International Film Studies Courses, Fall 2024
*If you find an A&S course that has a significant film component and is not on this list and that you would like to include in your IFS certificate, please contact the program director for approval. nelsjrogers@uky.edu
ENG 180 Great Movies (UK Core: Arts & Creativity)
See below for times and instructors.
A course introducing students to films of various genres and styles, from both historical and contemporary filmmakers, investigating a particular issue or theme. Topics vary by semester and are chosen by faculty to give a broad-based understanding of important cinematic works, trends, and the creative processes behind this important, collaborative artform.
Sections 001, 002, 003 Science Fiction
MW 12:00-12:50, plus discussion group. Frederick K Bengtsson
Section 005 Honors - Tech Transformations in Film
TR 12:30 - 1:45. Pearl James
The honors section of ENG 180 will introduce students to films that emerge from or portray innovative moments in film history, when filmmakers have exploited old technologies in new ways or adapted brand new technologies in cinematic art. We will consider both continuity and change as we consider how films of different historical and technological moments look and how they use various formal cinematic elements to tell their stories. We will consider several key technological pivot points and how they are portrayed now and in retrospect: the transition to sound (The Jazz Singer, Singin’ in the Rain, The Artist), the use of color (Wizard of Oz and others), the use of mobile cameras (early examples plus The Gleaners and I, The Blair Witch Project), and the invention of CGI (Jurassic Punk). Students will produce short films and then work in groups to create a final film project that comment on our own unique technological moment and will critique each other’s work and integrate elements of others’ critique in their final projects.
Additional on-line sections of ENG 180. See catalog for details.
ENG 280 Introduction to Film (UK Core Humanities)
Multiple sections: See on-line catalog for times and instructors.
An introduction to the study of films as narrative art and cultural documents. The course involves viewing and analyzing films from different genres and investigating a unified theme or set of topics. Students will learn how to view films closely, how to relate films to their contexts, and how to employ the basic terms and concepts of film analysis.
GER 305 German Film Today (UK Core Humanities & Global Dynamics)
001 TR 12:30-1:45. Nels Jeff Rogers
002 TR 2:00-3:15. Nels Jeff Rogers
This course explores filmmaking in the German-speaking countries in the 21st century. It is an introduction to the understanding and interpretation of films produced in specific national contexts outside of what is commonly referred to as Hollywood. Our examination will have two parts. An introduction to interpretative strategies used to understand feature length films as one of the dominant modes of storytelling and mythmaking in the contemporary world. And an on-going discussion of the many ways in which issues related to nationality, history, culture, language, and global economics have influenced filmmaking in Germany & Austria. We will view, analyze, compare, discuss, and interpret a representative sampling of contemporary films "made in Germany" while questioning and exploring the very designation German in the context of globalized media markets.
WRD 312 Intro to Documentary (UK Core requirement for Arts and Creativity)
TR 11:00-12:15. Thomas Marksbury
This course is designed to investigate the enormous variety of creative approaches the documentary form can take, and to enable you to make a short documentary for yourself. We begin with the work of others—Spike Lee, Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, Errol Morris, Agnes Varda, the Maysles brothers, Banksy, and more—and shift from analysis to pre-production shooting, and final edit of a five-to-seven-minute project of your own. (No previous experience with film making required.) We'll consider several documentary subgenres and hybrids—the essay (Nostalgia for the Light), the autobiography (Tarnation), the portrait of the artist (I Am Not Your Negro), true crime (The Jinx), the mockumentary (Confederate States of America) and the polemic (Why We Fight). Learn a little about the world and a lot about yourself. Lively class discussion, two exams, final project.
SPA 372 Spanish Cinema: From Silent Cinema to the Latest Trends
MF 2:00-2:50 + 1 hour asynchronous online.
An introduction to the analysis and interpretation of cinema in general and Spanish cinema in particular. Open to majors and non-majors. The course will focus on films from the Spanish schools of cinema which will be studied in their social, political, and cultural context and introduce students to basic critical vocabulary. Viewing of films (with English subtitles) outside of class is required. Class lectures in English; sections in English or Spanish depending on the language ability of the student.
WRD 410 Rhetoric and Popular Culture: 1990’s American Film
MWF 1:00-1:50. Thomas Marksbury
By the nineties, independent cinema was in full bloom, The voice and visions of Black (Malcom X) and queer (Velvet Goldmine) and women (The Piano) film makers were in ascension, and even mainstream Hollywood was delivering Silence of the Lambs, Groundhog Day, and Toy Story. The older auteurs were still making masterpieces—Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut), Scorsese (Goodfellas), Altman (Short Cuts), The next generation of auteurs was well on the way: Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia) Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), the Coen brothers (Fargo), Jane Campion (The Piano), Gus van Sant (My Own Private Idaho), Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides) and Todd Haynes (Safe). We will study all those films and more: gangsters (True Romance, Boyz n the Hood), romantic and buddy comedy (10 Things I Hate About You, Point Break, Thelma and Louise), noir (One False Move, LA Confidential), the family melodrama (Boys Don’t Cry, Romeo + Juliet, Eve’s Bayou) and slightly left of center giggles (Being John Malkovich, Ed Wood).
MCL 592 Research Practicum: Film Studies Capstone
TBD. Nels Jeff Rogers
In this course students engage in directed research designed to broaden and deepen their expertise in a specific research area, and to extend and refine their investigative and research skills. Students completing their International Film Studies certificate in the fall should enroll in 1-credit of MCL 592 with simultaneous enrollment in 1 of the film courses listed above.
