Below are descriptions for courses in the graduate program in Cinema and Media Studies (CMS). For further work in Cinema and Media Studies, students are also encouraged to investigate other courses taught by the Resource Faculty. Film screenings add three to four hours per week to class time for the majority of courses.

32100. Art and Film in Weimar Germany (=CMST 22100, ARTH 26000/36000, GRMN 23100/33100):

The period of the Weimar Republic in Germany, from the end of World War I and the collapse of Imperial Germany in 1918 to the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and Nazism in 1933, was a time of intense economic, social and intellectual turmoil and revolution. It also was witness to Germany's arguably most influential, innovative artistic activity and productivity in the various visual arts and film, as well as literature and music, during the 20th century. This course will explore broadly the visual culture of Weimar Germany, with particular focus on the fine arts and more popular imagery, the intersections with Weimar cinema, and their interactions with the contemporary the social and political milieus. To be considered are such art and film movements as Expressionism, Dada and Neo-Objectivity; artists' groups encompassing the Bauhaus, the November Group and the Association of Revolutionary Visual Artists of Germany; artists ranging from George Grosz and Otto Dix to Kurt Schwitters and Wassily Kandinsky; and films including The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis, M, and Kuhle Wampe. R. Heller. Autumn.

32300. Staging Femininity: Gender as Spectacle in Opera and Film (=CMS 32300, GRMN 23800/33800, MAPH 33500, GNDR 23800, CMLT, MUSI 23800/31900):

This course will explore the relationship between cultural production and gender identity. We will read a broad range of texts from contemporary cultural, performance, and film theory (e.g. Judith Butler, Catherine Clement, Mary Ann Doane, Susan McClary, Laura Mulvey, Slavoj Zizek) and examine a number of symptomatic films and operas where gender norms become apparent through their exaggeration, violation, or suspension. All readings in English. Films by Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, 1930), Busby Berkeley (The Gang's All Here, 1943), King Vidor (Gilda, 1946), Werner Schroeter (Death of Maria Malibran, 1972) Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Lili Marleen, 1980), and Jean-Jacques Beineix (Diva, 1982); operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Marriage of Figaro), Gaetano Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor), and Giacomo Puccini (Turandot). D. Levin. Spring.

32700. The Divided Heaven: The 1960s in West Germany and the German Democratic Republic (=CMST 22700, CMLT, GRMN 23700/41400, GSHU 21200/31200):

PQ: Knowledge of German required. The building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 cemented the divison of Germany but it also, paradoxically, catalyzed a period of aesthetic experimentation and political ferment in West Germany and in the GDR. Beginning with the differing accounts of l961 produced on either side of the Wall, this course compares the cultural life of both Germanies, as manifested in literature and in film. Our focus is at once on aesthetic questions (late modernism, New Waves, the relationship between avant-garde and documentary impulses) and artistic attempts to process social and policial developments (the generation gap: the new, divided topography of Berlin; the Auschwitz trials, new discussions of fascism and stalinism; the student and feminist movements). K. Trumpener. Spring.

33400. Classical French Cinema (=CMST 23400, FREN 23400/33400):

Classic French cinema (from the earliest filmmakers to the beginnings of the New Wave) will be studied through the examples of ten movies, which influenced its history and represented the development of an esthetical movement: the French school before 1914 (Louis Feuillade's Fantômas), the "avant-garde" of the 20s (Jean Epstein's La Chute de la maison Usher), the surrealist cinema (Luis Buñuel's L'Age d'or), the musical comedy (Rene Clair's Le Million), the "100% talking" film (Sacha Guitry's Le Roman d'un tricheur), the poetic realism (Jean Renoir's La Bête humaine, Marcel Carne Le Jour se lève), the cinema under the Occupation (Henri-Georges Clouzot's Le Corbeau), the evocation of the Belle Epoque (Max Ophuls' Le Plaisir), the revival of the literary adaptation (Robert Bresson's Journal d'un cure de campagne. N. Herpe. Winter.

34100. Film in India (=CMST 24100, Anth 20600/31100, Hist 26700/36700, SALC 20500/30500):

Considers the film world from 1975 to the present. Most attention will be paid to the Hindi film and especially to its "peculiar" features, for example, the song and dance. Emphasis is placed on the reconstruction of film-related activities which can be taken as life practices from the stand point of "elites" and "masses," "middle classes," men and women, people in cities and villages, governmental institutions, businesses, and the "nation." The course will rely on people's notions of the everyday, festive days, paradise, arcadia and utopia to pose questions about how people try to realize their wishes and themselves through film. How film practices articulated with nationalism, first in the wake of a failing "socialist pattern of development," and, then, with "liberalization," of the promise or threat "free markets" would bring, will be the major concern. A brief look will also be taken at how film is related to other media such as television. Some comparisons with Hollywood will be made. Students will be asked to familiarize themselves with existing approaches to Indian film against the background of more general approaches to film and the media. Some knowledge of Hindi desirable but not required (films will be subtitled in English and have English synopses). One film per week will be shown. Requirement: One 10-page paper, written in two stages. R. Inden. Autumn.

34300. Religion and Modernity in Film (=CMST 24300, ANTH 21900/32400, HIST 26800/36800):

Considers the problem of how popular films in the US, Europe, and Asia have represented the conventional religions' relation to modernity: the idea of film practices ("youth culture") as constituting a secular religion alternative or antagonistic to the conventional religions and the recuperation and transformation of conventional religiosity in modernist, especially patriotic and science-fiction films as a national theology ("civil religion"). One to two films per week will be shown. Requirement: One 10-page paper, written in two stages. R. Inden. Winter.

35400. Women and New China Cinema (=CMST 25400, CHIN 25400/35400, EALC 25004):

In this course we will study the representation of women in a series of films from different stages of New China cinema. Specifically we will examine a collection of "rural films" (such as Li Shuangshuang and Ermo) in which the transformation of a female character constitutes the central action. We will explore questions of a film genre, quotations, subjectivity and the projection of desire. All readings in English. Xiaobing Tang. Winter.

35600. Magic and the Cinema (=CMST 25600, ARTH 29700/39700):

This course will trace relations between motion pictures and traditions of magic, both as a theatrical entertainment and as a belief system. The invention of cinema's roots in the magic lantern and other "philosophical toys" which trick the senses into seeing visual illusions will be explored in relation to traditions of "Natural Magic" as well as a secularization of magical practices into entertainment from the Renaissance on. The early trick films of Méliès and others will be discussed in relation to the tradition of stage magic in the 19th century, as well as a particular reception of the magical nature of new technologies (electricity, photography, sound recording). The relation between cinema and hypnosis, both as a social concern and as metapsychological description of spectatorship will also be explored. A consideration of the appeal of magic systems of thought (spiritualism, theosophy, ritual magic) for Avant-Garde movement and their relation to experimental films by Epstein, Artaud, Deren, Anger, Smith, Fischinger, and others. T. Gunning. Spring.

36400. Charlie Chaplin: The Man, the Artist, the Cultural Hero (=CMST 26400, ARTH 28900/38900):

The three aspects stressed in the course title define the approach to (and explain the significance of) this key figure in the history of film and twentieth-century culture. As a man, Chaplin was a frequent target of large-scale political and sexual scandals; as an actor-director he was not only responsible for the Tramp figure, but also for such genres as social-comedy and comedy-melodrama; as a myth, Chaplin's figure was key to a number of twentieth-century art movements, such as Expressionist poetry, Cubist painting, and Soviet Constructivist art. Y. Tsivian. Winter.

37200. Slavic Critical Theory from Jakobson to Zizek. (=CMST 27200, BALT 28500/38500, GSHU 21300/31300):

This seminar style course surveys the cultural and literary theory of critics including Roman Jakobson, the Russian Formalists, Jan Mukarovsky, the Prague School, Mikhail Bakhtin, Tzvetan Todorov, Julie Kristeva, Mikhail Epstein, Slavoj Zizek and the Slovenian Lacanians.M. Sternstein. Winter.

37600. Beginning Photography (=CMST 27600, COVA 24000):

PQ: COVA 101, 102, or consent of instructor. A camera and light meter are required. Photography affords a relatively simple and accessible means for making pictures. Through demonstration, students are introduced to technical procedures and basic skills, and begin to establish criteria for artistic expression. Possibilities and limitations inherent in the medium are topics of classroom discussion. Class sessions and field trips to local exhibitions investigate the contemporary photograph in relation to its historical and social context. Course work culminates in a portfolio of works exemplary of the student's understanding of the medium. Lab fee $40. L. Brown, Autumn. L. Letinsky, Winter, Spring.

37700. Advanced Photography (=CMST 27700, COVA 27800):

PQ: COVA 101 or 102, and 240 or 241, or consent of instructor. Throughout the quarter, students concentrate on a set of issues and ideas that expand upon their experience and knowledge, and that have particular relevance to them. All course work is directed towards the production of a cohesive body of either color or black-and-white photographs. An investigation of contemporary and historic photographic issues informs the students' photographic practice and includes visits to local exhibitions, critical readings, darkroom techniques, and class and individual critiques. Lab fee $40. L. Letinsky. Spring.

37800. Theories of Media (=CMST 27800, ARTH 26000/36000, COVA 25400, ENGL 12800/32800, MPAH 33000):

This course explores the fundamental questions in the interdisciplinary study of visual culture: What are the cultural (and by the same token, natural) components in the structure of visual experience? What is seeing? What is a spectator? What is the difference between visual and verbal representation? How do visual media exert power, elicit desire and pleasure, and construct the boundaries of subjective and social experience in the private and public spheres? How do questions of politics, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity inflect the construction of visual semiosis? W. J. T. Mitchell. Winter.

40000. Methods and Issues in Cinema Studies (=ArtH 39900, ENGL 48000, MAPH 33000):

This course offers an introduction to ways of reading, writing on, and teaching film. The focus of discussion will range from methods of close analysis and basic concepts of film form, technique and style; through industrial/critical categories of genre and authorship (studios, stars, directors); through aspects of the cinema as a social institution, psycho-sexual apparatus and cultural practice; to the relationship between filmic texts and the historical horizon of production and reception. Films discussed will include works by Griffith, Lang, Hitchcock, Deren, Godard. T. Gunning. Autumn.

48500. History of International Cinema, Part I, Silent Era (=CMST 28500, ARTH 28500/38500, ENGL 29300/48700, MAPH 33600):

PQ: This is the first part of a two-quarter course. The two parts may be taken individually, but taking them in sequence is helpful. The aim of this course is to introduce students to what was singular about the art and craft of silent film. Its general outline is chronological. We will discuss main national schools and international trends of filmmaking. Y. Tsivian. Autumn.

48600. History of International Cinema, Part II, Sound Cinema to 1960 (=CMS 28600, ArtH 28600/38600, ENGL 29600/48900, MAPH 33700):

PQ: This is the second part of the international survey history of film covering the sound era up to 1960. It is strongly recommended that students take the first section first. This survey will deal with issues of film form, industry organization and film culture during three decades, focusing on the crystallization of the Classical Hollywood Film as a key issue. But international alternatives to Hollywood will also be discussed, from the unique forms of Japanese cinema to movements like Italian Neo-realism and the beginnings of the New Wave in France. Film style, from the classical scene break down to the introduction of deep focus, stylistic experimentation and technical innovation (sound, wide screen, location shooting) will form the center of the course, while attention will also be paid to the development of a film culture. Texts will include Bordwell and Thompson, Film History: An Introduction, and works by Bazin, Belton, Sitney, Godard and others. Screenings will include films by Hitchcock, Welles, Rossellini, Bresson, Ozu, Antonioni, and Renoir. T. Gunning. Winter.

48700. Performance Theory (=ANTH 53100, CMLT, GNDR 41900, GRMN 47700):

This graduate seminar will seek to explore the burgeoning field of performance theory, examining some of its foundational statements (e.g., J. L. Austin, J. Derrida, R. Schechner) and some more recent practical applications and theoretical elaborations (e.g., E. Diamond, R. Morris, P. Phelan, J. Roach). We will be shuttling between two questions: what does recent work in cultural (e.g., semiotic, psychoanalytic, gender) theory bring to the study of theater? What insights might an exploration of the particular theoretical problems involved in the study of theater bring to cultural analysis more generally? Readings will be supplemented by screenings and, if possible and desirable, forays to Chicago theaters. D. Levin and D. Rutherford. Winter.

59900. Reading and Research: CMS:

PQ: Consent of instructor. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

62200. Seminar: Drama, Theatre, Image, Performance (=ENGL 59300, CMLT 42600):

This PhD intensive reading course examines theoretical texts that deal with the interdisciplinary issues arising out of the confluence and conflict of word, image, and performance in various cultural contexts. Central concerns will include dramatic action, theatricality, visual and aural representation, and the competing phenomenologies of audience experiences of performance and cinema/video. We will be looking closely at the nature of drama and theatre, the mediation of performance through cinema and video, and the ways in which drama and theatricality manifest themselves in cultural activity more broadly. We will also scrutinize the ways on which metaphors of theatricality and performativity have been appropriated by other disciplines. Requirements: ACTIVE class participation; two presentations (P/F) and a short position paper (grade). L. Kruger. Autumn.

63800. Seminar: The Films of Robert Bresson (=FREN 36300):

Robert Bresson's work will mainly be studied through its relationship with the literature, from his collaboration with Giraudoux and Cocteau until his more and more personal adaptations of novels by Bernanos or Dostoievski. We'll also try to set his career back in its historical context which made him after 1945 the prophet of a new classicism, and in the same time one of the most innovative pioneers of a modern cinema. N. Herpe. Spring.

64500. Seminar: A Separate Cinema: Race Films in Context (=ENGL 58900):

This course examines race films in their broad cultural context. From the mid-1910s to the early 1950s, African Americans produced and supported a "race film" industry, in which black-cast films were distributed to segregated African American audiences across the country. These films speak to a wide range of social, economic and political issues facing African American communities prior to the civil rights movement. They also share formal and stylistic qualities with other forms of black cultural production (literature, drama, journalism, music, and visual art). This course examines films by pioneering Black directors (Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams) as well as the many white-controlled race film companies, in order to trace how this industry competed—through variation and/or imitation—with mainstream Hollywood product. How did it participate in the construction of Black stars (e.g., Paul Robeson, Lena Horne, Hattie McDaniel)? How did it relate to Black urban migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and other contemporary movements? How did it attempt to respond to the politics of Black representation and modes of audience address in mainstream films produced during this period? We will think about how numerous institutional, technological and representational developments (e.g., the growth of Hollywood, the coming of sound, uses of blackface) shaped the operations of this independent industry. We will also ENGLage with founding and recent scholarship on race films, their makers, and their audiences (Cripps, Sampson, Bowser & Spence, Green, Gaines). J. Stewart. Winter.

65300. Seminar: Symbolism and Film (=ArtH 49300):

Cinema was born at the time when the Symbolist movement in European literature and art was at its height, and although 'Symbolist cinema' does not exist as a movement in film history, there are things and figures that can be properly understood only when placed against the backdrop of the Baudelairian 'forest of symbols.' We will look at key places and cultural heroes of the Symbolist era (e.g. Salome and Judith; Bruges and St Petersburg), its painters and poets (e.g. Bely, Rodenbach, Khnopff), and trace Symbolist motifs (veils, dead cities, the cult of silence--among others) in films made in Russia, Italy and the U.S. Y. Tsivian. Winter.

66200. Seminar: The Persistence of Surrealism: Buñuel and Beyond (=ENGL 68700)

Surrealism marked a watershed moment in modern intellectual history. In addition to its familiar aesthetic achievements, it also laid the intellectual groundwork for much of contemporary French, and by extension American, critical thought. From the French confrontation with Hegel in the 1930s, which set the stage for Breton's Hegelian understanding of Surrealism's project and Bataille's critique, to the cultentrate on analyzing Buñuel's characteristic visual, aural, and narrative strategies. Beyond that, we will situate his films in relevant aesthetic, cultural, political, and national contexts in an attempt to understand how a career that spans five decades and as many countries can both retain its own internal coherence and yet participate meaningfully in disparate and often incompatible arenas. J. Lastra. Spring.

67300. Seminar: Classical Cinema as Vernacular Modernism (=ENGL 58700):

This course proceeds from the ostensible contradiction that Hollywood cinema at its most "classical," roughly from the late teens through the fifties, was also perceived, all over the world, as an incarnation of "the modern." We will begin with accounts of cinematic classicality in film history and criticism (Brasillach/Bardeche, Bazin), psychoanalytic-semiotic film theory (Metz, Bellour, Heath, Mulvey), as well as neoformalist-cognitivist approaches (Bordwell,Thompson, Carroll). We will look at films that both meet and exceed their categorization as classical and might more productively be described as a form of "vernacular modernism"—as aesthetic expressions of, and responses to, the social, psychic, and cultural experience of modernity and modernization. Drawing on texts by Kracauer, Benjamin, Epstein, Dulac, Colette, Woolf et al., we will consider the formal, stylistic, and thematic ways in which these films articulate a material sense of the everyday, a new image world, a restructuration of sensory perception, subjectivity, and cultural reception. Intensive reading course, research paper optional. M. Hansen. Spring.

68800. Seminar: A Voyage to Abyssinia: The Mixed Media of Travel (=ARTH 46400):

This course will be taught in conjunction with the Field Museum (and primarily at the Field Museum). It will deal with the media of exploration: from notebooks, to photographs, to film, to specimens collected during a specific expedition mounted by the Field Museum early in the 20th century. Ben Williamson of the Field Museum and I will use this case study (and the rich resources of both the Field Museum and the Newberry Library) to think more broadly about the cultural phenomena of collecting and travel. B. Stafford. Winter.