Courses & Programs of Study

Committee Chair: James Lastra, G-B 432, 702-9244

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Jacqueline Stewart, G-B 426, 702-7999

Program Administrator: G-B 405, 834-1077

E-mail: cine-media@uchicago.edu

Web: humanities.uchicago.edu/cmtes/cms/

Program of Study

The Cinema and Media Studies major provides a framework within which College students can approach film and related media from a variety of historical, critical, and theoretical perspectives. Focusing on the study of the moving image (and its sound accompaniments), the program enables students to analyze how meanings are created through representational devices specific to the medium and its institutions. At the same time, the goal is to situate the cinema (and related media) in broader cultural, social, and aesthetic contexts, such as visual culture and the history of the senses; modernity, modernism, and the avant-garde; narrative theory, poetics, and rhetoric; commercial entertainment forms and leisure and consumer culture; sexuality and gender; constructions of ethnic, racial, and national identities; and transnational media production and circulation, globalization, and global media publics. Students wishing to enter the program should consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Spring Quarter of their first year. Participation in the program must be declared to the Director of Undergraduate Studies before registration.

Program Requirements

The program requires twelve courses and a B.A. research paper. Course work is divided into a primary field specifically concerned with cinema and a secondary field focusing on a separate but related area or topic.

Primary Field. There are eight required courses in the primary field.

Students must take the introductory course in film analysis (CMST 10100). If possible, this introductory course should be taken by the end of the first quarter of the third year.

In the Autumn Quarter of their fourth year, students are expected to participate in a senior colloquium that helps them conceptualize their B.A. research paper and address more advanced questions of methodology and theory.

The remaining six courses must be chosen according to the following distribution:

Students must take three courses in film history; at least one must cover a cinema tradition other than mainstream American (H).

Students must take two courses dealing with genre (e.g., horror, musical, experimental film) or individual directors, actors, or stars. One of these courses may be replaced with a course in film/video making (G, D, S).

Students must take one course in film theory, media theory, or theories of audio-visual representation (T).

NOTE: For information about course distribution, please consult the Cinema and Media Studies Web site at humanities.uchicago.edu/ cmtes/cms/academics/undergradcourses.html. Letters in parentheses will indicate which requirement is satisfied by each course.

Secondary Field. In addition, students must take a cluster of four courses in a separate area (i.e., courses that are not cross listed with Cinema and Media Studies courses) that can be brought to bear on the study of cinema in significant ways. Such clusters could be imagined, for instance, as focusing on other media and art forms (e.g., photography, video, the visual arts, architecture, literature, theater, opera, dance); cross-disciplinary topics or sets of problems (e.g., the urban environment, violence and pornography, censorship, copyright and industry regulation, concepts of the public sphere, globalization); subfields within area studies (e.g., East Asian, South Asian, African American, Jewish studies); or traditional disciplines (e.g., history, anthropology/ethnography, philosophy, psychology, linguistics, sociology, political economy). Students develop these clusters in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and are expected to write a brief essay explaining the rationale for, and coherence of, their secondary field by the fourth week of the Winter Quarter of their third year.

B.A. Research Paper. A B.A. research paper is required of all students in the program. During the Spring Quarter of their third year, students meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies to discuss the focus of their B.A. project, a process to be concluded by the seventh week of the quarter; they begin reading and research during the summer. By the Autumn Quarter of the fourth year students should have selected a project adviser and be prepared to present an outline of their project to the senior colloquium; writing and revising take place during the Winter Quarter. The final version is due by the fourth week of the quarter in which the student plans to graduate. The B.A. research paper typically consists of a substantial essay that engages a research topic in the history, theory, and criticism of film and/or other media. The essay may be supplemented by work in the medium of film or video. Registration for the B.A. research paper (CMST 29900) may not be counted toward distribution requirements for the major.

Grading. Students majoring in Cinema and Media Studies must receive quality grades in all courses required for the major. Nonmajors may take Cinema and Media Studies courses on a P/F basis if they receive prior consent from the instructor.

Honors. Students who have earned an overall GPA of 3.25 or higher and a GPA of 3.5 or higher in the major may be nominated for honors. These honors are reserved for the student whose B.A. research paper shows exceptional intellectual and/or creative merit in the judgment of the first and the second readers, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, and the Master of the Humanities Collegiate Division.

Summary of Requirements

1 introductory course (CMST 10100)

1 Senior Colloquium (CMST 29800)

6 primary field courses (as specified)

4 secondary field courses (as specified)

- B.A. research paper

Advising. By the fourth week of Autumn Quarter of the third year, each student is expected to obtain approval of his or her program of study from the Director of Undergraduate Studies. For the construction of their secondary field, students are encouraged to take courses with and to consult with members of the resource faculty. Core and resource faculty members are listed below.

Committee Members

J. Chandler, R. Gregg, T. Gunning, M. Hansen, J. Hoffman, J. Lastra, L. Letinsky,
D. Levin, H. Mirra, M. Raine, J. Snyder, J. Stewart, Y. Tsivian, R. West

Resource Faculty

L. Auslander, L. Berlant, R. Bird, W. Brown, D. Chakrabarty, G. Chauncey, J. Comaroff,
M. Feldman, J. Goldsby, N. Harris, B. Hoeckner, T. Holt, R. Inden, L. Kruger,
W. Mazzarella, W. J. T. Mitchell, E. Santner, B. Shallcross, B. Stafford, M. Sternstein,
M. Stokes, X. Tang, K. Taylor, W. Veeder, M. Ward

Courses: Cinema and Media Studies (cmst)

10100. Introduction to Film Analysis. (=ARTH 20000, COVA 25300, ENGL 10800, ISHU 20000) This course introduces basic concepts of film analysis, which are discussed through examples from different national cinemas, genres, and directorial oeuvres. Along with questions of film technique and style, we consider the notion of the cinema as an institution that comprises an industrial system of production, social and aesthetic norms and codes, and particular modes of reception. Films discussed include works by Hitchcock, Porter, Griffith, Eisenstein, Lang, Renoir, Sternberg, and Welles. J. Stewart. Autumn.

15101. The Science Fiction Film. (=HUMA 25505) For course description, see Humanities. A. Whitney. Winter

20901. Sexuality and Censorship in Pre-Stonewall Film. (=GNDR 27701) This course examines the representation of queer sexuality and culture in classical Hollywood films from silent film to 1970. We pay particular attention to the changing modes of Hollywood production; the impact of censorship before, during, and after the Hays Code; the shifting codes used to connote queerness (even when it was prohibited); and the ways different audiences read these codes. We analyze these representational shifts in relationship to broader changes in the understanding of gender and same-sex desire. Finally, Hollywood films are compared to experimental film and early German cinema. R. Gregg. Winter, 2005.

21000/31000. (Re)Defining African-American Cinema. (=AFAM 21400, COVA 27901, ENGL 27901) For course description, see English Language and Literature. J. Stewart. Autumn, 2004.

21300. Hollywood in the Twenty-First Century. This course examines how globalization and the emergence of new digital technologies have affected Hollywood's organization of production, distribution, and exhibition, as well as the aesthetics of film image, sound, and narration. The course also pays attention to the varying national and international modes of resistance to Hollywood's hegemony and how the industry has responded to these modern challenges. R. Gregg. Offered 2005-06; not offered 2004-05.

23100/33100. Pinocchio's Afterlife in Cinema, Literature, and Popular Culture. (=ITAL 28900/38900) After studying the context in which the original story was created as well as doing a close reading of Collodi's Pinocchio, we analyze rewritings of the puppet's story in adult literature by writers (e.g., Giorgio Manganelli, Italo Calvino, and Robert Coover) and then consider cinematic versions by Disney and Benigni as well as films inspired by the tale (e.g., A. I. by Spielberg and Little Otik). R. West. Spring, 2005.

24100/34100. Film in India. (=ANTH 20600/31100, HIST 26700/36700, SALC 20500/30500) Some knowledge of Hindi helpful but not required. For course description, see History. R. Inden. Autumn.

24201/34201. Cinema in Africa. (=AFAM 21900, CMLT 22600/32600, ENGL 27600/48601) PQ: At least one college-level course in either African studies or film studies. For course description, see English Language and Literature. L. Kruger. Spring, 2005.

24300/34300. Religion and Modernity in Film. (=ANTH 21900/32400, HIST 26800/36800) For course description, see History. R. Inden. Winter.

24501/34501. Russian Modernism: Films, Art, and Books. (=ARTH 28004/38004, COVA 24501/34501) This interdisciplinary course looks at Russian culture between 1900 and 1930, the period usually seen as two miracle decades in Russian art, literature, theater, and film. In addition to acknowledged "masterpieces" (e.g., Bely's novel Petersburg, Malevich's painting "The Knife Grinder"), we look at new fashions, furniture, and technological marvels. In addition to Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (with its official reputation as "the best movie ever made"), we look at run-of-the mill movies (and at what people enjoyed about them). Y. Tsivian. Spring, 2005.

24901/34901. Cinema in Japan: From Classical Cinema to the Golden Age. (=EALC 24906, JAPN 24906/34906) PQ: CMST 10100. May be taken independently from or in sequence with CMST 24902/34902. This course surveys Japanese cinema from its prehistory to the "new wave" of the late 1950s. We focus on both aspects of the object of study: Japan and the cinema. Each week we present, in roughly chronological order, a "moment" from the history of Japanese cinema and a methodological issue in film studies brought into focus by that week's films. For example, we study approaches to early cinema in film studies in order to understand the development of moving pictures in Japan. Other weeks focus on vernacular modernism in 1930s Japan, novels and films, the war film and propaganda, genre theory and 1950s program pictures, and golden age of Japanese art cinema (i.e., Mizoguchi, Ozu, Kurosawa). M. Raine. Winter.

24902/34902. Cinema in Japan: Postwar/Postclassical/Postmodern. (=EALC 25006, JAPN 25006/35006) PQ: CMST 10100 required; CMST 2490143901 recommended. This course surveys Japanese cinema from the "new wave" of the late 1950s to the present day. We focus on both aspects of the object of study: Japan and the cinema. Each week we present, in roughly chronological order, a "moment" from the history of Japanese cinema and a methodological issue in film studies brought into focus by that week's films. We study shift from classical cinema to the new art cinema of the 1960s, theories of ethnicity and Japanese representations of the Other, approaches to popular culture, animation, and the new cinema of the 1990s. We also consider the relation between cinema and other audio-visual media such as television, computer games, and animation in postwar Japan. M. Raine. Spring.

25101/35101. The Detective and Crime Film. (=ARTH 28104/38104) This course traces the patterns, character, stylistic devices, and thematic preoccupations of the detective and the criminal through film history, beginning with the serial films of the silent era and ending with modernist works in which the detective stands for a host of issues dealing with narration and investigation, temporality and evidence. We also read some classic selections of detective fiction and deal with both generic issues and theoretical and social implications. Films shown are likely to include Fantomas, One Exciting Night, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The Maltese Falcon, Alphaville, and Memento. T. Gunning. Spring, 2005.

25102/35102. Narratives of Suspense in European and Russian Literature and Cinema. (=CMLT 22100, HUMA 26901/36901, ISHU 26901/36901, SLAV 26900/36900) For course description, see Slavic Languages and Literatures (General Slavic). R. Bird. Winter, 2006.

26500/36500. The Cinema of Max Ophüls. (=ENGL 28101/48101, GNDR 28101) Following the life and work of Max Ophüls (from Germany through France, Italy, Hollywood, and back to Europe), we consider his films in terms of style and genre, the question of his gynocentric aesthetic and the feminist debate surrounding it, authorship and industrial production, and the challenge diasporic film practice poses to paradigms of national cinema and national film history. Films include Liebelei, La Signora di tutti, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Caught, The Reckless Moment, La Ronde, Madame de..., Le Plaisir, and Lola Montès. M. Hansen. Winter, 2005.

26701/36701. Jan Svankmajer and Contemporary Surrealism. (=CZEC 27900/37900, ISHU 27901/37901) For course description, see Slavic Languages and Literatures (Czech). M. Sternstein. Spring, 2006.

28904. Antonioni's Films: Reality and Ambiguity. (=ARTH 28904, BPRO 26600, HUMA 26600) PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. For course description, see Big Problems. Y. Tsivian, B. Winstein. Winter, 2005.

27201. Classical Film Theory. (=ENGL 18600) This course examines major texts in film theory from Vachel Lindsay and Hugo Münsterberg in the 1910s through André Bazin's writings in the 1940s and 1950s. We focus on issues that continue to be of importance, such as the film/language analogy, film semiotics, spectatorship, realism, montage, modernism/mass culture debate, and the relationship between film history and film style. We concentrate on the theoretical writings of Münsterberg, Rudolf Arnheim, Jean Epstein, Sergei Eisenstein, Siegfried Kracauer, Bela Balazs, and Bazin, as well as on writings by Walter Benjamin, Germaine Dulac, Maya Deren, Jean Mitry, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and others. J. Lastra. Winter, 2005.

27300/37300. Perspectives on Imaging. (=ARTH 26900/36900, BIOS 02927, BPRO 27000, HIPS 24801) For course description, see Biological Sciences. B. Stafford, P.LaRiviere. Autumn 2005.

27600/37600. Beginning Photography. (=COVA 24000) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. Camera and light meter required. For course description, see Visual Arts. L. Letinsky, Winter; Staff, Autumn.

27701/37701. Advanced Black-and-White Photography. (=COVA 27802) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, and 24000 or 24100; or consent of instructor. Camera and light meter required. For course description, see Visual Arts. Visits to local exhibitions and darkroom work required. Lab fee $60. L. Letinsky. Spring.

27800/37800. Theories of Media. (=ARTH 25900/35900, COVA 25400, ENGL 12800/32800, ISHU 21800, MAPH 34300) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. For course description, see English Language and Literature. W. J. T. Mitchell. Winter, 2006.

27900/37900. Color Photography. (=COVA 24300) For course description, see Visual Arts. Visits to local exhibitions and darkroom work required. Lab fee $60. L. Letinsky. Spring.

27901. Color Cinema. This course surveys the aesthetic and technological history of color cinema. We explore cinema's relation to other color media (lantern slides, mass advertising, city lighting, painting, literature, stage design). Films surveyed range from early cinema (Annabelle Dances, The Red Spectre), narrative cinema of the 20s (The Black Pirate, Lonesome), Technicolor of the 30s (Becky Sharp), melodrama (Sirk), musicals (Minelli), European art cinemas and new waves (Ophuls, Godard, Antonioni), and experimental (Harry Smith, Oskar Fischinger, Len Lye). J. Yumibe. Offered 2005-06; not offered 2004-05.

28000. Documentary Video. (=COVA 23901) For course description, see Visual Arts. J. Hoffman. Autumn.

28001. Documentary Video: Production Techniques. (=COVA 23902) For course description, see Visual Arts. J. Hoffman. Spring.

28202/38200. Nonfiction Film: Representations and Performance. (=COVA 28202/38203) We attempt to define nonfiction cinema by looking at the history of its major modes (i.e., documentary, essay, ethnographic, and agit-prop film), as well as personal/autobiographical and experimental works that are less easily classifiable. We explore some of the theoretical discourses that surround this most philosophical of film genres. The relationship between the documentary and the state is examined in light of the genre's tendency to inform and instruct. Finally, we look at the ways in which distribution and television affect the production and content of nonfiction film. J. Hoffman. Offered 2005-06; not offered 2004-05.

28201. Political Documentary Film. (=COVA 28201/38201) This course explores the political documentary film, its intersection with historical and cultural events, and its opposition to Hollywood and traditional media. We examine various documentary modes of production, from films with a social message, to advocacy and activist film, to counter-media and agit-prop. We also consider the relationship between the filmmaker, film subject, and audience, as well as how political documentaries are disseminated and, most importantly, part of political struggle. J. Hoffman. Autumn, 2004.

28400/38400. Styles of Performance and Expression from Stage to Screen. (=ARTH 28704/38704, ISHU 25250) This course focuses on the history of acting styles in silent film (1895-1930) mapping "national" styles of acting that emerged during the 1910s (i.e., American, Danish, Italian, Russian) and various "acting schools" that proliferated during the 1920s (e.g., "expressionist acting," "Kuleshov's Workshop"). We discuss film acting in the context of various systems of stage acting (e.g., Delsarte, Stanislavsky, Meyerhold) and the visual arts. Y. Tsivian. Winter, 2005.

28500/48500. History of International Cinema I: Silent Era. (=ARTH 28500/38500, COVA 26500, ENGL 29300/47800, MAPH 33600) 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 also discuss main national schools and international trends of filmmaking. T. Gunning. Winter.

28600/48600. History of International Cinema II: Sound Era to 1960. (=ARTH 28600/38600, COVA 26600, ENGL 29600/48900, MAPH 33700) PQ: CMST 28500/48500 strongly recommended. The center of this course is film style, from the classical scene breakdown to the introduction of deep focus, stylistic experimentation, and technical innovation (sound, wide screen, location shooting). The development of a film culture is also discussed. Texts include Thompson Bordwell's Film History, an Introduction, and works by Bazin, Belton, Sitney, and Godard. Screenings include films by Hitchcock, Welles, Rossellini, Bresson, Ozu, Antonioni, and Renoir. R. Gregg. Spring.

28700/38700. Early Video Art, 1968 to 1979. (=COVA 26700/30100) For course description, see Visual Arts. H. Mirra. Offered 2005-06; not offered 2004-05.

28800. Digital Imaging. (=COVA 22500) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. For course description, see Visual Arts. A. Ruttan. Autumn.

28900/38900. Video I: Beginning Video. (=COVA 23800) For course description, see Visual Arts. H. Mirra. Winter.

28903. Video Workshop. (=COVA 23801) For course description, see Visual Arts. H. Mirra. Spring.

28904/38904. Video: Camera, Lights, Sound. (=COVA 23903) PQ: COVA 23800/23901 or consent of instructor. For course description, see Visual Arts. J. Hoffman. Winter.

29700. Reading and Research Course. PQ: Consent of faculty adviser and Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course may be used to satisfy distribution requirements for Cinema and Media Studies concentrators. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29800. Senior Colloquium. PQ: CMST 10100. Required of Cinema and Media Studies majors. This seminar is designed to provide seniors with a sense of the variety of methods and approaches in the field (e.g., formal analysis, cultural history, industrial history, reception studies, psychoanalysis). Students present material related to their B.A. project, which is discussed in relation to the issues of the course. J. Lastra. Autumn.

29900. B.A. Research Paper. PQ: Consent of instructor. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Form. This course may not be counted toward distribution requirements for the major but may be counted as a free-elective credit. Autumn, Winter, Spring.