Department of English

This course treats the film’s relationship to history in four ways: as the evolution of styles, technologies, and viewing practices that has occurred since film appeared; as a form of cultural memory; as a representational practice; and as a source of knowledge about the past. The past we focus on will be American, first in films of the Civil War, afterward in films set or made in the US after World War II. In addition to film screenings, which are mandatory, students will have weekly readings in history and theory.