Syllabus (copy)

Prof. Pardis Dabashi

MW 10:10-11:30am

English House II

Office Hours: by appointment (English House 208)

 

Global Cinema: A Meditation on Beginnings

 

Course Description: What is a beginning? How can we tell when something has begun, when it is in the middle, and when it has reached its end? What work does memory do to contour our understanding of beginnings, if not outright create them, and for what purposes? What is the difference between a beginning and an origin, and how do works of art from varying cultural contexts and faith traditions think through these deceptively simple questions? This course will examine these and related topics as they emerge across a series of masterpieces of global cinema. The course will pay attention, too, to how cinema as a temporal medium—one that unfolds in time, as opposed to the static image of a photograph, a painting, or a sculpture, for instance—is especially well-suited to contemplate the nature of time and its passage. At its broadest level, the course will engage works of global cinema in order to think through the structures of meaning-making human beings forge in order to understand themselves and their histories better. Along the way, we will read key works of theory and philosophy that both meditate on and complicate the notion of beginnings, as well as our desire to locate and narrate them.

 

Required Texts:

Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge (Penguin edition)

Frank Kermode, The Sense of an Ending (Oxford edition)

Edward Said, On Late Style

Both of these texts are available at the BMC bookstore. I would highly suggest purchasing them there, as Jim Huang, our bookseller is exceptional at getting copies--both new and used--at extremely competitive prices.

*Readings and viewings should be completed by the day they are listed in the syllabus. Readings will be made available on Moodle. Required screenings are scheduled on Sunday evenings.*

 

*There are weekly required screenings scheduled for this class on Sunday evenings, starting at 7pm in Old Library 224. Your attendance at the screenings is required. However, I also provide you streaming versions of the films for the purpose of in-class group work and studying for the exams and quizzes. The only exceptions are La Jetée and Ikiru, which you will watch on your own for reasons having to do with the semester's schedule.*

 

Grading:

Participation: 25%

Quizzes: 25%

Midterm Exam: 25%

Final Exam: 25%

 

Participation: 

This class is equally lecture- and discussion-based. Your participation must reflect that you have completed the assigned reading and/or viewing for that class and that you can make thoughtful, interactive contributions. Note that you will not be graded on your attendance. However: if you are absent, you will not be able to participate. Your attendance at the required screenings will be counted as part of your participation. More than two absences will likely start to impact your grade. It is not necessary to inform me of when and/or why you are absent.

 

Quizzes:

“Making up” quizzes is not an option. If you are not in class for the quiz, then you will simply miss that quiz (and receive a 0).

 

Electronic Device Policy: 

I strongly prefer (and recommend for your learning) that you use written forms of note-taking. However, you are permitted to use your laptop in class for note-taking and group work only. I regularly cold call on students during class, so be sure that using your laptop doesn’t mean that you’re not alert and attentive to lecture. The use of cell phones is not permitted in class.

 

Note About Course Content:

This course covers a broad range of historically significant films. Nearly all our viewing material contains potentially disturbing content, including but not limited to images or discussion of violence, racism, gender/sexuality discrimination, classism, war, and self-harm. Part of learning to discuss film in a scholarly capacity is developing the skill of engaging such material critically. I would suggest doing a bit of research ahead of time on the films to acquaint yourself with any potentially sensitive material, and ultimately to determine whether this class is for you. 

 

Note on Communication: I would love to talk to you. Here's how we can communicate. Because I receive such a high volume of emails, I have a strong preference for in-person communication. Therefore, if you have a question that can wait to be answered in the few minutes after class, please approach me then. If you do send me an email, please contact me via email only between the hours of 9am-5pm on Monday-Friday. I will respond to you in a timely manner (for me, that usually means somewhere between 24-48 hours). Thank you very much.

 

SYLLABUS

 

Week 1: Getting Our Feet Wet

 

8/31: Class overview

9/2: WATCH: La Jetée, dir. Chris Marker; READ: “Preface” and “Beginning Ideas,” Edward Said 

 

Week 2: Childhood Awakenings I

9/6: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm

9/7: NO CLASS (Labor Day)

9/9: WATCH: Fanny and Alexander, dir. Ingmar Bergman; READ: “A Meditation on Beginnings," Said

 

Week 3: Childhood Awakenings II

9/13: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm

9/14: WATCH: The Spirit of the Beehive, dir. Víctor Erice; READ: “The Novel as Beginning Intention,” Said

9/16: Erice and Said continued

 

Week 4: Retrospection: Memory and Influence I

9/20: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm

9/21: WATCH: The Phantom Carriage, dir. Victor Sjöström; READ: “The End,” Frank Kermode

9/23: Sjöstrom and Kermode continued; Quiz 1 in class

 

Week 5: Memory and Influence II

9/27: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm

9/28: WATCH: Wild Strawberries, dir. Ingmar Bergman; READ: “Fiction,” Frank Kermode

9/30: Bergman and Kermode continued

 

Week 6: A World Abandoned by God

10/4: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm

10/5: WATCH: The Seventh Seal, dir. Ingmar Bergman; READ: “World Without End or Beginning,” Kermode

10/7: Bergman and Kermode continued; Quiz 2 in class

 

FALL BREAK

 

Week 8: The Present

10/19: WATCH: Ikiru, dir. Akira Kurosawa; READ: Excerpts from Epictetus’s Discourses and Enchiriodon

 

MIDTERM EXAM in class, October 21

 

Week 8: Searching for Origins I

10/25: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm

10/26: WATCH: Tree of Life, dir. Terrence Malick; READ: Excerpts from On the Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche

10/28: Malick and Nietzsche continued

 

Week 9: Searching for Origins II

11/1: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm 

11/2: WATCH:

, dir. Stan Brakhage; READ: Excerpts from On the Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche

11/4: Brakhage and Nietzsche continued; Quiz 3 in class

 

Week 10: Historical Beginnings I

11/8: Required Screening, OL 224 @7:00pm

11/9: WATCH: Mirror, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky; READ: “Introduction” and Part I of The Archaeology of Knowledge, Michel Foucault

11/11: Tarkovsky and Foucault continued

 

Week 11: Historical Beginnings II

11/15: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm

11/16: WATCH:

, dir. Bahram Beizai; READ: Excerpts from Parts II and III of The Archaeology of Knowledge, Foucault

11/18: Beizai and Foucault continued; Quiz 4 in class

 

Week 12: Holiday interlude

11/22: Required Screening, OL 224 @7:00pm

11/23: WATCH: Dreams, dir. Akira Kurosawa

THANKSGIVING

 

Week 13: Historical Beginnings III

11/29: Required Screening, OL 224 @ 7:00pm 

11/30: WATCH: The Night of Counting the Years, dir. Shadi Abdel Salam; Readings TBD

12/2: Abdel Salam continued Quiz 5 in class

 

Week 14: Beginning… Again and Again

 

12/7: WATCH: Uncle Boonmee Can Recall His Past Lives, dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul Readings TBD

12/9: Weerasethakul continued and Exam review

 

Final Exam Date TBD