World Cinema Course Descriptions
Students need to consult the course catalogue to learn about the prerequisites.
ART 1030 - Visual Arts Studio
Studio projects in basic visual elements and principles. The development of creative design process, visual organization, and design skills are introduced as a foundation for further study in visual arts.
ART 2130 - Beginning Photography
Introduction to the use of photography as an art medium. Lectures and studio work cover the utilization of the camera, processing, and printing in black and white, with emphasis on perception and creative expression.
COMM 4000 - Communication and Globalization
In-depth examination of the role communication plays in globalization processes, including case studies of contemporary social, technical, professional and ethical issues.
COMM 4020 - Mass Communication
History and Criticism: Critical examination of mass communication in America, including discussions of history, theory, and current issues in television, film, popular music, telecommunications, and other media.
COMM 4040 - Media Communication and Social Media
Examines the communication of individual and social identities in convergent and mass/social media, and popular culture. Focuses on the communication of identity portrayals and representations, communicative acts in response, and how individuals and groups navigate and create their own media cultures. Addresses factors such as ability, faith, gender, race, age, nationality, subcultures, and/or other areas.
COMM 4510 - Film Theory and Criticism
Advanced study into the theory of film/video making emphasizing understanding a variety of critical methods to approach a film. Examines the history of film theory and defines the many schools of film criticism, including realism, formalism, feminism, semiotics, Marxism, and expressionism.
DPA 3070 - Studio Methods for Digital Production
Exposes students to current studio practice in the development of 3-D computer graphics and animation for film, electronic games, and visualization. Topics include modeling, rigging, animation, texturing, lighting, rendering, compositing and editing. Open source tools are used so methods are transportable to most computing environments.
DPA 4000 - Technical Foundations of Digital Production I
The technical, conceptual, and algorithmic foundations of computer graphics. Covers the Unix operating system, scripting, C programming, and an interactive graphics API.
DPA 4020 - Visual Foundations for Digital Production I
Presents the visual foundations underlying computer graphics production. Covers perspective, observational drawing, color and value, principles of composition and design, and storyboarding. Incorporates the studio method, involves students in hands-on work and the critique process, and stresses examples from the history of art, animation and film.
ENGL 3480 - The Structure of the Screenplay
Introduction to the creative writing and critical study of the screenplay. Screenplays vary from semester to semester.
ENGL 3570 - Film
Examination of the film medium as an art form: its history, how films are made, why certain types of films (western, horror movies, etc.) have become popular, and how critical theories provide standards for judging film.
ENGL 4420 - Cultural Studies
Investigation of the similarities and connections between a wide variety of cultural products, events, and practices - from fast food to opera to online shopping - using theories ranging from Marxism to hybridity.
ENGL 4430 - Theories of World Literature
Examination of the historical and contemporary theories of world literature, including theories of worldliness, planetarity, globalism, and late capitalism. These theories are used in pursuit of world literature on a worldwide and planetary scale.
ENGL 4480 - Screenwriting Workshop
Workshop in the creative writing of screenplays.
ENGL 4500 - Film Genres
Advanced study of films that have similar subjects, themes, and techniques, including such genres as the Western, horror, gangster, science fiction, musical, and/or screwball comedy. Also considers nontraditional genres, screen irony, genre theory, and historical evolution of genres. Topics vary.
ENGL 4510 - Film Theory and Criticism
Advanced study into the theory of film/video making emphasizing understanding a variety of critical methods to approach a film. Examines the history of film theory and defines the many schools of film criticism, including realism, formalism, feminism, semiotics, Marxism, and expressionism.
ENGL 4520 - Great Directors
Intensive study of one to three film directors emphasizing understanding the entire canon of each director. Students study similarities in techniques, shifts in thematic emphasis, and critical methodologies for approaching the works of each director. Topics vary.
ENGL 4530 - Sexuality and the Cinema
Examination of male/female sexual roles and their evolution in American genre films, avant-garde cinema, and international films. Includes the study of movies in relation to cultural values and social stereotypes, introduction to feminist film theory, and consideration of film pornography.
ENGL 4540 - Selected Topics in International Film
Presents subtitled films of specific world cultures and basic film theory and discourse applicable to the selected areas.
FR 4120 - French and Francophone Cinema
Examination of cinematic practice as a discourse and the role it plays in the representation of social relations, particularly race, ethnicity, class, power, sex, and gender in the French-speaking world. May include a study of major directors, genres, and movements. Films with English subtitles.
GER 4550 - German Film
Overview of German cinema including the expressionist classics of the Weimar Republic, entertainment and documentary movies of the Nazi era, classics of the postwar New German Wave (West Germany), distinctive East German films, and vanguard contemporary films.
HIST 4200 - History and Film
Analyzes the role of the cinema in the construction and dissemination of history.
ITAL 4000 - Image of an Italian City
Study of historical, social, and architectural images of Italian cities through analysis of literary texts and films.
ITAL 4550 - Italian Film
Overview of Italian Cinema. Topics may include histories, genres, and major directors.
LANG 2540 - Introduction to World Cinemas
Introduction to the development of cinemas outside the United States through an examination of representative works, genres and movements in their cultural contexts. Conducted in English.
LANG 4540 - Selected Topics in International Film
Presents subtitled films of specific world cultures and basic film theory and discourse applicable to the selected areas. Taught in English.
LANG 4550 - Hispanic Film Documentary and Feature
Overview of theory and discourse on Hispanic film. Through lectures, discussions, and films, students become acquainted with film as a vehicle for understanding the Hispanic World. Taught in English. Films are in Spanish with English subtitles.
LANG 4600 - Propaganda and the Totalitarian Recreation of the World
Cross-cultural inquiry into the various languages (philosophical, political, literary, and filmic, among others) that form a crucial weapon in the striving for hegemony over desire that marks the modern totalitarian project.
LANG 4620 - Borders: Cross-cultural inquiry into representations of physical and non-physical borders
Provides a theoretical framework in which various forms of borders, limits, and boundaries can be studied through literature and other artistic media.
PHIL 4750 - Philosophy of Film
Pursues several issues at the center of recent debate in the philosophy of film. Questions investigated include whether film has an essence that distinguishes it from other art forms, whether films ought to be thought of as having authors or narrators, and whether films can themselves philosophize.
SPAN 4070 - Hispanic Film
Films are read as texts that mirror Hispanic society. Besides learning about cinematographic techniques in Spanish, topics include comparative analysis of film and literature, film as propaganda, film as blockbuster, and the cinematic depiction of social, cultural, and historical realities of Hispanic nations.
THEA 2100 - Theatre Appreciation
Examination of the theatre event approached through historical context, play reading, analysis of production practices, and field trips to live dramatic performances.
THEA 2790 - Theatre Practicum
Practical work in theatre on a production designed for public presentation.
THEA 3150 - Theatre History I
Historical survey of Western and non-Western theatre. Emphasis is placed on the changing roles of the playwright, director, actor, technician, and spectator from antiquity to the Renaissance.
WCIN 4580 - Adaptations of World Classic
Study of selected film and/or other media adaptations of classics in world literature, with attention to adaptation theory, language, form, history, and culture. Topics vary.
WCIN 4620 - World Documentary
Introduces students to the history, theory and form of documentary practice in international context. Through a selection of representative works, the course examines the ethical, legal, aesthetic and social concerns inherent in the genre.
WCIN 4550 - History of Non-Western Cinemas
Close study of the development of a specific national or regional non-Western cinema (e.g., Japanese, Indian, Chinese, African, Middle Eastern) in terms of its aesthetic, theoretical, and sociopolitical dimensions. This course will compare the cinematographic and storytelling techniques in western and non-western filmmaking forms.
WCIN 4570 - Global Hollywood
Explores the ways Hollywood film industry participates in global and international networks of production, distribution and exhibition. Critical examination of Hollywood's impact on other cinematic traditions.
WCIN 4760 - Filmmaking for Mobile Media
Students apply their knowledge of film theory and techniques through low-to-no-budget digital videos for dissemination on mobile media devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Students will learn to operate low-budget video equipment and edit video on professional editing software in a hands-on workshop.
WCIN 4040 - Study Abroad Transfer
Course for credit transfer of a curriculum-appropriate course taken during an approved study abroad. Requires a minimum of two contact hours per week for at least 15 weeks or equivalent. May be repeated for a maximum of six credits. To be taken Pass/No Pass only.
WCIN 4990 - World Cinema Practicum
Students apply their practical and theoretical knowledge to a substantive project involving their internship experiences and/or creative option. Course provides elements of pre-professional training.
WCIN 4960 - Capstone Seminar
In-depth exploration and analysis of a special topic in World Cinema, culminating in a capstone project documented in written, oral, visual or multimedia presentation. Students apply their expertise to produce research of publishable quality and scope.
