Courses

• COM CI 522: The Documentary
  Examines the history and evolution of documentary or nonfiction film . Considers such movements and genres as the British Documentary Movement, the "city symphony," cinéma vérité, ethnographic film, American Direct Cinema, and the essay film. Also offered as COM FT 560.
• COM CI 530: Topics in TV Genre Studies
  Two topics are offered for Fall 2016. Students may take one or both for credit. Section A1: Broadcasting Horror. Examines the censorship of horror; horror's relation to sound; the aesthetics of TV horror; horror and genre mixing; the serialization of horror; broadcast vs. cable horror; and the violence of horror. Pre-req: COM FT 303. Also offered as COM FT 554. Section B1: TV Genres and Fandom. TV programs have huge fan bases, whether cult audiences, fanboys and fangirls, or X-Philes and Trekkies. Using scholarship on reception theory and fan studies to explore multiple television genres and their connections to enduring varities of fandom. Pre- req: COM FT 303. Also offered as COM FT 554.
• COM CI 534: Avant Garde Cinema
  Survey of American and international avant-garde film and experimental media from the 1920s to the present. Explores film, video, and digital video as mediums of unadulterated artistic expression resulting in daring, experimental forms and controversial contents. Also offered as COM FT 554.
• COM CI 537: French New Wave
  Studies the great 1960s movement through the films of Resnais, Malle, Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Varda, and others, as well as their writings. Also considers the movement's influence and what has developed out of it. Also offered as COM FT 563.
• COM CI 543: Hitchcock
  Survey/analysis of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, one of the most commercially successful, widely identifiable, and popular of all film directors; also one of those most respected for his psychological and metaphysical profundity, sharp social commentary, and artistic perfection. Also offered as COM FT 535.
• COM CI 545: Stanley Kubrick: A Cinema of Dread
  Despite a very early start to his filmmaking vocation, this methodical, patient (or possessed) perfectionist completed barely more than a dozen feature films in five decades of filmmaking. We will examine his art and aesthetics beginning with his earliest work as a low-budget genre director (Killer's Kiss, The Killing). Kubrick's short and antagonistic Hollywood career (the quasi-epic Spartacus) threatened to turn him into another generic, hack director and precipitated his self-exile to England, where he developed into one of the century's most controversial and brilliant artist with films such as Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove.
• COM CI 548: Studies in Literature and the Arts: Steven Spielberg
  Intensive study of films by Steven Spielberg and some of the novels he adapted for the screen. Topics include: the blockbuster mentality, childhood sentimentalities, and made-to-order visionary experience. Weekly screenings. Also offered as CAS EN 593.
• COM CI 549: Robert Altman and Contemporaries
  Examines a number of Robert Altman's films as well as other directors', considering a vision of America formed in the cultural turmoil of the '70s and how their films projected their understanding of life, people, and the culture at large. Also offered as COM FT 554.
• COM CI 550: Strange Art: Cassavetes and Bresson
  The course focuses on the creative process, the relation of art and life, the differences between artistic and corporate expression, and the sheer strangeness of the work of two of the greatest geniuses of recent film. Also offered as COM FT 554.
• COM CI 551: Topics in Auteur Studies
  Two topics are offered for Fall 2016. Students may take one or both for credit. Section A1: Antonioni/Bergman. In-depth examination of Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman and their new and powerful narrative and visual approaches to human sexuality and personal interaction, the modern sense of alienation, ecological and political crises of their era, and philosophy. Also offered as COM FT 548. Section B1: The Films of John Schlesinger in Context. Explores John Schlesinger's roots in documentary filmmaking, his radical understanding of love and sexual politics, his grasp of questions of national identity and allegiance, and the technical brilliance of his films.
• COM CI 562: French Cinema and Literature
  Analysis of classic French films by Vigo, Renoir, Carné, Malle, Bresson, Godard, and Truffaut as well as later twentieth and early twenty-first century works. Weekly screenings, reading of literary models and film theory. Also offered as CAS LF 556.
• COM CI 565: International Masterworks
  An eclectic survey of a small number of the supreme masterworks of past and present European and Asian cinema. Also offered as COM FT 458 and COM FT 721.
• COM CI 579: The Profane
  Explores a wide variety of topics concerning censorship, feminist theory, feminism, psychoanalytical theories, pornography, voyeurism, repression, homosexuality, rape, body image, and national identities as exemplified through a large selection of films considered "Profane"/scandalous/ "X-rated", touching upon uncanny regions in which one is "never at home". Further discussion will include an examination of the cultural and historical factors that serve as background for the themes explored and presented in the selected films.
• COM CI 581: Uncensored TV
  The lack of government regulation of cable TV and streaming content has led to scripted series that push boundaries long held in place by broadcast networks. Examines history and current state of non-broadcast series via industry, genres, auteurs, and more. Also offered as COM FT 570.
• COM CI 583: TV Theory and Criticism
  This course sets aside evaluative considerations of TV in favor of theoretical and critical approaches that challenge widespread assumptions about the medium and expand our understanding of its role in our lives. Also offered as COM FT 520.
• COM CI 585: American Film of the 1970s
  The 1970s have been called the new blockbusters, cult curiosities and obscurities. The 1970s have been called the new (and last) golden age of American film. We'll explore critically what constitutes and underpins that notion as many of the disruptive and innovative ideas of cinema and culture of the 1960s gained wider acceptance in the new decade and were mainstreamed -- as were its once radical filmmakers -- into American life and culture.
• COM CI 590: Special Topics in Cinema and Media Studies
  Four topics are offered for Fall 2016. Students may take one, two, three, or all four for credit. Section A1: Latin American Cities in Literature and Film. Examination of the representation of Latin American cities, particularly Mexico City, in literature and film. Explores specific themes but also presents a broad vision of Latin American and Mexican culture during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Taught in Spanish. Pre-req: CAS LS 350. Also offered as CAS LS 452. Section B1: Queer Cinema. Tracks shifting representations of queerness in their cultural, subcultural, national, and transnational contexts via the richness of cinematic interventions in the struggle against white heteronormative patriarchal society. Many of the films in this course include sexually explicit content. Also offered as COM FT 554. Section C1: TV and Diversity. Explores the many ways that television engages with diversity, challenging what the mainstream considers "normal" or "universal." Topics under exploration include, but are not limited to, diversity of characters, audiences, themes, creative workers, and genres. Pre-req: COM FT 303. Also offered as COM FT 554. Section D1: Writing Film & TV Criticism. Examines both the history of film and television criticism and current practices in a variety of mass media. Students write reviews and thinkpieces that blend insightful analysis with an engaging voice. Pre-req: COM FT 250 or COM FT 303. Also offered as COM FT 554.
• COM CM 301: Principles and Practices of Public Relations
  An introduction to the field of public relations: its theoretical origins, scope, and principles. Discussion focuses on researching problems, setting objectives, identifying audiences, designing messages, choosing communication channels, and evaluating results for all types of organizations. Ethical decision making, on-line communication, and career opportunities are also analyzed case studies in the field. The format is a combination of informal lecture and small-group discussion, case analysis, and guest lecture.
• COM CM 303: Organizational Structure and Behavior
  Principles and practices in organizing and directing work flow in light of current findings from sociology, psychology, and industrial management studies. Topics covered include leadership, motivation, goal attainment, and other concepts against a background of organizational theory.
• COM CM 311: Professional Presentation
  Students will learn the essentials of effective presentation, from preparation (audience analysis, content development) to critical thinking when presenting. This course is designed to help students to incorporate theories and skills of effective communication in a variety of contests. Using a combination of lecture, discussion and hands-on practice and simulation, this course is designed to place students in common business and social settings that require a mastery of oral presentation skills in order to be successful. This course will also include instruction on the effective use of presentation software and interactive technology.

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