History of Global Cinema 1: Origins through 1950s

COM CI 101 (4 credits)

An overview of history of global cinema from beginning of cinema through the 1950s. Introduces concepts of modes of production, national and transnational frameworks, film aesthetics, film authorship, and other factors that influenced production, circulation, and reception of films worldwide. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area(s): Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.

Global Film History II: 1960s to the Present

COM CI 102 (4 credits)

Overview of global cinema from the 1960s to the present. Topics include international new waves from the 1960s to the 1980s; recent global art cinemas; American film from the decline of studio era to the blockbuster.

Literature and the Art of Film

COM CI 201 (4 credits)

Provides an overview of fundamental concepts for the analysis and understanding of film. Films are screened weekly and in conjunction with works of literature. Students must register for screening, discussion, and lecture. Also offered as CAS CI 201 and CAS EN 175. 4 cr. either sem. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Digital/Multimedia Expression.

Understanding Film

COM CI 202 (4 credits)

This course introduces students to the scholarly study of film aesthetics. Students will learn to analyze film elements closely, from composition and editing to sound, across a variety of styles and genres of narrative, nonfiction and experimental film.

Modern Japanese Culture in Cinema

COM CI 260 (4 credits)

Japanese film from the silent era to contemporary animation, with attention to the intersection of cinematic and cultural analysis and genres such as yakuza movies. Directors studied may include Ozu, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Miyazaki Hayao. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.

Phil and Film

COM CI 263 (4 credits)

Twentieth Century Culture and the Italian Film

COM CI 266 (4 credits)

Development of Italian cinema after the Second World War, from the masterpieces of Neorealismo to the self-consciousness of the years of prosperity and decadence . Viewing of films and readings on film theory and criticism. Examination of cultural, political, psychological influence on the work of the director as author and reading on major film theories concerning the evolution of the language of cinema, cinema and counter cinema, "reality" versus surrealism, the image of woman in traditional cinema and screen as subconscious mirror. Films by Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti , Liliana Cavani, Lina Wertmuller, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Matteo Garrone, Paolo Sorrentino.

Religion and Film

COM CI 268 (4 credits)

How do visual media influence spiritual sentiments, social prejudices, erotic boundaries, faith, and secularism? How does religion regulate the impact of film? This course considers religion on the Hollywood big screen and in video games, animation, and student cinema. Also offered as CAS CI 268.

Representations of the Holocaust in Literature and Film

COM CI 269 (4 credits)

Questions of representation in literature and film about the Holocaust, including testimonial and fictive works by Wiesel and Levi, Ozick, and others; films include documentaries and feature films. Discussions of the Holocaust as historical reality, metaphor, and generative force in literature. Also offered as CAS RN 385 and CAS XL 281.

Israeli Culture through Film

COM CI 270 (4 credits)

Israeli society, from its origins to contemporary times, through the medium of film. Topics include immigration; Jewish religious life; war; the ongoing impact of the Holocaust on Israeli society; gender; and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Introduction to film analysis and interpretive methods. Also offered as CAS LH 283 and CAS LH 453.

Understanding TV

COM CI 303 (4 credits)

The history of television (and its foundation in radio) as it emerged, stabilized, interacted with other media, was regulated and deregulated, and was shaped by and shaped the culture around it. The course focuses on broadcasting's beginnings, expansion, establishment as the national, mass medium in America, and eventual fracturing into niches. Also offered as COM FT 303.

Weimar Cinema

COM CI 320 (4 credits)

German silent and early sound films from Caligari to Hitler, viewed in the aesthetic context of contemporary and recent film theory and criticism and in the broader cultural context of the interwar Weimar Republic (1918-1933), with international points of comparison. Weekly screenings. Also offered as CAS LG 387.

Brazilian Cinema

COM CI 321 (4 credits)

An overview of Brazilian cinema in the 60s, 70s and 80s, its discourse on revolution and marginality, as well as its connection to artistic, musical, and literary movements. Focus on the work of avant-garde filmmakers and younger generations. Also includes attention to Cuban cinema. Taught in English. Also offered as CAS LP 310.

Jane Campion: A Girl's Own Story

COM CI 340 (4 credits)

In-depth study of Jane Campion, whose prolific output has largely resisted representing "the" woman's voice in her films, instead representing the voices of women rarely heard--a huge contribution as one of the few successful female directors working in a male-dominated industry. Also offered as CAS WS 305 E1. [ 4 cr.]

Modern Korean Culture Through Cinema

COM CI 365 (4 credits)

Introduction to modern Korean culture and society through film from the Korean war (1950-1953) to the present. Discussion and essays on modern Korean life as seen in Korean films. Critical analysis of changes in Korean society. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.

Greek Tragedy and Film

COM CI 369 (4 credits)

Explores Greek tragic myth's afterlife, both directly and obliquely, in cinema and in the modern literature spawning cinema: how certain Greek tragic myths have come to life as film and how "non-mythic" stories have acquired a mythic power in literary and cinematic form. Also offered as CAS CL 325.

Women and Film

COM CI 373 (4 credits)

Study of principally American films, exploring how the medium has shaped and been shaped by cultural perceptions of women. Readings provide background for interpretation of films ranging from screwball comedy to film noir, "women's films," and films by women directors. Also offered as CAS WS 346.

Modern Greek Culture and Film

COM CI 378 (4 credits)

Introduction to Greek cultural, social, historical, political, economic, and religious issues through a range of films that have reflected and shaped contemporary Greek society: entertainment, education, popular culture, propaganda, and identity, along with nation-building practices as reflected in Greek cinema. Also offered as CAS CG 357.

Special Topics in Cinema and Media Studies

COM CI 390 (4 credits)

May be repeated for credit if topic is different. Two topics are offered Fall 2018. Section A1: The Novel After Film: This course asks what it has meant to write in the shadow of film. How has film's formal novelty and popular ascendance changed the way novels have been conceived? Auster, Delillo, De Witt, Keaton, Kurosawa, Hitchcock and more. Also offered as CAS EN 375 A1. Section B1: Comic Geniuses: Sturges/Anderson. Intensive study of films written and directed by two comic geniuses, Preston Sturges and Wes Anderson. Readings in theories of comedy, literature, and film criticism relevant to their comic styles and subject matter. Weekly screenings. Also offered as CAS EN 375 B1.

Classical Hollywood Romantic Comedies and Melodramas

COM CI 420 (4 credits)

Discussion of romantic comedies and domestic melodramas made in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. These films set standards for dialogue writing, rich characterization, film performance, and story structure. Also offered as COM FT 401.