FS 552 - Survey of American Cinema, Lecture and Laboratory

This course presents a survey of American cinema, using the Hollywood studio system as its case study, beginning in the late 1920s when the system became codified to its zenith in the 1930s and 40s, through its decline in the 1950s-early 1960s, up until the emergence of the “New” Hollywood. The course historically contextualizes key films from “classical Hollywood” in terms of their aesthetic, cultural, industrial, social, and technological significance that also encompasses extra-textual topics such as film genre, stardom, style, censorship, gender and race, and politics. This course includes a lecture and laboratory, held at different times. (Offered fall semester.) 3 credits