This course is an introduction to the study of the genre of romantic comedy, making visible its strong roots in the ancient world. We will read the stage plays of Menander, Plautus, Terence, and Shakespeare as we study the major film cycles of Hollywood romantic comedy of twentieth century-Screwball Comedy, Sex Comedy, Radical Romantic Comedy, The Nervous Romance, and New Romance. The course is designed to promote sophisticated textual work, more refined perception of critical issues, and clarity in writing about them.

Survey of the Soviet and Russian Cinema by (or about) Russian women, starting with the early Soviet propaganda films and ending with the present Russian version of hyper-realistic films. The course traces the evolution of Russian women, their changing self-awareness; it explores the conflict between the externally imposed role, and the women's own conception of her self and her destiny. The movies are analyzed through the prism of semiotic and discursive approach. (Those students who wish to advance their Russian proficiency and have the competency to watch, read, write, and talk about these films in Russian my sign

The purpose of this class is to introduce students to a wide range of film comedies, from Chaplin’s silent film, through screwball comedy to satire, black comedy and romantic comedies. We will also study various theories of comedy, from the ancient Greek komos to Freud and feminist theory. The class will also focus on close reading of film form and specific frames, and we will introduce basic formalist vocabulary about mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing. The result should be a better grasp of film genre and form, and a better understanding of why comedy matters, in deeper philosophical and ideological ways.

What is the origin of the mafia? How do Italians and Americans represent the mafia and its relationship to culture? This course will examine films from Italy and some from America in an attempt to explore the complex and embedded nature of the mafia. This course will go far beyond stereotypes to examine the deep-rooted nature of the piovra, or octopus, as the mafia is called. The course will take a broad view of the history of the representation of the mafia in film and focus on close analyses of films that engage the mafia in different ways.

This course introduces students to contemporary Turkish German Cinema in the context of labor recruitment in West Germany, the experiences of second- and third generation Turkish Germans, and the more recent history of migration as well as current issues in German society. We will begin with an overview of migration history more generally and the labor recruitment treaties of the 1950s and 60s specifically, before we move on to the depiction of so-called guestworkers in New German Cinema and then the rich and diverse body of films of Turkish German Cinema proper. Throughout the course we will draw connections between Turkish cinema, transnational cinema, and the newly emerging Black/Afro German Cinema, and we will end with a case study of the Autorenfilme of Fatih Akın, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed Turkish German filmmakers today. We will discuss questions of cultural difference, equity, and power, and of the identity, experience, and history of minoritized and racialized groups in Germany. We will examine representations of citizenship, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and other interlocking identity categories, and we will place special emphasis on the tensions between national, transnational, and minority cinema.

This class explores the relationship between the actor and the camera. We will learn basic technical skills as well as cultivating the emotional adjustments, relaxation, and presence that serve to modulate an authentic performance in front of the camera. We will address audition technique, scene work and monologues through assigned, found and original material.

Welcome to The Inspiration Lab, a safe space to engage curiosity, stamina, and risk. For this class, your favorites will serve as the founding 'texts,' jumpstarting your imagination into engine. Read a novel, record an audio play. Watch standup, draw a comic strip. Anything's game in this playful arts community. The goal is to be amenable to a shape-shifting muse, bold in your creative output, and unafraid to fumble, fail, and shine. As Jack London reminds us, 'You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.' Swing those clubs with confidence and you're sure to hit the mark every now and then. In this radical take on the anthology, the course reading list is entirely up to you. Week one, you’ll nominate your own artistic mentors for the reading list. Then you’ll study and respond to the works on the list, producing inventive art projects for daily workshop. You will revise two of the eight projects, as well as produce a three-part Family Tree series. At heart, this course is as much about the art of critique as it is the act of creation. We will exercise deep listening, open mindfulness, and kindred community, aiming to grow our analytic vocabulary beyond “good” and “bad.”

“Cinecitta’, The Italian Hollywood” will serve as an introduction to the panorama of Italian cinema from the post-World War II period until the present day. Students will view and discuss masterpieces of modern Italian film, become familiar with the exemplary directors and artists of that era, and identify the distinguishing characteristics of notable cinematic movements and genres, including: il neorealismo, la commedia all’italiana, drama, lo spaghetti western, coming-of-age narratives, and socially and politically engaged works. Additionally, students will have direct encounters with the spaces and places where Italian cinema was born and continues to be created to this day, visit the premier cinematography school in Italy, learn the importance and the process of film archiving in both Rome and Bologna, and view restored films during the Cinema Ritrovato Festival. Lastly, students will attend screenings of classic films and newly released international works in the Sotto le Stelle del Cinema [Under the Stars of Cinema] Festival in the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna which are introduced by the directors, cinema stars, and/or film scholars.