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Cinema and Politics

ENGL 392.403
also offered as: CIMS 392, COML 391, ARTH 398
instructor(s):
TR 10:15-11:45am

This seminar has a bold aim: it seeks to understand better what has happened in our world since the era of decolonization, by considering the term “politics” in its very broadest and most dramatic connotation—as the dream of social change (and its failures). Another way of describing its subject matter is to say that the course is about revolution and counterrevolution since the Bandung Conference. Together we will investigate the way in which major historical events, including the struggle for Algerian independence, the military coup in Indonesia, the Cuban Revolution, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in Congo, the Vietnam War, the fall of the Soviet Block, the end of apartheid in South Africa,  the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iraq War and its aftermath, and contemporary concerns with immigration, corporate malfeasance, structural adjustment and privatization, and environmental catastrophe have been represented in some of the most innovative and moving films of our time. Attention will therefore be paid to a variety of genres, including cinema verité, documentary, the thriller, the biopic, animation, the global conspiracy film, hyperlink cinema, science fiction and dystopia. Films will include: The Battle of AlgiersThe Year of Living DangerouslyMemories of UnderdevelopmentLumumba and Lumumba: La Mort du ProphèteThe Fog of WarThe Lives of OthersY Tu Mama TambienEven the RainThe Constant GardenerSyrianaWaltz with BashirCachéChildren of Men, and The Possibility of Hope. An archive of secondary readings will be provided on Canvas. Writing requirements:  a mid-term and a final paper of around 8-10 pages.

fulfills requirements
Elective Seminar of the Standard Major
Sector 1: Theory and Poetics of the Standard Major
Sector 2: Difference and Diaspora of the Standard Major
Sector 6: 20th Century Literature of the Standard Major