks.org

Unit III: Culture and Power

2/24 Ideology, Hegemony and Resistance
James Kavanaugh, “Ideology”
John Fiske, “British Cultural Studies and Television”
Stuart Hall, “Encoding, Decoding”

3/3 Culture and Status
Janice Radway, excerpts from Reading the Romance
Assignment: Buy in a store and skim a romance novel for class discussion

3/10 Spring Break - No Class

3/17 Race
Sut Jhally and Justin Lewis, “Enlightened Racism”
Take-Home Midterm Due

3/24 Gender
Ariel Levy, excerpts from Female Chauvinist Pigs
Alexander Doty, “There’s Something Queer Here”

Unit IV: New Media Futures

3/31 Comics
Scott McCloud, excerpts from Understanding Comics
Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield, Freakangels:
http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23 (read at least through Volume 1)

4/7 Games
Ralph Koster, excerpts from A Theory of Fun for Video Games
McKenzie Wark, excerpts from GAM3R 7H3ORY: http://www.futureofthebook.org/gamertheory/ (read “Agony: on The Cave,” page cards 1-25)
Assignment: Download and play World of Warcraft. Free 10-day trial at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com.

4/14 Social Media
Choose two articles to read from Tara McPherson, ed., Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/dmal/-/4 and/or David Buckingham, ed., Youth, Identity and Social Media: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/dmal/-/6

4/21 Globalization
Benedict Anderson, excerpts from Imagined Communities
Arjun Appadurai, excerpts from Modernity at Large

4/28 Activism
Naomi Klein, excerpts from No Logo

Take-Home Final Exam due 5/5

Assignments

A 100-93 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 70-65
A- 92-90 B 87-83 C 77-73 F 64-0
B- 82-80 C- 72-70

Take-Home Midterm - 45 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films screened for the first three class units. Due in class March 17.

Take-Home Final - 45 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering units 4-7. Due May 5.

Presentation – 10 points
You will sign up with two partners to research the creators, economics, and audience contexts of a television program or video game. You will then choose a sample episode or gameplay experience, present your research to the class, screen the episode/game for the class, then participate in the class discussion. More information will follow in a separate handout.

Re-Writes and Makeup Tests
Opportunities for revision and improvement will be available for the midterm, the presentation, and the research paper prospectus. In addition, I will look at optional drafts of the research paper submitted on or before the deadline listed above. One rule: a 24-hour cool-down period after the return of any assignment. Wait a day before coming to talk to me, and I’ll be happy to listen to your concerns and help you improve your work.

Late and Unsubmitted Papers
Late papers will be marked off by ½ point for every day overdue unless an extension is agreed upon before the due date. No work can be accepted after the deadline for the take-home final. Any unsubmitted papers will receive a 0. Likewise, any unanswered exam questions will receive a 0. So, if you answer only 2 out of 3 required exam questions, you will get a 0 on the third question.

Withdrawals
Students withdrawing on or before the midsemester point will receive a W provided they are passing the course. Students who withdraw after the midsemester point will not be eligible for a W except in cases of hardship. If you withdraw after the midsemester point, you will be assigned a WF, except in those cases in which (1) hardship status is determined by the office of the dean of students because of emergency, employment, or health reasons, and (2) you are passing the course.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Issues and Perspectives in Communication Theory, Spring 2010

Comm 6010, Spring 2010
Class: Mondays 7:15-9:45 PM, 1020 One Park Place South
Office: 738 One Park Place South
email: ted@tedfriedman.com
website: http://www.tedfriedman.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tedfriedman

Course Description

Communication is a wide-ranging field encompassing the study of speech, journalism, film, television, video games, the internet, and every other medium through which people exchange information. Scholars bring an array of approaches to their work, from historical digging to quantitative data collection to ethnographic interviews to textual analysis. And they address a broad range of issues, from aesthetics to psychology to politics and beyond.

Communication is less a single discipline than an interdisciplinary meeting ground. At the same time, a series of key conversations runs across all these varied areas of study. This course is designed to help new Communication M.A. students get their bearings in this rich, complex field, as you begin your graduate study. It will introduce you to the ideas, arguments, and ongoing questions which organize our field.

Readings

The course-pack for this class is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South). Additional optional readings will be shared via the Twitter hashtag #commtheory.

Class Schedule

1/11 Introduction

1/18 Martin Luther King Day - No Class
Outside screening: watch The Century of Self Parts 1-4:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=century+of+self

1/25 Communication and Culture
James Carey, “A Cultural Approach to Communication,” Communication as Culture (London: Routledge, 1992): 13-36.
Clifford Geertz, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight”:
http://www.si.umich.edu/~rfrost/courses/MatCult/content/Geertz.pdf
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”:
http://godsaveprint.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/mechanicalrepro1.pdf
Ted Friedman, “Introduction,” Electric Dreams: Computers and American Culture:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/electricdreams/2005/02/introduction.php

2/1 Media Histories and Futures
Lawrence Grossberg, Ellen Wartella, and D. Charles Whitney, “Narratives of Media History,” MediaMaking: Mass Media in a Popular Culture (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998): 33-58.
Brian Winston, “How Are Media Born?” in Michele Hilmes (ed.), Connections: A Broadcast Reader (Belmont, CA: Thompson/Wadsworth), 3-18.
Chris Anderson, “The Long Tail,” Wired 12.10 (October 2004):
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison, “Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1):
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

2/8 Audiences
Susan Douglas, “The Invention of the Audience,” Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004): 124-60.
Eileen R. Meehan, “Why We Don’t Count: The Commodity Audience,” in Patricia Mellencamp (ed.), Logics of Television: Essays on Cultural Criticism (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), 117-37.
John Fiske, “The Cultural Economy of Fandom,” The Adoring Audience (New York: Routledge, 1992), 30-49.
Henry Jenkins, “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars? Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture”: http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html

2/15 Narrative and Genre
Walter R. Fisher, “Narrative as a Human Communication Paradigm: The Case of Public Moral Argument,” Communication Monographs 51 (1984): 1-23.
Hayden White, “The Question of Narrative in Contemporary Historical Theory,” The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987): 26-57.
Thomas Schatz, “Film Genre and the Genre Film,” Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981): 14-41.

2/22 Semiotics
Kaja Silverman, “From Sign to Subject, A Short History,” The Subject of Semiotics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983): 3-53.
Jonathan Culler, “Saussure’s Theory of Language,” Ferdinand de Saussure, rev. ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986): 27-64.
Christian Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema,” in Gerald Mast, Marshall Cohen, and Leo Braudy (eds.), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 168-178.

3/1 Ideology
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “The Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideas,” in Durham and Kellner (eds.), Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001): 39-42.
Raymond WIlliams, “Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory,” in Durham and Kellner (eds.), Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001), 152-165.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception”:
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/Some_writings_of_Adorno.shtml
Roland Barthes, “Myth Today,” Mythologies (New York: Hill and Wang, 1972), 109-159.

3/8 Spring Break - No Class

3/15 Hegemony and Resistance
Stuart Hall, “Encoding, Decoding,” in Simon During (ed.), The Cultural Studies Reader (New York: Routledge, 2007), 90-103.
Celeste Condit, “Hegemony in a Mass-Mediated Society: Condordance About Reproductive Technologies,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 11 (1994): 205-230.
Dana Cloud, “Hegemony or Concordance? The Rhetoric of Tokenism in ‘Oprah’ Winfrey’s Rags-to-Riches Biography,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 13 (1996): 115-137.
Celeste Condit, “Hegemony, Condordance and Capitalism: Reply to Cloud,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 13 (1996): 382-384.
Dana Cloud, “Concordance, Complexity and Conservatism: Rejoinder to Condit,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 14 (1997): 193-97.
Celeste Condit, “Clouding the Issues? The Ideal and the Material in Human Communication,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 14 (1997): 197-200.
Research proposals due

3/22 The Public Sphere
Jurgen Habermas, “The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article,” in Durham and Kellner (eds.), Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001): 102-107.
Phaedra Pezzulo, “Resisting ‘National Breast Cancer Awareness Month’: The Rhetoric of Counterpublics and their Cultural Performances,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 89 (2003): 345-365
Bent Flyvbjerg, “Habermas and Foucault: Thinkers for Civil Society?” British Journal of Sociology 49.2 (June 1998): 210-233:
http://flyvbjerg.plan.aau.dk/CIVSOC5%200PRINTBJS.pdf

3/29 Psychoanalysis
Kaja Silverman, “The [Semiotic] Subject in Freud and Lacan,” The Subject of Semiotics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983), 126-193.
Janice Hocker Rushing and Thomas S. Frentz, “Integrating Ideology and Archetype in Rhetorical Criticism,” The Quarterly Journal of Speech 77 (1991): 385-406
Barbara Creed, “Film and Psychoanalysis,” in John Hill and Pamela Gibson (eds.), The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 77-90.

4/5 Gender
Ann Brooks, “Postfeminist Variations within Media and Film Theory,” Postfeminisms: Feminism, Cultural Theory and Cultural Forms (London: Routledge, 1997): 163-188.
Amanda Lotz and Sharon Marie Ross, “Bridging Media-Specific Approaches: The Value of Feminist Television Criticism’s Synthetic Approach,” Feminist Media Studies 4 (2004): 185-202.
Alexander Doty, “There’s Something Queer Here,” Making Things Perfectly Queer (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993): 1-16.
Judith Butler, “Preface (1999)” and “Preface (1990),” Gender Trouble (New York: Routledge, 1999), vii-xxxiii.

4/12 Race
Stuart Hall, “The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media,” in George Bridges and Rosalind Brunt (eds.), Silver Linings (London: Lawrences & Wishart, 1981), 28-52.
Michael Omi & Howard Winant, “Racial Formation,” Racial Formation in the United States (New York: Routledge, 1994): 53-76.
Richard Dyer, “The Matter of Whiteness,” White (New York: Routledge, 1997), 1-40.

4/19 Nationalism and Globalization
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities chapters 1-3 (New York: Verso, 1983), 1-46.
Arjun Appadurai, “Disjunctures and Difference in the Global Cultual Economy,” Modernity at Large (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996), 27-47.
Final reading TBA

4/26 No reading - research presentations begin

5/3 No reading - research presentations continue/party at Ted’s house

Final papers due May 10

Assignments

A+ 100-98 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 69-65
A 97-93 B 87-83 C 77-70 F 64-0
A- 92-90 B- 82-80

I. Co-lead discussions of four readings– 10% of final grade for each reading (40% total)
You will sign up to co-lead discussions of four readings over the course of the semester. The discussion of each reading will be co-led by two students. One leader is responsible for presenting background information on the author(s) and the article. For that presentation, you should research the author’s biography, and survey the influence of the essay via http://scholar.google.com. The second leader is responsible for introducing a contemporary media example, and suggesting how the article’s ideas might be applied to the example. Together, the leaders should prepare a short 1-page summary of the key facts about the author(s), article, and media example. Note: it is not necessary to summarize the article beyond a brief 1-2 sentence statement of its key arguments. Further exegesis will be developed in lecture and class discussion.

II. Final Paper – 60% of final grade
Write a 20-page paper applying one or more theoretical approaches from the class to an object of study in your area. For example, you might develop a semiotic analysis of a news program, a psychoanalytic reading of a film, or a Marxist analysis of a political speech. You should demonstrate your understanding of important concepts and terms, and you should use the concepts to provide new insight into the object you’re examining.

• A one-page proposal is due March 15. I will schedule individual meetings
with you to discuss the proposal.
• You will give a short (10 minute) presentation of your research project on either April 26 or May 3.
• The final project is due May 10.

III. Attendance Adjustment
As Woody Allen put it, “80 percent of success is showing up.” It’s less than that in this formula, but the bottom line is that you can’t contribute to the class if you’re not there. You’re allowed one unexcused absence for the semester. After that, each unexcused absence subtracts one point from your grade total. Excused absences include medical and family emergencies. You will be expected to schedule any employment responsibilities around this class, or accept the consequences of missed classes for your grade. If you do need to miss a class, please contact me ahead of time, and make arrangements to catch up on missed material.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fall 2009

How do we dream our visions of the future? How do we explore our fantasies of the past?

This class will examine the genres of science fiction and fantasy across multiple media, including film, television, literature, comics and gaming. We’ll survey the history of science fiction and fantasy, while at the same time tracing the influence of each text forward into the present. We’ll look at how these works have reflected and influenced American society, as each new generation of creators has responded to changing social conditions by re-imagining the key tropes and themes of the genres. And we’ll try to understand why these visions continue to capture the world’s imagination.

Readings
Class readings will include books, a coursepack of articles, and news items distributed via the class email list. The course books are available at the GSU bookstores. Here are the books you’ll need:

Maggie Hyde and Michael McGuinness, Introducing Jung
Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz
Neal Gaiman, The Sandman: Season of Mists
Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game

The coursepack is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Graduate students will read two additional books of their choice, one fiction and one nonfiction.

Class Schedule

Unit I: Modern Myths

T 8/18 Understanding Fantasy and Science Fiction

Th 8/20 The Power of Myth
Ted Friedman, “Star Wars and the Dialectics of Myth”:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/essays/2005/03/star_wars_and_t.html
Ted Friedman, “Myth, the Numinous, and Cultural Studies”:
http://flowtv.org/?p=4161

T 8/25 Star Wars
Joseph Campbell, excerpt from The Hero With a Thousand Faces (CP)
Christopher Vogler and Stuart Voytilla, excerpt from Myth and the Movies (CP)

Th 8/27 The Collective Unconscious
Hyde and McGuinness, Introducing Jung
Ted Friedman, “Jung and Lost”:
http://flowtv.org/?p=3865

Unit II: Folklore and Fantasy

T 9/1 The Wizard of Oz
Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz

Th 9/3 Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Diana Wagonner, “Theory of Fantasy” (CP)

T 9/8 The Company of Wolves
Angela Carter, “The Company of Wolves” (CP)
Selections from Marjorie Tatar, ed., The Classic Fairy Tales (CP)

Th 9/10 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Shannon Craigo-Snell, “What Would Buffy Do?
Feminist Ethics and Epistemic Violence”:
http://ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/BuffyEthics/index.html

T 9/15 The Lord of the Rings
JRR Tolkien, “Introduction to The Fellowship of the Ring” (CP)
Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Child and the Shadow” (CP)
China Mieville, “Beyond the Tolkienesque Fairyland We Know”
http://www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=mieville

Th 9/17 True Blood
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, “Why Vampires Never Die”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31deltoro.html?_r=1
Laura Miller, “Real Men Have Fangs”:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122540672952785957-lMyQjAxMDI4MjE1MTQxMDE2Wj.html

T 9/22 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Henry Jenkins, “Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and
the Harry Potter Wars” (CP)
Ted Friedman, “The Politics of Magic,”
http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/article.php?issue=14&id=1138§ion=article&q=rose

Th 9/24 Anime TV
Roland Ketts, excerpts from Japanamerica (CP)
Daniel H. Pink, “Japan, Ink: Inside the Manga-Industrial Complex”
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-11/ff_manga
Jason Thompson, “How Manga Conquered the U.S.”
http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2007/1511_ff_manga

T 9/29 Spirited Away
Margaret Talbot, “The Auteur of Anime” (CP)

Th 10/1 Futurama

T 10/6 No Class
Download and play the free World of Warcraft trial:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

Th 10/8 No Class
Go see District 9, Ponyo, 9, Jennifer’s Body, or Zombieland

T 10/13 Pan’s Labrynth
Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: Season of Mists

Unit III: Science Fiction

Th 10/15 Mystery Science Theater 3000
David Hartwell, excerpt from Age of Wonders (CP)

T 10/20 Metropolis
J. P. Telotte, “The Seductive Text of Metropolis” (CP)
William Gibson, “The Gernsback Continuum” (CP)
Andrew Ross, “Getting Out of the Gernsback Continuum” (CP)

Th 10/22 The Twilight Zone
Take-home midterm due

T 10/27 Bride of Frankenstein
Gary Morris, “Sexual Subversion: The Bride of Frankenstein”:
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/19/19_bride1.html

Th 10/29 Star Trek
Henry Jenkins, “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” (CP)
Ted Friedman, “Capitalism: The Final Frontier”:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/essays/2005/03/capitalism_the.html

T 11/3 Blade Runner
Donna Haraway, “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” (CP)
Fredric Jameson, “Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism” (CP)

Th 11/5 The X-Files
Carl Jung, “Flying Saucers as Modern Myths” (CP)

T 11/10 Brazil
Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game

Th 11/12 Lost
Jeff Jensen, “EW University: Lost”:
http://www.ew.com/ew/package/0,,20284496_20284498,00.html

T 11/17 The Matrix
David Weberman, “The Matrix: Simulation and the Postmodern Age” (CP)
Slavoj Zizek, “The Matrix, or the Two Sides of Perversion” (CP)

Th 11/19 Battlestar Galactica
Spencer Ackerman, “Battlestar: Iraqtica,”
http://www.slate.com/id/2151425/nav/tap2/

T 11/24 No class - Thanksgiving Break

Th 11/26 No class - Thanksgiving Break

T 12/1 Children of Men
Junot Diaz, The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Th 12/3 Class Choice

Take-home final due Thursday, December 10

Screening Schedule

You are responsible for viewing assigned films in time for class discussion. Screenings are held on Thursdays at 12:30 at A&H 406.

8/20 Star Wars
8/27 The Wizard of Oz
9/3 The Company of Wolves
9/10 The Lord of the Rings
9/17 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
9/24 Spirited Away
10/1 Pan’s Labrynth
10/8 No screening - go see District 9, Ponyo, 9, Jennifer’s Body, or Zombieland
10/15 Metropolis
10/22 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)
10/29 Blade Runner
11/5 Brazil
11/12 The Matrix
11/19 Children of Men
11/26 Thanksgiving Break - rent class choice
12/3 No screeningAssignments

A 100-93 B+ 89-87 C+ 79-77 D 70-65
A- 92-90 B 86-83 C 76-70 F 64-0
B- 82-80

TV Presentation - 10 points
As part of a 3 person team, you will research an influential fantasy or science fiction TV series, then lead class discussion of an episode. Each member of the team will give a 5-minute presentation on a different aspect of the show: 1) the background of the creator; 2) the economics of the production; 3) fan responses. You will also each prepare a one-page handout summarizing your research and listing sources. A minimum of three sources is required. More information on the presentations will follow on a separate handout.

Take-Home Midterm - 45 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films and series screened for class. Due October 22.

Take-Home Final - 45 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering the second half of the semester. Due December 10.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Comparative Studies in Emerging Media, Fall 2009

In this decade, the expansion of the internet and the digitization of culture have vastly changed the way Americans, and people all over the world, share information. Libraries of data can now be accessed and exchanged instantaneously from terminals around the globe. Any blogger with a keyboard can weigh in on the issues of our times to an international audience, and hope to build a readership based on nothing other than strength of ideas. Digital production technologies make the tools of the Hollywood pros available to anybody with a Mac. And new models of “open source” software distribution challenge the inequities of the global capitalist economy.

But if new media technology today offers a host of utopian promises, it also inspires dystopian fears: of technology making jobs obsolete, of ubiquitous government and corporate surveillance, of the consequences of the pervasive digital divide between the info-haves and -have-nots.

Meanwhile, the American media landscape is in the midst of major transitions:

The once-separate realms of film, television, the internet are increasingly converging, as new digital delivery systems challenge the broadcast paradigm.
The cellphone and personal computer are converging as well, as the success of the “smart phones” such as the iPhone marks the beginning of the next phase in mobile computing.
The economic model of the newspaper business is collapsing, as readers turn to online sources. At the same time, traditional journalists are being challenged by networks of independent bloggers, who, leveraging group knowledge, are often more informed than the high-powered journalists with the greatest insider “access.”

CD sales continue to plummet, as the music industry makes news deals with artists and tour companies to capture other forms of music revenue, including concerts tickets, t-shirts, and ringtones. Meanwhile, much of history of recorded music is available instantaneously online under a number of pricing models: free (via file sharing), buyer’s choice (Radiohead), subscription (Rhapsody and eMusic), or track-by-track purchase (iTunes).

Even as the public sphere grows more capacious, the ownership of production and distribution grows more concentrated, as a small number of multinational corporations more powerful than many nation-states continue to expand their mass media oligopolies.

Moore’s Law states that the pace of growth in computing power continuously accelerates. It’s not surprising, then, that the pace of technological change continues to pulse faster and faster.

In the thick of the moment, how can we gain perspective on the present, and insight into the future? One way is to turn to the past, to look at our circumstances in the light of earlier transitional moments. Examining the introduction of the telegraph can help us gain perspective on the rise of the internet. At the same time, studying our projections of the future can also help us understand our present obsessions. Thus, this class will begin in the present moment, turn to the past, then work our way back to the present and future.

These are the required books:

Ted Friedman, Electric Dreams
Langdon Winner, The Whale and the Reactor
Thomas Standage, The Victorian Internet
Friedrich Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter
Michael Schudson, Discovering the News
Scott Rosenberg, Say Everything
Ralph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design
McKenzie Wark, Gamer Theory
Lisa Nakamura, Cybertypes
Bill Wasik, And Then There’s This
Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody
Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It

Students in 8770 will be required to read and present upon one additional book.

Schedule

Introduction

8/19 Introduction

8/26 Ted Friedman, Electric Dreams

9/2 Langdon Winner, The Whale and the Reactor

When Old Technologies Were New

9/9 Thomas Standage, The Victorian Internet

9/16 Friedrich Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter

9/23 Michael Schudson, Discovering the News

9/30 Scott Rosenberg, Say Everything
Play

10/7 No class - download and play the free World of Warcraft trial:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

10/14 Ralph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design

10/21 McKenzie Wark, Gamer Theory

Today and Tomorrow

10/28 Lisa Nakamura, Cybertypes

11/4 Bill Wasik, And Then There’s This

11/11 Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

11/18 Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet - and How to Stop It

11/25 Thanksgiving Break - no class

12/2 Research presentations at Ted’s house

Final projects due 12/9

Assignments

Lead two book discussions – 15% of final grade each, 30% total
You will lead, with a group, discussions of two books. To prepare for the discussion of the reading, in addition to reading the week’s assignment, research these questions to put the reading in a broader context:

What is the author’s background? What discipline is the author trained in? What else has s/he written? In which journals has s/he published?

What was the reception of the book? How was book reviewed? What criticisms have been made of the author’s work? How has the author responded? Whom has the author influenced?

Theoretical debates: In what debates does the work intervene? Where does the author stand? Whom does the author criticize? How does this work move the debate forward?
Methodology: What research methods does the author use? (Possibilities include textual analysis, ethnography, historical research, quantitative social science, etc.) How does the author approach and justify this methodology? What are the advantages and limitations of this methodology?
Example of Analysis: Pick one text, idea or issue that’s either directly addressed by the author, or that can be illuminated by applying the author’s perspective. Show a representative clip or demonstration, if appropriate. Discuss how the author would (or does) interpret the example. What are the strengths and limitations of this interpretation? What alternate interpretations are possible?

Outline the key topics of discussion in a short (1 page) handout for the class. There’s no need to include more detail, or to prepare a PowerPoint presentation – the focus should be on presenting material orally and facilitating a good class discussion.

New Media Text Presentation - 20% of grade for 6160 students, 10% for 8770
Pick an example of new media product you find innovative - it could be a game, a website, a cellphone, a movie, etc. Give a short (10-15 minute) presentation to the class, demonstrating the product and discussing what you find innovative.

Outside Reading Presentation - 8770 students only - 10% of grade
Pick one new media studies book not already assigned in class. Give a short (10-15 minute) presentation to the class, summarizing the book’s key arguments and the critical response to the book.

Espen Aarseth, Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature
Janet Abbate, Inventing the Internet
William Aspray and Martin Campbell-Kelly, Computer
Ann Balsamo, Technologies of the Gendered Body
Nancy Baym, Tune In, Log On
Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks
Ian Bogost, Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames
Ian Bogost, Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogames
John Seely Brown, The Social Life of Information
Scott Bukatman, Matters of Gravity: Special Effects and Supermen in the Twentieth Century
Manuel Castells, The Internet Galaxy
Paul Ceruzzi, A History of Modern Computing
Douglas Coupland, Microserfs
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, A Social History of American Technology
Robert Cringely, Accidental Empires
Michael Dartnell, Insurgency Online
Julian Dibbell, Play Money
Thomas Disch, The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of
Cory Doctorow, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Susan Douglas, Inventing American Broadcasting
Claude Fischer, America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone
Patrice Flichy, The Internet Imaginaire
Steve Fuller, Thomas Kuhn
Alex Galloway, Protocol
James Paul Gee, What Videogames Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy
James Paul Gee, Why Videogames Are Good for the Soul
William Gibson, Neuromancer
David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity
N. Katherine Hayles, How We Became Post-Human
Johan Huizenga, Homo Ludens
Pekka Himanen, The Hacker Ethic
Mizuko Ito, ed., Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life
Fredric Jameson, Archaeologies of the Future
Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture
Steven Johnson, Interface Culture
Jesper Juul, Half-Real
Thomas Kuhn, The Structures of Scientific Revolutions
Bruno Latour, Aramis, or the Love of Technology
Brenda Laurel, Utopian Entrepreneur
Laurence Lessig, Code 2.0
Laurence Lessig, Free Culture
Laurence Lessig, The Future of Ideas
Steven Levy, Hackers
Steven Levy, Insanely Great
Steven Levy, iPod
Jessice Littman, Digital Copyright
Peter Luncenfeld, Snap to Grid
Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media
Carolyn Marvyn, When Old Technologies Were New
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics
Scott McCloud, Reinventing Comics
Nick Motfort, Twisty Little Passages
Peter Morville, Ambient Findability
Janet Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck
Lisa Nakamura, Cybertypes
Nathan Newman, Net Loss
David Nye, Electrifying America
Lisa Parks, Cultures in Orbit: Satellites and the Televisional
Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer
Howard Rheingold, Smart Mobs
Howard Rheingold, Virtual Community
Scott Rosenberg, Dreaming in Code
Andrew Ross, The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life
Andrew Ross, No-Collar
Andrew Ross, Strange Weather
Dan Schiller, Digital Capitalism
David Silver and Adrienne Massanari, eds., Critical Cybercultural Studies
Vivian Sobchack, Screening Space
Neal Stephenson, In the Beginning Was the Command Line
Bruce Sterling, The Hacker Crackdown
Michael Strangelove, The Empire of the Mind: Digital Piracy and the Anti-Capitalist Movement
James Suroweicki, The Wisdom of Crowds
Dan Tapscott, Wikinomics
TL Taylor, Play Between Worlds
Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen
Fred Turner, From Counterculture to Cyberculture
Ellen Ullman, Close to the Machine
Siva Vaidhyanathan, The Anarchist in the Library
Siva Vaidhyanathan, Coyprights and Copywrongs
Vernor Vinge, True Names
McKenzie Wark, Gamer Theory or A Hacker Manifesto
Fredric Wasser, Veni Vidi Video: The Hollywood Empire and the VCR
David Weinberger, Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web
D. B. Weiss, Lucky Wander Boy
Michele White, The Body and the Screen: Theories of Internet Spectatorship

Final Project: 50% of final grade

You have two options for your final project:

Write an essay on a subject relating to culture and technology. 6160 essays should be 12-15 pages, 8770 essays 18-25 pages. Doctoral work will be expected to meet a higher standard of theoretical sophistication.

Produce a multimedia project which experiments with new media forms. The project should incorporate a short commentary relating the work to ideas from the class. 6160 commentaries should be 3-5 pages, 8770 commentaries 8-10 pages. Doctoral work will be expected to meet a higher standard of theoretical sophistication.

For either option, the deadlines are the same:

A one-page proposal is due October 14. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss your proposal.
The final version of the paper or project is due December 9.
Attendance Adjustment
As Woody Allen put it, “80 percent of success is showing up.” It’s less than that in this formula, but the bottom line is that you can’t contribute to the class if you’re not there. You’re allowed one unexcused absence for the semester. After that, each unexcused absence subtracts one point from your grade total. Excused absences include medical and family emergencies. You will be expected to schedule any employment responsibilities around this class, or accept the consequences of missed classes for your grade. If you do need to miss a class, please contact me ahead of time, and make arrangements to catch up on missed material.
Policies

Withdrawals
Students withdrawing on or before the mid-semester point will receive a W provided they are passing the course. Students who withdraw after the mid-semester point will not be eligible for a W except in cases of hardship. If you withdraw after the mid-semester point, you will be assigned a WF, except in those cases in which (1) hardship status is determined by the office of the dean of students because of emergency, employment, or health reasons, and (2) you are passing the course.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

American Film History I, Summer 2009

The past is a foreign country. Viewing the silent films of over one hundred years ago, we are reminded of the strangeness of this distant culture. It is a challenge to the imagination to recapture the pleasures of these entertainments, to put oneself in the minds of those early spectators viewing a brand-new medium. Like the best foreign travel, a journey into the history of American film can be an act of defamiliarization, shaking up our assumptions about how movies work.

At the same time, the past is prologue. In the history of American film, we find the roots of contemporary movie culture, as well as hints about the future. Watching even the earliest “cinema of attractions,” we see versions of the spectacles which fill multiplexes today.

Screening Schedule

6/8 Selections from vaudeville routines
6/10 Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Reisner, 1928)
6/15 Silent film shorts
6/17 Scarface (Hawks, 1932)
6/22 His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)
6/24 Gone With the Wind (Fleming, 1939)
6/29 The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
7/1 Hail the Conquering Hero (Sturges, 1944)
7/6 No class - Independence Day observed
7/8 Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950)
7/13 Singin’ in the Rain (Donen and Kelly, 1952)
7/15 Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
7/20 Rebel Without a Cause (Ray, 1955)
7/22 The Searchers (Ford, 1956)
7/27 Class choice

Reading Schedule

The course-pack for this class is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South). The graduate section will choose one additional book to read.

6/8 The Roots of Hollywood
No reading; Vaudeville documentary screened in class

6/10 Historicizing Hollywood
No reading; Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own documentary screened in class

6/15 Early Silent Film: The Cinema of Attractions
Tom Gunning, “An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)credulous Spectator,” Film Theory and Criticism, eds. Braudy and Cohen (Oxford, 2004), 862-876.
Donald Crafton, “Pie and Chase: Gag, Spectacle and Narrative in Slapstick Comedy,” Classical Hollywood Comedy, eds. Karnick and Jenkins (Routledge, 1995), pp. 106-119.
James Agee, “Comedy’s Greatest Era,” Agee on Film (Modern Library, 2000), pp. 393-412.

6/17 Silent Film Audiences and Identities
Kathy Fuller-Seeley, “Coming of Age at the Picture Show: Middle Class Youth in the 1910s and 1920s,” At the Picture Show (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996), pp. 169-193.
Michael Rogin, “Blackface, White Noise: The Jewish Jazz Singer Finds His Voice,” Blackface, White Noise (U California Press, 1996), pp. 73-120.

6/22 Hollywood Genres: Gangster and Screwball
Thomas Schatz, excerpts from Hollywood Genres (McGraw-Hill, 1981), pp. 3-41, 81-110.
Robert Warshow, “The Gangster as Tragic Hero,” The Immediate Experience (Atheneum, 1970), pp. 127-133.
Tina Olsin Lent, “Romantic Love and Friendship: The Redefinition of Gender Relations in Screwball Comedy,” Classical Hollywood Comedy, eds. Karnick and Jenkins (Routledge, 1995), pp. 314-331.

6/24 The Politics of Hollywood
Robert Ray, “A Certain Tendency of the American Cinema: Classic Hollywood’s Formal and Thematic Paradigms,” A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Princeton UP, 1985), pp. 25-69.
Larry May, excerpts from The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the Poltics of the America Way (U Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 1-10, 101-138, 257-269.

6/29 Race, Gender and Region in Gone With the Wind
Ruth Elizabeth Burks, “Gone With the Wind: Black and White in Technicolor,” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 21 (2004): 53-73.
Leonard J. Leff, “Gone With the Wind and Hollywood’s Racial Politics,” The Atlanic, December 1999, pp. 106-114.
Charles Rutheiser, “Going, Going, Gone with the Wind,” Imagineering Atlanta (Verso, 1996), pp. 40-46.

7/1 Film Noir
Thomas Schatz, “The Hardboiled-Detective Film,” Hollywood Genres (McGraw-Hill, 1981), pp. 111-150.

7/6 No class - Independence Day observed

7/8 World War II on the Home Front
Alan Dale, “Preston Sturges: Girl in a Jam, Boy in a Jam,” Comedy Is a Man in Trouble (U Minnesota Press 2001), 161-189.
Midterm due

7/13 Spectres of the Silent Era: Sunset Boulevard
David Freeman, “Sunset Boulevard Revisited,” The New Yorker, June 21, 1993, pp. 72-79.
Grayson Cooke, “We Had Faces Then: Sunset Boulevard and the Scene of the Spectral,” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 26 (2009): 89-101.

7/15 The Musical and Utopia
Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia,” The Cultural Studies Reader, ed. Simon During (Routledge, 1999), pp. 371-381.
Steven Cohan, “Case Study: Interpreting Singin’ in the Rain,” Reinventing Film Studies, eds Gledhill and Williams (Hodder Arnold, 2000), pp. 53-75.

7/20 Hitchcock and Voyeurism
Tania Modleski, “The Master’s Dollhouse: Rear Window,” Film Theory and Criticism, eds. Braudy and Cohen (Oxford, 2004), 849-861.
George E. Toles, “Hitchcock’s Rear Window as Critical Allegory,” boundary 2 16.2-3: 225-245.

7/22 Changing American Icons: From John Wayne to James Dean
Peter Biskind, “Wild in the Streets,” from Seeing Is Believing (Pantheon, 1983), pp. 197-227.
Garry Wills, “John Wayne’s Body, The New Yorker, August 16, 1996, pp. 39-49.

7/27 Class choice
No reading; final screening to be chosen by class vote

Take-home final due Wednesday, July 29

Assignments

A+ 100-98 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 69-65
A 97-93 B 87-83 C 77-70 F 64-0
A- 92-90 B- 82-80

Take-Home Midterm - 50 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films screened in the first half of the semester. Due in class July 8.

Take-Home Final - 50 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering the second half of the semester. Due July 29.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

American Film History II, Spring 2009

How do movies reflect and influence American life? How has Hollywood shaped Americans’ image of the world, and the world’s view of Americans? What are the alternatives to Hollywood’s stories? What is the future of film in a digital age?

In attempting to answer these questions, this class will trace the history of American movies from 1967 to the present. Along the way, we’ll look at the semiotics, aesthetics, economics, and politics of Hollywood movies and their independent alternatives.

Readings

The course-pack for this class is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Additional readings will be distributed via the class listserv. All students will be automatically signed up to the listserv. I will regularly forward news, reviews, and other useful material to the list. You’re encouraged to forward other interesting information, post your reactions to recent movies, respond to other postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class. Simply reply to a posting, or send a new message to amfilm@tedfriedman.com. Most of the readings sent through email are recommended but not required. However, occasionally required readings will be distributed via email. In these cases, the email message will have the heading “REQUIRED” in the subject line.

Screenings

You are responsible for viewing the assigned film before class each week. Screenings will be held in the in Arts & Humanities 406 on Monday afternoons.

Class Schedule

I. American Film Today

1/7 Introduction

1/14 Hollywood: The Dark Knight, 2007
The Onion AV Club, “Crosstalk: The Year in Film 2008”:
http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/crosstalk_the_year_in_film_2008
The Village Voice/LA Weekly Ninth Annual Film Poll:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-12-31/film/the-ninth-annual-film-poll/
Edward J. Epstein in Slate:
“Gross Misunderstanding”: http://www.slate.com/id/2118819/
“The Midas Formula”: http://www.slate.com/id/2119701/
“Hollywood’s Profits, Demystified”: http://www.slate.com/id/2124078/
Malcolm Gladwell, “The Formula”:
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061016fa_fact6
David Bordwell, “Intensified Continuity: Visual Style in Contemporary
American Film,” Film Quarterly 55.3 (Spring 2002): 16-28.

1/21 The YouTube Generation: Tarnation, 2003
Emily Nussbuam, “Say Everything”:
http://nymag.com/news/features/27341/
Christopher Anderson, “The Long Tail”:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison, “Social Network Sites: Definition, History and
Scholarship”: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

II. The Rise of New Hollywood

1/28 Bonnie and Clyde, 1968
Robert Ray, “Frontier Metaphors and News Waves” and “Left and Right Cycles,” A Certain Tendency in the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 (Princeton UP, 1985), 247-325.

2/4 McCabe and Mrs. Miller, 1971
Richard Slotkin, “The Significance of the Frontier Myth in American History,” Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America (University of Oklahoma Press, 1998), 1-26.
Robert Self, “Introduction” and “Real and Mythic West,” Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller (University of Kansas Press, 2007), 1-45.

2/11 Jaws, 1975
Janice Hocker Rushing and Thomas S. Frentz, “The Hunter Myth” and “Jaws: Faces of the Shadow,” Projecting the Shadow: The Cyborg Hero in American Film (University of Chicago Press, 1995), 52-99.
Thomas Schatz, “The New Hollywood,” in Jim Collins, Hilary Radner, and Ava Preacher Collins, eds., Film Theory Goes to the Movies (Routledge, 1993), 8-36.

III. The 1980s

2/18 Stranger Than Paradise, 1984
Emanuel Levy, “The New American Independent Cinema,” Cinema of Outsiders (NYU Press, 1999), 13-51

2/25 Robocop, 1987
Susan Jeffords, excerpts from Hard Bodies (Rutgers University Press, 1994): 24-63, 104-39.

3/4 Spring Break - no class

3/11 Do the Right Thing, 1989
Nelson George, excerpts from Blackface: Reflections on African-Americans and the Movies (Perennial, 1995).
Take-home midterm due

IV. The 1990s

3/18 Thelma and Louise, 1991
Susan Faludi, “Fatal and Fetal Visions: The Backlash in the Movies,” Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women (Anchor, 1992), 112-139.
Sharon Willis, “Hardware and Hardbodies, What Do Women Want?: A Reading of Thelma and Louise,” in Jim Collins, Hilary Radner, and Ava Preacher Collins, eds., Film Theory Goes to the Movies (Routledge, 1993), 120-127.

3/25 The Big Lebowski, 1998
Erica Rowell, “The Big Lebowski: A Bowling Ball,” The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan and Joel Coen (Scarecrow Press, 2007), 207-242.
Andy Greene, “The Decade of the Dude”:
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/08/27/decade-of-the-dude-how-the-big-lebowski-became-a-cult-sensation/

4/1 Boys Don’t Cry, 1999
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin, “Sexuality and American Film,” America on Film (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009): 303-355.

V. The 2000s

4/8 Mulholland Drive, 2001
David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps His Head,” A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (Back Bay Books, 1998), 146-212.
Bill Wyman, Max Garrone and Andy Klein, “Everything You Were Afraid to Ask About Mulholland Drive”: http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2001/10/23/mulholland_drive_analysis/

4/15 September 11, 2002
Jon Powers, excerpts from Sore Winners: American Idols, Patriotic Shoppers, and Other Strange Species in George Bush’s America (Anchor, 2005).
Toby Miller, Nitin Govil, John McMurria, Richard Maxwell and Ting Wang, “Introduction,” Global Hollywood 2 (BFI Publishing, 2005), 1-49.

4/22 Class choice
Readings TBD

Take-home final due 4/29

Screening Schedule

All screenings are Mondays 1:30-3:20 in 406 Arts & Humanities

1/5 No screening (rent The Dark Knight)
1/12 Tarnation
1/19 No screening - MLK Day
1/26 Bonnie and Clyde
2/2 McCabe and Mrs. Miller
2/9 Rocky
2/16 The Terminator
2/23 Stranger Than Paradise
3/2 No screening - Spring Break
3/9 Do the Right Thing
3/16 Thelma and Louise
3/23 The Big Lebowski
3/30 Boys Don’t Cry
4/6 Mulholland Drive
4/13 September 11
4/20 Class choice TBD
4/27 No screening

Assignments

A+ 100-98 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 69-65
A 97-93 B 87-83 C 77-70 F 64-0
A- 92-90 B- 82-80

Presentation - 10 Points
You will give a 15-20 minute presentation on an American filmmaker. See the attached handouts for more details.

Take-Home Midterm - 45 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films screened in the first half of the semester. Due in class March 11.

Take-Home Final - 45 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering the second half of the semester. Due April 29.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Presentation Assignments

Research, prepare, and present a 15-20 minute discussion of a contemporary American filmmaker. The presentation should follow this five-part structure:

1. Hand out an info sheet on the director to all the members of the class. A sample info sheet is attached.

2. Present a biographical overview of the director’s career. You don’t need to mention every film the director’s done, just the significant highlights that demonstrate the director’s thematic interests and visual style. (5 minutes)

3. Screen a short video clip selected to exemplify the director’s style. The clip must be less than 5 minutes long. Practice at home to make sure it doesn’t run over; if it does, I’ll have to cut it off. Choose only one continuous scene. If you use a DVD, be prepared with the exact scene number and time mark where your clip starts. You won’t be penalized for any technical difficulties, but points will be taken off if you’re not properly prepared.

4. Present an analysis of the clip. Choose 1-3 film elements, and discuss in detail how each element functions in the clip. Rewind and replay selections from the clip, or pause on still images, to highlight key moments. (Be sure to prepare by noting in advance the time marks for moments you want to highlight.) (5 minutes)

5. Answer questions from the class and lead the class discussion (5-10 minutes).

Alternate presentation: if you choose, you may produce a video presentation on your director in place of the spoken presentation. The video should include the same information, with some room for flexibility. Video equipment and training is available at GSU’s Digital Aquarium in the Student Center.

Signup for director presentations is first come, first served. When you’ve decided on a director, send an email to the class listserv at amfilm@tedfriedman.com.

Director List

Note: This is only a partial list. Feel free to choose any other director who’s made English-language films since World War II, with one exception: directors of films screened for class are off limits, since they’re already covered.

Woody Allen
Robert Altman
Paul Thomas Anderson
Allison Anders
Kenneth Anger
Judd Apatow
Greg Araki
Darren Aronofsky
Hal Ashby
Ralph Bakshi
Paul Bartel
Kathryn Bigelow
Lizzie Borden
Danny Boyle
Stan Brakhage
Albert Brooks
Mel Brooks
Charles Burnett
Tim Burton
James Cameron
Jane Campion
John Cassavetes
Martha Coolidge
Francis Ford Coppalla
Sophia Coppalla
Roger Corman
Alex Cox
Wes Craven
David Cronenberg
Cameron Crowe
Julie Dash
Ossie Davis
Tamra Davis
Guillermo del Toro
Jonathan Demme
Brian DePalma
Tom DiCillo
Atom Egoyan
Bobby and Peter Farrelly
Abel Ferrara
David Fincher
Stephen Frears
William Friedkin
Sam Fuller
Terry Gilliam
Michael Gondry
F. Gary Gray
David Gordon Green
Paul Greengrass
Christopher Guest
Mary Harron
Hal Hartley
Amy Heckerling
Albert and Allen Hughes
Henry Jaglom
Spike Jonze
Neil Jordan
Jon Jost
Harmony Korine
Stanley Kubrick
Neil LaBute
John Lassiter
David Lean
Barry Levinson
Doug Liman
Richard Linklater
Ken Loach
Sidney Lumet
David Lynch
Terrence Malick
Michael Mann
Elaine May
George Miller
Michael Moore
Errol Morris
Mira Nair
Gregory Nava
Mike Nichols
Victor Nunez
Alexander Payne
Sam Peckinpaugh
Arthur Penn
Sidney Poitier
Roman Polanski
Alex Proyas
Sam Raimi
Rob Reiner
Tim Robbins
Robert Rodriguez
George Romero
Eli Roth
Alan Rudolph
David O. Russell
Nancy Savoca
John Sayles
Michael Schultz
Martin Scorcese
Susan Seidelman
M. Night Shyamalan
Bryan Singer
John Singleton
Jack Smith
Kevin Smith
Stephen Sodebergh
Todd Solondz
Penelope Spheeris
Whit Stillman
Quentin Tarantino
Julien Temple
Rose Troche
Melvin Van Peebles
Gus Van Sandt
Lars von Trier
Larry and Andy Wachowski
Wayne Wang
Andy Warhol
Jon Waters
Forest Whitaker
Fredric Wiseman
John Woo
Boaz Yakin
Robert Zemeckis
Rob Zombie
Presentation Info Sheet Template (with example)

Director’s name and date of birth:
Tim Burton, b. 1958

Filmography (as director), with release years:
Sweeney Todd (2007)
Corpse Bride (2005)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Big Fish (2003)
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Ed Wood (1994)
Batman Returns (1992)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman (1989)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Frankenweenie (1984)
Vincent (1982)

Source of clip: Edward Scissorhands

Film elements for analysis:
Makeup and Production design: Both elements juxtapose the gothic gloom of Edward’s world with the day-glo, 1950s kitsch of the suburban town below.

Issues and Perspectives in Communication Theory, Spring 2009

Readings

The course-pack for this class is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Additional readings will be distributed via the class listserv. All students will be automatically signed up to the listserv. I will regularly forward news, reviews, and other useful material to the list. You’re encouraged to forward other interesting information, post your reactions to recent movies, respond to other postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class. Simply reply to a posting, or send a new message to ipct@tedfriedman.com. Most of the readings sent through email are recommended but not required. However, occasionally required readings will be distributed via email. In these cases, the email message will have the heading “REQUIRED” in the subject line.

Class Schedule

1/5 Introduction

1/12 Communication and Culture
James Carey, “A Cultural Approach to Communication,” Communication as Culture (London: Routledge, 1992): 13-36.
Clifford Geertz, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight”:
http://www.si.umich.edu/~rfrost/courses/MatCult/content/Geertz.pdf
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”:
http://web.bentley.edu/empl/c/rcrooks/toolbox/common_knowledge/general_communication/benjamin.html
Ted Friedman, “Introduction,” Electric Dreams: Computers and American Culture:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/electricdreams/2005/02/introduction.php

1/19 Martin Luther King Day - No Class
Outside screening: watch The Century of Self Parts 1-4:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=century+of+self

1/26 Media Histories and Futures
Lawrence Grossberg, Ellen Wartella, and D. Charles Whitney, “Narratives of Media History,” MediaMaking: Mass Media in a Popular Culture (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998): 33-58.
Brian Winston, “How Are Media Born?” in Michele Hilmes (ed.), Connections: A Broadcast Reader (Belmont, CA: Thompson/Wadsworth), 3-18.
Chris Anderson, “The Long Tail,” Wired 12.10 (October 2004):
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison, “Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1):
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

2/2 Audiences
Susan Douglas, “The Invention of the Audience,” Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004): 124-60.
Eileen R. Meehan, “Why We Don’t Count: The Commodity Audience,” in Patricia Mellencamp (ed.), Logics of Television: Essays on Cultural Criticism (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), 117-37.
John Fiske, “The Cultural Economy of Fandom,” The Adoring Audience (New York: Routledge, 1992), 30-49.
Henry Jenkins, “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars? Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture”: http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html

2/9 Narrative and Genre
Walter R. Fisher, “Narrative as a Human Communication Paradigm: The Case of Public Moral Argument,” Communication Monographs 51 (1984): 1-23.
Hayden White, “The Question of Narrative in Contemporary Historical Theory,” The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987): 26-57.
Thomas Schatz, “Film Genre and the Genre Film,” Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981): 14-41.

2/16 Rhetoric
John Lucaites and Celeste Condit, “Introduction,” Contemporary Rhetorical Theory: A Reader (New York: The Gilford Press, 1999): 1-15.
Deirdre McCloskey, “Rhetorical,” Common Knowledge 2.2 (Fall 1993): 23-32.
Kenneth Burke, “Dramatism,” in David L. Sills, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (New York: Macmillan, 1968): 445-451.
Raymie McKerrow, “Critical Rhetoric: Theory and Practice,” Communication Monographs 56 (June 1989), 91-111.

2/23 Semiotics
Kaja Silverman, “From Sign to Subject, A Short History,” The Subject of Semiotics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983): 3-53.
Jonathan Culler, “Saussure’s Theory of Language,” Ferdinand de Saussure, rev. ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986): 27-64.
Christian Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema,” in Gerald Mast, Marshall Cohen, and Leo Braudy (eds.), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 168-178.

3/2 Spring Break - No Class

3/9 Ideology
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “The Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideas,” in Durham and Kellner (eds.), Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001): 39-42.
Raymond WIlliams, “Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory,” in Durham and Kellner (eds.), Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001), 152-165.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception”:
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/Some_writings_of_Adorno.shtml
Roland Barthes, “Myth Today,” Mythologies (New York: Hill and Wang, 1972), 109-159.
Research proposals due

3/16 Hegemony and Resistance
Stuart Hall, “Encoding, Decoding,” in Simon During (ed.), The Cultural Studies Reader (New York: Routledge, 2007), 90-103.
Celeste Condit, “Hegemony in a Mass-Mediated Society: Condordance About Reproductive Technologies,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 11 (1994): 205-230.
Dana Cloud, “Hegemony or Concordance? The Rhetoric of Tokenism in ‘Oprah’ Winfrey’s Rags-to-Riches Biography,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 13 (1996): 115-137.
Celeste Condit, “Hegemony, Condordance and Capitalism: Reply to Cloud,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 13 (1996): 382-384.
Dana Cloud, “Concordance, Complexity and Conservatism: Rejoinder to Condit,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 14 (1997): 193-97.
Celeste Condit, “Clouding the Issues? The Ideal and the Material in Human Communication,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 14 (1997): 197-200.

3/23 The Public Sphere
Jurgen Habermas, “The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article,” in Durham and Kellner (eds.), Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001): 102-107.
Phaedra Pezzulo, “Resisting ‘National Breast Cancer Awareness Month’: The Rhetoric of Counterpublics and their Cultural Performances,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 89 (2003): 345-365
Bent Flyvbjerg, “Habermas and Foucault: Thinkers for Civil Society?” British Journal of Sociology 49.2 (June 1998): 210-233:
http://flyvbjerg.plan.aau.dk/CIVSOC5%200PRINTBJS.pdf

3/30 Psychoanalysis
Kaja Silverman, “The [Semiotic] Subject in Freud and Lacan,” The Subject of Semiotics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983), 126-193.
Barbara Biesecker, “Rhetorical Studies and the ‘New’ Psychoanalysis: What’s the Real Problem? or Framing the Problem of the Real,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 84 (1998): 222-40.
Barbara Creed, “Film and Psychoanalysis,” in John Hill and Pamela Gibson (eds.), The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 77-90.

4/6 Gender
Ann Brooks, “Postfeminist Variations within Media and Film Theory,” Postfeminisms: Feminism, Cultural Theory and Cultural Forms (London: Routledge, 1997): 163-188.
Amanda Lotz and Sharon Marie Ross, “Bridging Media-Specific Approaches: The Value of Feminist Television Criticism’s Synthetic Approach,” Feminist Media Studies 4 (2004): 185-202.
Alexander Doty, “There’s Something Queer Here,” Making Things Perfectly Queer (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993): 1-16.
Judith Butler, “Preface (1999)” and “Preface (1990),” Gender Trouble (New York: Routledge, 1999), vii-xxxiii.

4/13 Race
Stuart Hall, “The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media,” in George Bridges and Rosalind Brunt (eds.), Silver Linings (London: Lawrences & Wishart, 1981), 28-52.
Michael Omi & Howard Winant, “Racial Formation,” Racial Formation in the United States (New York: Routledge, 1994): 53-76.
Richard Dyer, “The Matter of Whiteness,” White (New York: Routledge, 1997), 1-40.

4/20 Nationalism and Globalization
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities chapters 1-3 (New York: Verso, 1983), 1-46.
Arjun Appadurai, “Disjunctures and Difference in the Global Cultual Economy,” Modernity at Large (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996), 27-47.
Final reading TBA

4/27 No reading - research presentations/party at Ted’s house

Final papers due May 4

Assignments

A+ 100-98 B+ 89-88 C+ 79-78 D 69-65
A 97-93 B 87-83 C 77-70 F 64-0
A- 92-90 B- 82-80

I. Lead discussions of four readings– 10% of final grade for each reading (40% total)
You will sign up to lead discussions of four readings over the course of the semester. You will research each author’s writing and biography beyond the assigned readings, then begin the discussion with a brief biographical introduction. Follow that with a short summary of the key ideas from the reading. Then, introduce a contemporary media example and lead a discussion of how the theorist’s ideas might be applied to the example. Hand out a short 1-page summary of the concepts under discussion.

II. Final Paper – 60% of final grade
Write a 20-page paper applying one or more theoretical approaches from the class to an object of study in your area. For example, you might develop a semiotic analysis of a news program, a psychoanalytic reading of a film, or a Marxist analysis of a political speech. You should demonstrate your understanding of important concepts and terms, and you should use the concepts to provide new insight into the object you’re examining.

• A one-page proposal is due March 9. I will schedule individual meetings
with you to discuss the proposal.
• You will give a short (10 minute) presentation of your research project on April 27.
• The final project is due May 4.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

New Directions in Cultural Studies, Fall 2008

What are the political dimensions of popular culture? How does culture reflect, influence, and embody structures of power? Where does hegemony end and resistance begin? This class will engage the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies, which attempts to understand the relationship between culture and politics. We’ll be reading both founding theoretical texts and cutting-edge scholarship. We’ll address a range of media, from film and television to music, computer games and romance novels. We’ll look at multiple, intersecting structures of power, including class, nation, gender, and race.

Readings
Class readings will include books, a coursepack of articles, and news items distributed via the class email list.

The course books (other than the romance novel you select) are available at the GSU bookstores. Here are the books you’ll need:

Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction
Francois Cusset, French Theory
Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs
Mark Bousquet, How the University Works
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Multitude
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern
Stephanie Kaza, ed., Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire,
and the Urge to Consume

The coursepack is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Email Group

All students will be signed up to the class email list. I will regularly forward media news and cultural criticism to the list. You’re encouraged to forward other interesting information, post your reactions to recent movies, respond to other postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class.

Schedule

8/18 The Politics of Culture
In-class screening: Barbie Nation

8/25 Culture and Power
Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction: Introduction, Part 1 Karl Marx, excerpts from The German Ideology
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01a.htm;
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01b.htm
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment
as Mass Deception”
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/Some_writings_of_Adorno.shtml
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
http://bid.berkeley.edu/bidclass/readings/benjamin.html

9/1 Labor Day - no class
Outside screening: watch The Century of Self Parts 1-4
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=century+of+self

9/8 Hegemony and Resistance
Turner, Part II
Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm
Atonio Gramsci, “Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State” (CP)
Stuart Hall, “Encoding/Decoding” (CP)

9/22 French Theory
Francois Cusset, French Theory

9/29 Critical Race Theory
Michael Omi & Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States

10/6 Feminist Ethnography
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
Outside assignment: go to a bookstore, buy a romance novel, and read it.

10/13 Postfeminism
Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs

10/20 Academia
Mark Bousquet, How the University Works

10/27 Globalization and Empire
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Multitude

11/3 Environmentalism and Animism
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
Ted Friedman, “The Politics of Magic” (handout)

11/10 Science and Modernity
Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern

11/17 Alternative Approaches to Consumerism
Stephanie Kaza, ed., Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire,
and the Urge to Consume

11/24 Research Presentations 1
No reading

12/1 Research Presentations 2/Party
No reading
Party at Ted’s house

Assignments

I. Lead two discussions of books – 15% of final grade for each book
You will sign up to lead, with a group, discussions of two books. To prepare for the discussion of the reading, in addition to reading the week’s assignment, research these questions to put the reading in a broader context:

What is the author’s background? What discipline is the author trained in? What else has s/he written? In which journals has s/he published?

What was the reception of the book? How was book reviewed? What criticisms have been made of the author’s work? How has the author responded? Whom has the author influenced?

Theoretical debates: In what theoretical debates does the work intervene? Where does the author stand? Whom does the author criticize? How does this work move the debate forward?

II. Lead discussion of one key theorist – 10% of final grade
You will also sign up to lead discussion of one key theorist. This will be a shorter 30-minute discussion. You should research the author’s writing and biography beyond the assigned readings, then begin the discussion with a brief (5 minute) biographical introduction. Then, introduce a contemporary media example and lead a discussion of how the theorist’s ideas might be applied to the example. Hand out a short 1-page summary of the writer’s key works and concepts. The choice of theorists includes: Adorno, Benjamin, Althusser, Gramsci, Hall, Zizek, and Jameson.

III. Journal presentation – 10% of final grade
Sign up to give a presentation on an academic journal which publishes work in cultural studies and related disciplines. The following is an incomplete list of potential journals:
Advertising & Society Review
American Studies
Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities
Camera Obscura
Cineaction
Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies
Configurations
Continuum
Critical Inqauiry
Critical Studies in Media Communication
Cultural Critique
Cultural Studies
Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies
Culture, Theory & Critique
differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies
European Journal of Cultural Studies
Feminist Media Studies
Flow
Game Studies
Global Media Journal
International Journal of Cultural Studies
Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies
Journal of Communication Inquiry
Journal of Consumer Culture
Journal of Popular Culture
Journal of Sport & Social Issues
Journal of Visual Culture
Jump Cut
M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture
Media, Text and Society
New Left Review
New Media & Society
Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture
October
Politics and Culture
Popular Communication
Popular Music
Popular Music and Society
Postmodern Culture
Public Culture
Review of Education/Pedagogy/Cultural Studies
Science as Culture
Science Fiction Studies
Signs
Social Text
South Asian Popular Culture
Television and New Media
Topia: A Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies
The Velvet Light Trap

Browse through the last several years of the journal, reading enough articles to give you a sense of the journal’s disciplinary focus, methodological assumptions, and theoretical framework. Which scholars are regularly cited? What knowledge is taken for granted? What kind of specialized language is employed? Pay particular attention to debates within the journal, such as essays which provoke responses. Pick one standout article to discuss in more detail. Also research the journal’s submission policies and rejection rate. Give a 15 minute presentation addressing these questions. Summarize your research on a one-page handout for the class.

IV. Final Project – 50% of final grade
Option 1: Write a 15-20 page paper on a subject relating to the politics of popular culture. You should write this paper with an eye towards eventually presenting it at a conference, expanding it and publishing it. In addition, if you already have a thesis or dissertation topic in mind, consider how this paper might form the basis for a chapter of the larger work.

Option 2: Produce a creative work which engages some of the ideas of the class. The project can be a short film, a screenplay, or a new media work. Along with the project, include a 5-page paper relating your work to ideas from the class.

For either option, the deadlines are the same:
A one-page prospectus is due October 12. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss the prospectus.
You will give a short (10 minute) presentation of your research project on either November 24 or December 1.
The final project is due December 8.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Action Movies, Summer 2008

Action movies are cinema at its most kinesthetic. How do filmmakers turn images on a screen into sensations of motion which viewers can feel in their bodies?

Action heroes present ideals of masculinity and (more rarely) femininity. What kinds of values do these icons embody?

Action movie narratives hinge on violent conflict. What kind of stories do they tell about how the world works?

This class will attempt to answer these questions as we contrast two action cinema traditions: Hollywood and Hong Kong (with a few other stops along the way). In both the intersections and divergences, we can track some of the ways that motion can produce emotion, and some of the consequences.

Readings

Three books are required for this course:

Tom Shone, Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer
David Bordwell, Planet Hong Kong
Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, Batman: The Killing Joke

The books can be ordered from online retailers such as Amazon.com or Powells.com.

Additional readings will be distributed online and via email.

Films

The films assigned on Mondays will be screened in class except for Iron Man, which is currently playing in local theaters. The films assigned on Wednesdays will be screened during the screening period before class in A&H 406 except for The Dark Knight, which will be released on July 18.
Class Schedule

Hollywood Today

6/9 Introduction

6/11 The Bourne Supremacy (Greengrass, 2004) and United 93 (Greengrass, 2006)
Read Slavoj Zizek, “Welcome to the Desert of the Real,”
http://web.mit.edu/cms/reconstructions/interpretations/desertreal.html;

6/16 Iron Man (Favreau, 2008)
Read Spencer Ackerman, “Iron Man vs. the Imperialists,”
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=iron_man_vs_the_imperialists

History I: Hong Kong and Beyond

6/18 Enter the Dragon (Clouse, 1973)
Read Planet Hong Kong 1-81; Aaron Anderson, “Kinesthesia in
Martial Arts Films: Action in Motion,”
http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC42folder/anderson2/index.html

6/23 The Killer (Woo, 1989)
Read Planet Hong Kong 82-170

6/25 Legend of the Drunken Master (Liu, 1994)
Read Planet Hong Kong 171-260

6/30 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Lee, 2000)
Read Planet Hong Kong 261-289; L. S. Kim, “Making Women Warriors:
A Transnational Reading of Asian Female Action Heroes,”
http://ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/womenWarriors/index.html;
Felicia Chan, “Reading Ambiguity and Ambivalence:
The Asymmetric Structure of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,”
http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/reader/chapter.php?id=8

7/2 Run Lola Run (Tykwer, 1998)
Read Claudia Mesch, “Racing Berlin: The Games of Run Lola Run”,
http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0006/berlin.php

History II: The Hollywood Blockbuster

7/7 Star Wars (Lucas, 1977)
Read Blockbuster 1-81

7/9 Aliens (Cameron, 1986)
Read Blockbuster 82-173
Take-home midterm due

7/14 Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986)
Read Blockbuster 174-232

7/16 The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999)
Read Blockbuster 233-315

Back to the Present

7/21 Class choice
Reading TBA

7/23 The Dark Knight
Read Batman: The Killing Joke

Take-home final due 7/30

Screening Schedule

All screenings are Mondays 8:55-10:45 in 406 Arts & Humanities. All films are also available on DVD.

6/11 The Bourne Supremacy
6/18 Enter the Dragon
6/25 The Legend of the Drunken Master
7/2 Run Lola Run
7/9 Aliens
7/16 The Matrix
7/23 No screening - see The Dark Knight in theaters

Assignments

A 100-93 B+ 89-87 C+ 79-77 D 70-65
A- 92-90 B 86-83 C 76-70 F 64-0
B- 82-80

Presentation - 10 Points
Pick your favorite action movie scene. Give a presentation discussing what makes the scene exciting. See the attached handout for more details.

Take-Home Midterm - 45 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films screened for the first four weeks. Due in class July 9.

Take-Home Final - 30 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering the final three weeks. Due July 30.

Policies

Re-Writes and Makeup Tests
Opportunities for revision and improvement will be available for the midterm, the presentation, and the research paper prospectus. In addition, I will look at optional drafts of the research paper submitted on or before April 28. One rule: a 24-hour cool-down period after the return of any assignment. Wait a day before coming to talk to me, and I’ll be happy to listen to your concerns and help you improve your work.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary. Presentation Assignment

Pick your favorite action movie scene and give a presentation on what makes it exciting.

Begin by choosing a scene of about 5 minutes in length. (It should be about the length of one DVD chapter.) Watch it through several times. What strategies does the director use to create a sense of motion and intensity? Pick at least one film element to discuss in class, and at least 3 examples from the clip where the element is effectively used.

Next, calculate the exact length of the scene, in seconds. Then watch the scene one more time, counting every cut. Divide the length by the cuts to find the Average Shot Length (ASL).

After that, research whatever background you can find on the making of the scene, from DVD commentaries, special features, books, articles, and other sources. If nothing is available on the specific scene, look for more general information on the director’s style. At least 3 sources are required.

The presentation should follow this structure:

1. Hand out an info sheet on the scene. (You’ll need to make 17 copies.) The sheet should include the following information:
Name of the film
Director’s name
Average Shot Length of clip
Film element or elements you’ll be discussing, and a list of the specific examples in the clip
List of sources used

2. Introduce the clip, including background on the making of the scene and any narrative context necessary to understand the scene.

3. Screen the clip.

4. Present your analysis of the clip, discussing how the director effectively uses the film element(s).

5. Answer questions from the class.

The Politics of Hollywood, Fall 2007

Movies teach us how the world works. Many of our ideas about war and peace, love and hate, male and female, wealth and poverty, freedom and tyranny, and justice and oppression come from the movies – not only from the stories movies explicitly tell, but from their underlying assumptions, values, and unresolved anxieties.

The most audience-pleasing form of moviemaking ever devised is what film scholars call “classical Hollywood cinema.” The representational strategies, character types, and narrative formulae established in California in the early 20th century continue to shape the movies viewers around the globe see today, and thus, the world we all live in.

This class will examine the ideological assumptions behind Hollywood cinema. We’ll begin in the early sound era, and continue through to the 21st century. We’ll complement close analysis of a specific film each week with readings in the history of the American film industry.

Readings
The following books are required:

Robert Ray, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980
Mark Wheeler, Hollywood Politics and Society
David Thomson, The Big Sleep
J. Hoberman, The Dream Life: Movies, Media, and Mythology of the Sixties
Toby Miller et al, Global Hollywood 2

In addition, a coursepack will be available at Bestway Copy, on the bottom floor of One Park Place South.

Screenings
Discussion each week will center around an assigned film. Most of the films are available in the Library Media Center. Copies can also be found at Movies Worth Seeing (1409 N Highland; 404-892-1802) and Videodrome (617 N Highland; 404-885-1117). In addition, all films should be available through the online Netflix DVD rental service (www.netflix.com).

Email Group
All students will be signed up to the class email list. I will regularly forward media news and cultural criticism to the list. You’re encouraged to forward other interesting information, post your reactions to recent movies, respond to other postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class.

Schedule

Unit I: Classical Hollywood

8/22 Introduction

8/29 Casablanca
Robert Ray, A Certain Tendency...: Intro, Chapters 1-3
Mark Wheeler, Hollywood, Politics and Society: Intro, Chapter 1

9/5 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Larry May, excerpts from The Big Tomorrow
Eric Smoodin, excerpts from Regarding Frank Capra
Wheeler Chapter 4

9/12 His Girl Friday
Murray Davis, excerpt from What’s So Funny?
David R. Shumway, “Screwball Comedies: Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage”
Wheeler Chapter 3

9/19 Gone With the Wind
Tara McPherson, excerpts from Reconstructing Dixie
Wheeler Chapter 5

Unit II: Postwar Hollywood

9/26 The Big Sleep
David Thomson, The Big Sleep
Ray Chapters 5-6

10/3 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
Gary Wills, excerpts from John Wayne’s America
Ray Chapter 7
Wheeler Chapter 2

10/10 The Manchurian Candidate
J. Hoberman, The Dream Life: Intro, Chapters 1-2
Ray Chapters 8

Unit III: New Hollywood

10/17 Bonnie and Clyde
Hoberman Chapters 3-4
Ray Chapter 9

10/24 Dirty Harry
Hoberman Chapters 5-6, Conclusion

10/31 The Godfather I and II
Ray Chapter 10, Conclusion
Fredric Jameson, “Reification and Utopia in Mass Culture”

Unit IV: Postmodern Hollywood

11/7 Class Choice from 1980s
Miller et al, Global Hollywood 2: Intro, Chapters 1-2
Wheeler Chapter 6

11/14 Class Choice from 1990s
Miller Chapters 3-5, Conclusion
Wheeler Chapter 7, Conclusion

11/21 No Class - Thanksgiving Break

11/28 Class Choice from 2000s
Jon Powers, excerpts from Sore Winners

12/5 Research Presentations/Party at Ted’s House

Final papers/projects are due December 12

Assignments

I. Lead discussions of 3 Films – 15% of final grade for each discussion
You will sign up to lead, with a group, discussions of three films. Your group will be responsible for researching the production background, audience response, and critical reception of the film, then leading the class on the film.

Here are the steps involved in preparing to lead a class discussion:

A. Watch the film.

B. Research the film’s contexts and reception.

Examine these questions to put the film in a broader context:

What was the production context of the film? What was the film’s budget? How was the film marketed? What were the reputations of the film’s director, studio and stars? How does the film compare to other films made by the principals?

What was the audience response to the film? How was the film reviewed when it opened? How was its box office? Has the perception of the film changed since the time of its original release?

What have critics and scholars had to say about the film? Who has written about the film? What interpretations have been offered? What kinds of critical approaches have been employed? What debates exist?

Several resources will be helpful for your research:

Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com) continues to be the best one-stop source for facts about films, including cast, crew, budget and box office stats. However, it’s not very useful as a source for reviews or film scholarship.

The Film Literature Index (http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/fli/index.jsp) indexes articles from all the major film periodicals, searchable by film title. It's the best one-stop source for film research. However, it's an index, not a full-text database. To track down an article cited in the FLI, you’ll then need to look it up in the GSU E-Journal Locator (http://www.library.gsu.edu/ejournals/).

A9 (http://a9.com) is a search engine that includes access to Amazon's powerful "Search Inside the Book" feature. Run a search, then click on the "Books" box.

C. Plan the topics for the class to discuss.

Meet with your group to hash out what’s the most important stuff to talk about, and how you want to structure the conversation. Here are a list of some of the topics that might be addressed:

Style. How does the film’s form relate to its content?

Individualism. How does the film connect individual characters to broader social questions?

Class and economic inequality. How does the film present labor? What is the role of money in the film?

Electoral politics and activism. How does the film envision the political world?

Race and ethnicity. How does the film construct racial others? How does it construct whiteness?

Gender. How does the film construct masculinity? Femininity? Heteronormativity?

Nation. How does the film construct America? How does it envision the rest of the world?

In thinking about each of these topics, consider both the film’s surface meanings, and any possible tensions or subtexts underneath. You don’t need to cover every one of these topics if it’s not relevant to your film, and feel free to add additional topics, such as environmentalism, violence, technology, etc. Engage the assigned class readings where relevant. Pick short clips (5 minutes max, preferably shorter) to anchor your discussion of key topics.

D. Prepare and and distribute handouts.

Prepare two handouts for class:

An info sheet on the film. Include key credits, available budget and box office stats, awards, and an annotated bibliography of key scholarship on the film.

An agenda to structure the class discussion. This should be very brief – no more than a page of bullet points. (You can prepare more detailed notes for your group, of course. You just don’t need to hand them out.)

E. Lead the Discussion

After all this preparation, the temptation will be great to spend the entire class time lecturing on everything you’ve learned. However, the best way to lead a class discussion is to concentrate on asking questions. Make sure the whole class is involved – it’s often helpful to start the class by going around the room and having everybody respond to a specific question. I’ll jump in with my own questions, as well.

II. Final Project – 55% of the final grade
Option 1: Write a 15-20 page paper on a subject relating to the politics of Hollywood film. Write this paper with an eye towards eventually presenting it at a conference, expanding it and publishing it. In addition, if you already have a thesis or dissertation topic in mind, consider how this paper might contribute to the larger work.

For either option, the deadlines are the same:

A one-page prospectus is due October 24. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss the prospectus.
I will look at drafts of the final project submitted on or before December 3. You’re welcome to submit multiple drafts for feedback.
You will give a short (10 minute) presentation on your research project at the final class on December 5.
The final project is due December 12.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Myth and Ideology in Popular Culture, Summer 2007

This course brings together two frameworks for understanding popular
culture: myth criticism and ideological analysis.

Influenced by anthropologists such as Claude Levi-Strauss, myth
critics trace the connections between contemporary cultural
narratives and the stories which anchor traditional belief systems.
Mythographer Joseph Campbell, in fact, has become
a key influence on many Hollywood screenwriters, who self-consciously
craft stories around the "Hero's Journey" Campbell describes.

Ideological analysis interrogates the political assumptions
underlying cultural representations, examining how influential texts
may reflect economic contradictions, reinforce dominant structures of
power, or influence social change.

At a time when the spectacular global success of the superhero and
fantasy genres has produced ever more dazzling visions of larger-than-
life heroes and villains engaged in epic struggles between good and
evil, this class will attempt to make sense of these modern myths.

Readings
Class readings will include books, a coursepack of articles, and news items distributed via the class email list.

The course books are available at the GSU bookstores. Here are the books you’ll need:

Anthony Stevens, Jung: A Very Short Introduction
Robert Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction
Roland Barthes, Mythologies
Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz
Neal Gaiman, Sandman: A Season of Mists
Alan Moore, Watchmen

The coursepack is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Screenings
DVDs for screenings are widely available at local video stores and online outlets such as Netflix.com. Required films include

Star Wars: A New Hope
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Company of Wolves
Spider-man
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
The Wizard of Oz
Pan’s Labyrinth

Schedule

Week 1: Hollywood Myth

6/12 Introduction

6/14 Joseph Campbell and Star Wars
Campbell, excerpts from The Hero With a Thousand Faces (handout)
Christopher Vogler and Stuart Voytilla, excerpts from
Myth and the Movies (handout)
Ted Friedman, “Star Wars and the Dialectics of Myth”:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/essays/2005/03/star_wars_and_t.html
David Brin, “Star Wars Despots vs. Star Trek Populists”:
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/1999/06/15/brin_main/index.html
Screen Star Wars IV: A New Hope

Week 2: Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

6/19 Carl Jung
Anthony Stevens, Jung: A Very Short Introduction
Robert Segal, “Introduction,” Jung on Myth (CP)
Jung, “Myth as a Way of Thinking,” “The Fight With the Shadow,” and
“Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth” (CP)
6/21 The Lord of the Rings
JRR Tolkein, “Forward to the Second Edition,” The Lord of the Rings (CP)
Screen The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Week 3: Mythography

6/26 Theories of Myth
Robert Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction
Claude Levi-Strauss, “Myth: Cracking the Code of Culture” (CP) and
“The Structural Study of Myth”: http://mural.uv.es/madelro/myth.html

6/28 Metafictions
Neal Gaiman, Sandman: Season of Mists
Screen The Company of Wolves

Week 4: Ideology

7/3 Roland Barthes
Barthes, Mythologies

7/5 American Myths
Alan Moore, Watchmen
Screen Spider-man

Week 5: The Political Unconscious

7/10 Fredric Jameson
Jameson, excerpts from The Political Unconscious

7/12 Pottermania
Readings TBA
Screen Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Week 6: Global Popular Culture

7/17 The Wizard of Oz
Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz
Screen The Wizard of Oz

7/19 Pan’s Labyrinth
Screen Pan’s Labyrinth

Week 7: Research Presentations

7/24 Research Presentations Part I

7/26 Research Presentations Part II/Party at Ted’s House

Final research paper due August 2

Assignments

I. Lead discussion of one critic – 10% of final grade
You will sign up to lead, with a group, discussions of one of the assigned critics. Choices include:

6/26 Claude Levi-Strauss
7/3 Roland Barthes
7/10 Fredric Jameson
7/17 Salman Rushdie

Before class, meet with your group to prepare for the discussion. Concentrate on how to link the work to the key questions we’ll be asking all semester. Subjects for discussion should include:

Core theoretical argument: What is the core argument that structures the reading? What is this author’s theory of myth?

Relationship to other theories of myth: To which theorists is the author responding? How does the author’s ideas relate to the other authors we’re read?

Example of interpretation: Pick an example in the reading of the author’s interpretation of a specific text. Discuss the strengths and limitations of this interpretation How might the other authors we’ve read respond to this interpretation?

4. Application of theory: Pick a contemporary media text. Screen a short sample (5 minutes max) in class, and discuss how the author’s ideas could be applied to the text. Again, how might the other authors we’re read interpret the text differently?

II. Lead discussion of two films/comics – 10% of final grade each

You will also sign up to lead two discussions of the assigned films and comic books. Options include:

6/21 The Lord of the Rings
6/28 The Company of Wolves
6/28 Watchmen
7/5 Superman
7/5 Sandman: A Season of Mists
7/12 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
7/17 The Wizard of Oz
7/19 Pan’s Labyrinth

In this case, your preparation for discussion should focus on applying theories of myth to the texts. Prepare a short (1-2 page) handout with some background information on the film and a list of key questions for discussion.

III. Deliver presentation on a theorist of myth - 10% of final grade
Expanding on the brief sketches in Myth: A Very Short Introduction, you will research and present a 10-15 minute summary of the ideas of a theorist of myth not otherwise addressed in the class.

Options include:

Bruno Bettelheim
Hans Blumenberg
Robert Bly
Kenneth Burke
Walter Burket
Ernst Cassirer
Alan Dundes
Cristopher Flood
James Frazier
Sigmund Freud
Northrop Frye
James Hillman
Lewis Hyde
Robert Jewett & John Shelton Lawrence
Bronislaw Malinowski
Vladimir Propp
Otto Rank
Jack Zipes

This summary should include the following components:

A brief biography of the author with a list of key works on myth.
A summary of the author’s primary theoretical arguments about myth.
An example of how the author interprets a specific myth
An assessment of the author’s influence on other theorists of myth.
A discussion of how the author’s ideas could be applied to the texts in this class.

The presentation should include a short 1-2 page handout.

IV. Final Project – 50% of the final grade
Option 1: Write a paper engaging theories of myth in relation to contemporary popular culture. COMM 6910: 8-12 pages. COMM 8790: 12-15 pages.

Option 2: Produce a creative work which engages theories of myth. The project can be a short film, a screenplay, or a new media work. Along with the project, include a 5-page paper relating your work to ideas from the class.

For either option, the deadlines are the same:
A one-page prospectus is due July 3. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss the prospectus.
I will look at drafts of the final project submitted on or before July 26. You’re welcome to submit multiple drafts for feedback. If you choose, I will let you know what grade a draft would receive if you submitted as the final version of your project.
You will give a 15-20 minute presentation of your final project during the last week of class, on July 24 or 26.
The final project is due August 2.

Policies

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

American Film History II, Fall 2006

Film 4960, Fall 2006
Class: Tuesdays and thursdays, 1:00-2:15, aderhold 213
Screenings: Thursdays, 2:30-4:20, Arts & humanities 406
Office: 738 One Park Place South
email: ted@tedfriedman.com
website: http://www.tedfriedman.com/teaching

Course Description

How have the movies reflected and influenced changes in American mores, values and politics over the past 40 years? How has Hollywood shaped Americans’ image of the world, and the world’s view of Americans? What role does film play in American life today? What is the future of film in a digital age?

In attempting to answer these questions, this course will take two parallel tracks. We will trace the history of the American film industry over the last 40 years by screening representative films from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Meanwhile, we will alternate these older films with films made in this decade. This back-and-forth approach will allow us to use the present to help illuminate the past, and vice versa. We will end with two recent digital films which suggest some of the possibilities that new technologies open up for the future of filmmaking.

Readings and Screenings

The coursepack for this class is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Additional readings will be distributed via the class listserv. All students will be automatically signed up to the listserv. I will regularly forward Hollywood news, reviews of upcoming movies, and other useful material to the list. You’re encouraged to forward other interesting information, post your reactions to recent movies, respond to other postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class. Simply reply to a posting, or send a new message to amfilm@tedfriedman.com. Most of the readings sent through email are recommended but not required. However, occasionally required readings will be distributed via email. In these cases, the email message will have the heading “REQUIRED” in the subject line.

In addition to the readings, you are responsible for viewing the assigned film before class each week. The first film - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - is currently playing in theaters throughout Atlanta. For all other films, screenings will be held in the in Arts & Humanities 406 after class on Thursdays. Alternately, all movies are available through the online DVD rental service Netflix (http://www.netflix.com), and at better video stores such as Movies Worth Seeing (1409 N Highland; 404-892-1802) and Videodrome (617 N Highland; 404-885-1117).

Class Schedule

Introduction

8/22 Introduction

8/24 Read Ted Friedman, “Cast Away and the Contradictions of Product Placement”:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/essays/2004/08/cast_away_and_t.html
Ted Friedman, “Star Wars and the Dialectics of Myth”:
http://www.tedfriedman.com/essays/2005/03/star_wars_and_t.html

unit 1: the blockbuster

2006: pirates of the caribbean 2

8/29 Read these Edward J. Epstein columns in Slate:
“How Did Michael Eisner Make Disney Profitable?”:
http://www.slate.com/id/2116794/
“Gross Misunderstanding”: http://www.slate.com/id/2118819/
“The Midas Formula”: http://www.slate.com/id/2119701/
“Hollywood’s Profits, Demystified”: http://www.slate.com/id/2124078/
“Dumb Money”: http://www.slate.com/id/2120335/
“The Vanishing Box Office”: http://www.slate.com/id/2122000/
“Hidden Persuaders”: http://www.slate.com/id/2122934/
“Hollywood’s Death Spiral 1”: http://www.slate.com/id/2123286/
“Hollywood’s Death Spiral 2”: http://www.slate.com/id/2123588/

8/31 In-class screening: Behind the Screen

1965: goldfinger

9/5 Read Tony Bennett, excerpts from Bond and Beyond
David Bordwell, “Intensified Continuity”

9/7 In-class screening: The Last Mogul (excerpts)

Unit 2: race and fear

1968: night of the living dead

9/12 Read Richard Dyer, “White”
Stacy Schmitt, “Racial Visibility in Night of the Living Dead”
Robin Wood, “George Romero: Apocalypse Now”

9/14 In-class screenings: The American Nightmare, Baadassss Cinema (excerpts)

2005: crash

9/19 Read all the entries in Slate’s “Movie Club 2005”:
http://www.slate.com/id/2132498/entry/2133364/

9/21 In-class screening: Classified X unit 3: activism

2000: erin brockovich

9/26 Read Robert Ray, Introduction to A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema
9/28 In-class screening: The Big Buy

1976: network

10/3 Read Robert Ray, “Left and Right Films”
Eric Boehlert, excerpts from Lapdogs

10/5 In-class screening: A Decade Under the Influence (start)

Unit 4: how the u.s. sees the world/how the world sees the u.s.

1981: raiders of the lost ark

10/10 Read Jack Shaheen, excerpts from Reel Bad Arabs
Robin Wood, “Papering the Cracks: Fantasy and Ideology in the
Reagan Era”

10/12 In-class screening: A Decade Under the Influence (finish)
Take-home midterm due

2002: september 11

10/17 Read John Powers, excerpts from Sore Winners

10/19 In-class screenings: Hollywood and the Muslim World, Looking for Comedy
in the Muslim World (excerpts)

unit 5: the teen movie

2004: napoleon dynamite

10/24 Read Sara Vowell, “The Nerd Voice”
Jon Katz, except from Geeks
Listen to Joe Kerr, “Lecture-2-Go on Napoleon Dynamite”:
http://web.mac.com/jokercopy/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

10/26 In-class screening: Miss India Georgia

1993: dazed and confused

10/31 Read James Mottram, excepts from The Sundance Kids

11/2 In-class screening: Heavy Metal Paring Lot

unit 6: gender and sexuality

1996: citizen ruth

11/7 Read James Mottram, more excerpts from The Sundance Kids

11/9 In-class screening: Searching for Deborah Winger (excerpts)

2005: brokeback mountain

11/14 Read Benshoff and Griffin, “Sexualities on Film Since the Sexual
Revolution”
Daniel Mendelsohn, “An Affair to Remember”
Schamus, Conarroe, and Mendelsohn,
“Brokeback Mountain: An Exchange”

11/16 In-class screening: The Celluloid Closet

Thanksgiving Holiday - No Classes 11/21, 11/23

unit 7: the future of movies

2003: tarnation

11/28 Readings to be distributed via email

11/30 In-class screening: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

2005: sin city

12/5 Readings to be distributed via email

12/7 In-class screening: DVD extras
Research paper due

Take-home final due December 14

Assignments

A 100-93 B+ 89-87 C+ 79-77 D 70-65
A- 92-90 B 86-83 C 76-70 F 64-0
B- 82-80

Take-Home Midterm - 30 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films screened for the first three class units. Due in class October 12.

Research Paper - 30 points
You will produce a 7-9 page research paper on an American film made since 1968. More details on the research paper will follow in a separate handout. The final draft of the research paper is due December 8.

Take-Home Final - 30 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering units 4-7. Due December 14.

Hollywood Stock Exchange - 10 points
In August, sign up for the online fantasy game at http://www.hsx.com. Manage your portfolio of movie stocks and star bonds over the course of the semester. At the end of the semester, submit a 1-2 page paper summarizing what you bought and how you did. If you won money, discuss what you did right. If you lost money, examine what you did wrong. This is a pass/fail assignment - you get full credit as long as you submit the paper by December 14.

Policies

Re-Writes and Makeup Tests
Opportunities for revision and improvement will be available for the midterm, the presentation, and the research paper prospectus. In addition, I will look at optional drafts of the research paper submitted on or before April 28. One rule: a 24-hour cool-down period after the return of any assignment. Wait a day before coming to talk to me, and I’ll be happy to listen to your concerns and help you improve your work.

Withdrawals
Students withdrawing on or before the midterm point will receive a W provided they are passing the course. Students who withdraw after the midterm point will not be eligible for a W except in cases of hardship. If you withdraw after the midterm point, you will be assigned a WF, except in those cases in which (1) hardship status is determined by the office of the dean of students because of emergency, employment, or health reasons, and (2) you are passing the course.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.