Spring 2022  |  CSCL 3212W Section 001: Documentary Cinema: History and Politics (56019)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
4 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Meets With:
SCMC 3212W Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/18/2022 - 05/02/2022
Mon 02:30PM - 05:30PM
UMTC, East Bank
Civil Engineering Building 212
Enrollment Status:
Open (38 of 40 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
This course explores the ethics and aesthetics of documentary cinema, arguably the very first genre of film. We will track the way documentary has widened from largely instructional and experimental uses early in its history to become a distinct genre among today's familiar feature films. We will screen early documentaries, which may include shocking ethnographies (Nanook of the North, The Mad Masters). Over the course of the term, the syllabus makes its way to recent exemplars of the genre (films may include: Amy, American Teen, I Am Not Your Negro, A Jihad for Love, Generation Wealth, Fetish, Blackfish and so on). One of our aims will be to explore students' relations as viewers and documentarians themselves (via smartphones, Instagram, etc.) to this participatory, revelatory, and always controversial, politically fraught film practice. Documentary Cinema includes both full class lectures and discussions as well as small group discussion of films and readings, and may include the opportunity for students to create their own personal documentary. Intellectually, the course balances out a study of the grammar of documentary as an artistic practice with explorations of the ways the genre reflects broader currents of cinematic and cultural history. By the end of the semester, students should have a stronger understanding of the ways documentary cinema opens our senses to the world around us.
Class Description:

Course Objectives

This course spans a vast territory that is even more extensive because it is nearly impossible to define and to limit. Certainly, in an effort to do so, we would first encounter the question of why one documents, or teaches, and its corollary, "how does one document well ?" Answering these two questions, or even one of them, would take more than a lifetime, which one hopes would demand more than fifteen weeks. So, for our purposes, we will select questions and problems inherent in this "paper tiger" category, explore them, and watch examples from a range of what is presented and marketed as documentary. With our readings, which will help us to navigate these issues, we should come to a fuller understanding of this genre, as students, critics, and creators and participants in our own rights.

CSCL 3212 COURSE USES A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OPTION

Grading:
A-F and S/N
Exam Format:
This course substitutes Community Engagement and a Document Project for Exams.
Class Format:
Lecture, Screening, Discussion, Community Engagement
Workload:

Course Requirements

Participation: 20%

3 Essays (including revision): 36%

Final Essay (or Community Engagement): 24%

Document Project: 20%

35 to 50 pages or Reading Weekly as a requirement

Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/56019/1223
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
9 January 2017

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