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An examination of the year 1962 in film, arguably the best year in international filmmaking. Utilizing film viewing, lectures, projects, and discussions, the course will explore not only how and why international filmmaking reached its apogee in 1962 but also the lasting effects of these films and the filmmakers. Films screened include Jules et Jim; Eclipse; Through a Glass Darkly; Viridiana; Yojimbo; Last Year at Marienbad; Cleo From Five to Seven; Manchurian Candidate; To Kill a Mockingbird; Lolita; Ride the High Country; Miracle Worker; Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; and Lawrence of Arabia.

An independent film is one that has been funded independently of a major studio; typically the monies come from limited partnerships, personal loans, presales, private investors, or credit cards. The late 1980s and 1990s saw a tremendous emergence of U.S. independent cinema, as a variety of eccentric and challenging filmmakers and evolving film styles came to America. This course will focus on American independent film directors, the process of conception, funding to creation, and distribution of their initial film. With several directors we will explore their achievements and studio flops.

Utilizing viewings, lectures, class discussions, presentations and emphasizing film theory, criticism, and history, this course explores the audacity, range, depth, and stylistic experimentation of the newest wave of filmmaking (the influences on films since the 1994 release of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction) as seen through American and foreign films.

Utilizing viewings, lectures, and class discussion and emphasizing film theory, criticism, and history, this course explores the creative and dynamic interrelationships in Germany of the Expressionist Film movement in the time between the two world wars as well as the reinterpretation of that period prior to reunification. Expressionism and Post-Expressionism as movements will be explored within the context of the times, concentrating on the intensity of the artist’s inner world capturing the nightmarish quality of artistic vision. Emphasis will be placed on the mood of Expressionism and how art anticipates history.

Allows the student to view, research, and discuss nearly two dozen motion pictures more or less widely regarded as “bad movies” or “cult cinema” in one or more ways. In seeking to determine intelligently what factors might contribute toward cinematic badness, students will consider subject matter, personal and societal prejudices, the effects of the passing of time, the effects of change, stigmatization of particular movie genres and/or directors and/or actors, and a wide variety of other aspects relating to viewer perception of a movie’s quality or lack thereof.

Utilizing viewings, lectures, and class discussion and emphasizing film theory, criticism, and history, this course explores the origins of film noir and examines pre-noir films but also film noir of the classic period as well as those of the post-classic and modern periods.

An in-depth study of the film techniques and unique storytelling genius of Alfred Hitchcock, including an examination of the influences of other directors and cinematic movements on Hitchcock. This course will trace his career as the “master of suspense” from his early films in England to his American works and includes the star system, character development, storyboards, and the art of the action montage.

As a director known for controversial films such as Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, and A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick repeatedly bucked the Hollywood mainstream, emerging as an outsider who resisted the scrutiny of conventional film criticism and biography. This class will study in-depth the film techniques, influences of other directors and cinematic movements, and unique storytelling of Stanley Kubrick.

Students will read, discuss, and evaluate a range of literature written for young adults (grades 8-12). This course will investigate the social and cultural norms presented to teens through the literature written for them. Students will consider whether YA literature is reflective of changing cultural norms or if the shifts in popular literature can shape the collective identity of a generation of teens. In addition to exploration of mass media spin-offs and popular literature fads, students will critically analyze the major contributing authors in modern YA literature and how the common themes teens deal with are handled by those authors. (Prerequisite: ENGL 101C or equivalent with a grade of C or higher, or permission of the department chair)

A seminar focused on major European and American drama since the 19th century. Through reading, discussion, and lecture regarding the works of major writers, students are exposed to contemporary issues in the development of the dramatic art.