Film Studies Courses Fall 2016

FS-101.A Introduction to Film Studies Professor Dole MW 1:30-2:45 The usual first course in a film studies minor, introducing students to analysis of film through style and form. Intended primarily for first- and second-year students (for whom seats will be saved). No prerequisites. Students must also register for FS 101S and attend evening screenings (H.)

FS 235: European Film History Professor Fleeger TuTh 10-11:15 European film history is rich and exciting, full of experimentation and play, politics and philosophy. Our focus this semester will be on moments of change in European cinema—periods when directors, industries, communities, and nations could have made one set of decisions about how films would look and sound, but instead made different ones. The motivations for these decisions are always complex, and force us to consider the development of new technologies, economic relations, artistic visions, and broader cultural forces. The class will consider a number of European film movements such as German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave, the Danish Dogme 95, and the Romanian New Wave. European film movements both respond to and change the cultures and politics from which they arise, and therefore have had profound effects on how we think about the cinema, and life beyond it. This course fulfills the “H” (Humanities) core requirement and the Film History requirement for the Film Studies minor. All students must register for evening screenings (FS 235S).

FS-250 / EAS-299 Anime Professor Mizenko TuTh 3-4:15 It’s not just for otaku anymore. In this course on Japanese anime, one of Japan’s greatest contributions to global culture, we will study the history of anime, its social and historical context, its approach to story- telling, and its themes, ranging from mecha and cyborg genres to history, romance, and Miyazaki Hayao. We’ll watch both long-form and short-form anime, and explore its connections with manga. And yes, we’ll even take a look at fan culture. The course is taught in English, and all videos have English subtitles. The course fulfills the “G” (Global Study) or “H” (Humanities) core requirement and the national cinema requirement for the Film Studies minor. All students must register for Screenings (FS250S), which are held on Monday evenings.

FS 251: Horror Film Professor Fleeger TuTh 1:30-2:45 Horror Film will trace the genre’s historical trajectory; make cross-cultural comparisons of horror tropes; analyze the meaning of particular horror films, images, and figures; and most importantly, answer the question: “Why do we like to be scared?” This course provides an overview of the horror genre primarily from the perspective of its most prominent concern: gender. We will take a chronological approach, moving through a series of themes that occupied the genre’s producers during particular periods. We will thus be able to situate subgenres historically, asking questions like: “What does the horror genre have to do with the coming of sound?” “Why was the monster movie popular during the Cold War?” or, “Why were families one main target of horror’s villains in the 1980s?” Because the class screenings are paired with the International Film Festival, six of the films for this class will be viewed with other Ursinus students and community members, after which a discussion will take place. All students must register for evening screenings (FS 251S). (H.)

FS 252: African American Film Professor Leppert MW 3-4:15 This course studies the contributions of African Americans to Hollywood and independent film from the silent era to the present. We will examine the work of prominent African American filmmakers and performers, along with popular film cycles including black-cast musicals of the 1930s and 1940s, Blaxploitation films of the 1970s, and ghetto action films of the 1990s. While we will mainly concern ourselves with films made by African American filmmakers, we will also consider white Hollywood’s productions of blackness, questioning the notion of positive and negative representations of race, and analyzing the intersections between race, gender, class, and sexuality. All students must register for evening screenings (252S). This course fulfills the “D” (Diversity) or “H” (Humanities) core requirement.