COURSE DESCRIPTION BOOKLET Undergraduate Level Courses

Trout, ed.: Native American Literature: An Anthology (including readings from Winnemucca, Standing Bear,
Lame Deer, Momaday, V. Deloria, Jr., Silko, Welch, Vizenor, Hogan, Kenny, Bruchac, Erdrich, and Alexie);
Sherman Alexie: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven; James Welch: The Death of Jim Loney
ENGL 349 - NATIONAL CINEMAS -- "WORLD CINEMA"
Time Days Sec Faculty Class#
0600-0845p R 101 Najafi Kianfar, N 17420
Special fee=$30.
Aim: This course will focus on and explore World Cinema. The influence of these international filmmakers on
the art of cinema as well as the cultural, social, and political circumstances within their countries during various
pivotal historical periods throughout the twentieth century will serve as our entry point into understanding the
meanings, both theoretical and critical, as well as the craft associated with these films, and how that craft of the
art of cinema contributes to its theoretical and critical understanding and representation. We will explore historical
contexts that contributed, inspired, regulated, or otherwise influenced, either under censorship or protest, the
production of these films. This is an exciting class where we will watch and learn how these filmmakers use their
techniques to work with space, realism, symbolism, language, narration, music, and structure all in their deliberate
framing of shots. In other words, this class will focus on the rhetoric existent and evident within shot composition
as well as how that rhetoric contributes to their aesthetic and historical context. We will study filmmakers and
how they utilize also political, social, and economic approaches to their work. However, what remains paramount
to our approach to understanding the films we view is the argument the film presents—and how that film chooses
to frame that argument through and on the screen, which means understanding the purpose of the composition of
the image, camera placement, angle, the narrative structure of the film, as well as the music and sound throughout
the film. This class relies on reading as well; that is, I expect students to utilize the weekly reading assignments
within their papers, similar to the practice necessary when writing research papers. A tentative sample of the films
we will watch include, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Daisies, Viridiana, Throne of Blood, Melancholia, Solaris, The
Spirit of the Beehive. We look at a wide range of filmmakers from around the world; therefore we discuss politics,
culture, race, class, sexuality, and other identity markers. As a class, this course is quite unique because it covers
films unfamiliar to most American audiences as well as films both ignored and forgotten by majority of western
audiences. Discovering these films again or for the first time promises to heighten our sense of understanding for
the cultures, identities, as well as the political, social, and economic circumstances permeating the lives of peoples
from particular places around the world, an understanding that will no doubt complement our own sense of place
and identity within our own cultural frame.
Teaching Method: Weekly in-class film screenings, brief lectures, group discussion. We write weekly papers of
3-5 pages in length and we have one final project—a final reflective journal. We do a significant amount of
reading about these films and the filmmakers, analysis of films, and circumstances surrounding the making of the
films, among other aspects. Again, the rhetoric inherent within shot composition plays a significant role in how
we discuss and write about the film we watch and study. No prior knowledge of film, World Cinema, and the
countries whose films we watch is necessary. Developing analytical writing skills is very important.
Requirements: Weekly papers of 3-5 pages, weekly reading assignments, active discussion. Participation is key.
Openness to different types of films, from international/cultural to documentary and from art-house films to more
mainstream cinema. Some of our films show graphic violence and sexuality.
Additional Requirement: Everyone is required to attend a special screening of a foreign film at the Marie Ripma
Ross Media Arts Center. This is in addition to our regular weekly in-class screenings. Details will be discussed in
class.
UNL DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, SPRING 2014 – 21