CINEMATIC CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS: SOCS 676 RELIGION ON THE FLAT SCREEN Prof. Peter Gottschalk office hours: Religion department after class (860) 685-2293; [email protected]
• • • Draft edition: minor changes may occur • • •
Please note: many readings and some films must be completed or viewed before the week of class. Please note the questions posed at the beginning of each reading list as these should read each book or article partly in an effort to answer these questions for yourself.
Also note: Given that some films may not be available at your local library, I suggest joining Netflix to acquire them.
Please prepare before the first class How do we make sense of those whom we do not understand? What are the dynamics at play in intercultural perception, interpretation, communication, and translation? How much can be understood and is total translation even possible?
Reader – Jonathan Z. Smith, “I Am A Parrot (Red)” Reader – Jonathan Z. Smith, “In Comparison a Magic Dwells” Reader – Edward Said, “Communities of Interpretation” film – Babel (US, dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006)
Also, how have films portraying Native American and European American contact reflected these dynamics of comparison? What categories have been used to demonstrate similarity and difference? How does religion fit into these commonalities and divergences? film – Dances with Wolves (US, dir: Kevin Costner, 1990) film – Black Robe (Canada, dir: Bruce Beresford, 1991) film – Smoke Signals (US, dir: Chris Eyre, 1998) Reader – Richard Slotkin, chs 2, 3, & 14 Reader – selections from Raymond J. DeMallie and Hilda Neihardt, The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt Online – George Custer, My Life on the Plains
Please follow the instructions for using Moodle for a discussion in regard to these materials
Monday, August 11 How does science fiction help audiences manage their anxieties about cultural difference within their own societies? Are the aliens of concern entirely of the intergalactic variety or more domestic? In what ways has Hollywood imagined fabulous, otherworldly cultures that supposedly share our planet? How have Tibetans played that role over the decades? What role does religion play in both sets of these portrayals?
Preliminary paper A due please prepare the night before class Reader: Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” Donald S. Lopez Jr., Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West online lecture: “An entirely incomplete introduction to Tibetan Buddhism” we will watch these together in class Star Wars IV (US, dir: George Lucas, 1977) Lost Horizon (US, dir: Frank Capra, 1937)
Tuesday, August 12 How have Americans viewed Buddhists, Tibetan Buddhists in particular? What are the points of contact and the points on contrast that are imagined? Do these suggest an essential difference between the two, a “clash of civilizations” as Samuel Huntington famously described it? please prepare before class Reader: Samuel Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations” we will watch these together in class Seven Years in Tibet (US, dir: Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1997) The Cup (Bhutan/Australia, dir: Khyentse Norbu, 1999)
Wednesday, August 13 How has Christianity and Islam figured into medieval and modern confrontations between Europeans and Arabs? How does religion serve as an ideology for political and military contestation? What difference does the advent of nationalism make for such conflicts? please prepare before class Reader: Christian primary sources on Crusades Reader: Muslim primary sources on Crusades Reader: articles on Algerian revolution Lila Abu-Lughod, Do Muslim Women Need Saving? online lecture: “An utterly insufficient introduction to Islam” we will watch these together in class The Kingdom of Heaven (US, dir: Ridley Scott, 2005) Battle for Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri, Italy/Algeria, dir: Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
Thursday, August 14 How have American filmmakers dealt with the war in Afghanistan? How do non-fictional accounts of American military and humanitarian engagements with Afghans reflect on religion in the context of larger social, economic, and political issues? How do gender issues figure into these considerations? please prepare before class Marcus Luttrell, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 we will watch these together in class The Beauty Academy of Kabul (US, dir: Liz Mermin, 2010) Lone Survivor (US, dir: Peter Berg, 2013)
Friday, August 15 How have filmmakers in the US, Pakistan, and India responded to the terrorist acts of 9/11 and the resulting military responses of the US and its allies? What do their films demonstrate about other social and religious issues tied to the violence that are less immediately apparent?
Also, how do immigrant Muslims experience life in Western countries? How do their identities shift and in what ways does Islam figure in new and preexisting ways into those identities? How do Indian and Pakistani directors view these matters? please prepare the night before class Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors we will watch these together in class Khuda ke Liye (“In the Name of God,” Pakistan, 2007) My Name Is Khan (India, 2010)
Friday, August 22: Secondary paper due
Monday, August 25: Research paper due
Required texts Lila Abu-Lughod, Do Muslim Women Need Saving? Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors: Thinking About Religion After September 11. Donald S. Lopez Jr., Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West Marcus Luttrell, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 Reader – Available at Wesleyan Printers. You must order your volume through your online portfolio before obtaining it from the shop.
Participation Participation represents a critical component of the class. Informed conversation serves everyone in the class by providing each student the opportunity to voice their understanding and contribute new perspectives for the deliberation and debate of the rest of the class.
In-Class Presentation Each student will help begin conversation on a particular topic with one prepared, 5-minute presentation that offers a synthesis of the material considered thus far in the course and poses a question to stimulate discussion.
Preliminary paper One preliminary paper of 1000 words (about 4 pages) will be due on the first day of classes. The paper must answer one of the questions regarding the pre-class readings and films that are provided on the Moodle page by the professor. Answers must be well argued and draw explicitly from the arguments of the authors mentioned. The paper offers the opportunity to actively engage the readings and apply them to the selected films. It is due August 11.
The essay will be graded according to the (a) success of its argument, (b) its use of class reading material, and (c) accurate reference to aspects of the film under consideration.
No quotation of longer than one or two lines may be used.
Secondary paper One film analysis of 1000 words (about 4 pages) will provide the chance to apply critical analysis to a film or films of one’s own choosing regarding Native Americans, Buddhists, Muslims, or Christians. One or two (but no more) films must be chosen and a well- argued analysis made of it/them. It is due August 22.
The analysis will be evaluated according to (a) its use of class materials, (b) the strength of its argument, and (c) its creative engagement with both film and theory.
No quotation of longer than one or two lines may be used.
RAW paper One research, analysis, and writing (RAW) paper (10-12 pages) on any approved topic that examines issues of religion and cultural engagements in a specific culture as portrayed in films not considered in class. Papers allow you an opportunity to explore personal interests. These papers must be entirely original with sources fully cited and include a bibliography. An outline, thesis statement, and annotated bibliography of the paper are due a week after the last day of class. Completed papers are three weeks after class. BE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE RULES of PLAGIARISM. PLAGIARISM CAN RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE FAILING GRADE. Please observe all guidelines provided on the handout provided in class, which include submitting a copy to Turnitin.com.
Your grade will be determined by (a) the depth of the research, (b) the range of your resources, (c) the sharpness of the analysis, and (d) the quality of your writing.
It is due August 25.
Grade The following components determine the final grade: participation (10%), in-class presentation (10%), preliminary paper (20%), secondary paper (20%), and RAW paper (40%).