Schedule & Readings

Please Note: This schedule is subject to revision. Changes will be announced in class and posted on the course blog. In general, we will be revisiting assigned readings throughout the semester, and constantly balancing group discussion of films with textual analysis.

Readings will be discussed on the date listed and must be read before class. Students should always bring the assigned readings to class and be prepared to actively discuss them.

Weds 1/18
Course Introduction

Mon 1/23
Discussion: Modernity, the Machine, and early Cinema
Reading: Excerpts on Early Cinema and the Development of the Classical Hollywood Cinema, David Bordwell & Kristin Thompson, Film Art. In-class screening of early actualities (Edison, Lumieres, etc.)

Weds 1/25
Readings: Excerpts from Cantril, Hadley The Invasion from Mars: A Study in the Psychology of Panic. New York: Harper and Row, 1966; also read the Materials (including thee script) at the website, "Radio's War of the Worlds Broadcast (1938)":
http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/wotw.html

Mon 1/30
Discussion: Intro to film terms and film analysis
Reading: Excerpts, Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art, on editing, shots, and mise-en-scene
Metropolis (1927)

Weds 2/1
Reading: Dziga Vertov, "Kino Eye"
In-class screening: Excerpts, The Man With a Movie Camera (1929)

Mon 2/6
CLASS WILL MEET IN MOFFIT LIBRARY
Tour, Media Resources Center

Weds 2/8
Modern Times (1936)

Mon 2/13
DUE IN CLASS: 3-4 page diagnostic essay
Continued discussion, Modern Times. Those interested in writing about Chaplin can consult this list of references available in the Berkeley libraries: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/chaplinbib.html

Weds 2/15
Discussion: Critical writing & reading; In-Class writing exercise
Readings: Charles Babbage, "Of the Analytical Engine" (1864); EM Forster, "The Machine Stops" (1909)

Mon 2/20
NO CLASS--President's day

Weds 2/22
Research Lab

Mon 2/27
Writing workshop

Weds 3/1
Dr. Strangelove (1963)

Mon 3/6
Reading: Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Weds 3/8
Reading Continued: Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

Mon 3/13
Research Lab

Weds 3/15
Discussion: Authorship & Genre
Readings: Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," Bordwell & Thompson excerpt, "Understanding Genre"

Mon 3/20
Reading: Louis Althusser, "Ideology & Ideological State Apparatuses"
The Conversation (1974)

Weds 3/22
DUE IN CLASS: First Paper Prospectus
Continued discussion, Althusser and The Conversation

Mon 3/27
NO CLASS--Spring Break

Weds 3/29
NO CLASS--Spring Break

Note: Use this free period to work on the first draft of your first papers.

Mon 4/3
Peer review workshop--bring three copies of your paper to class

Weds 4/5
DUE IN CLASS: First papers
Blade Runner (1982)

Mon 4/10
Reading: Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Tron (1982)

Weds 4/12
Class Discussion: Tron & Various art projects based on/ employing video games (URLs to be posted on blog)

Mon 4/17
Reading: George Orwell, 1984 (1949)
WarGames (1983)

Weds 4/19
2nd PAPER PROSPECTUS DUE
Reading: George Orwell, 1984, Cont.

Mon 4/24
Reading: Marshall McLuhan, "The Medium is the Message"
Videodrome (1983)

Wed 4/26
Reading Continued: Marshall McLuhan,
"The Medium is the Message"

Mon 5/1
Writing Workshop

Weds 5/3
Peer-review workshop

Mon 5/8
DUE IN CLASS: Final papers