American History and Film class syllabus

History 2866 (001), American History and Film

Claire Small, MWF 3:00-3:50

Dr. Chris H. Lewis
Ph. 492-5878
Office: Sewall Hall 42C
Office Hours: T, Th, 1:00-4:00
E-mail: cclewis@spot.colorado.edu

Course website:
http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/film/index.htm

Course Description : This course examines twentieth-century American culture and society through film. The primary text for this course will be American films such as City Lights , Casablanca , The Graduate , Apocalypse Now , Wall Street , and American Beauty . We will critically analyze how American cultural and social conflicts are portrayed and worked out in popular films. By watching, discussing, and writing about these films, we will examine how motion pictures create a window into modern American society. Students will learn how to read American films as cultural texts that help us better understand our history and culture.

Course Objective : The larger goal of this course is to teach students how to critically analyze and evaluate films as cultural texts that open up a window into American society. The primary form of cultural and historical analysis we will do in this class will involve students writing critical film reviews. A good film review examines both how a film works and how and why it affects the viewer the way it does. We will learn how to use popular American films to understand competing perspectives on American history, culture, and society. If you disagree with an argument or perspective, or find it biased or limited, then say so. If you find the reading difficult, confused, or pointless, then say so. But, in each case, you must be prepared to support your argument and larger conclusions

Required Reading :

S. Mintz and Roberts, eds. Hollywood's America: U.S. History ., through its Films, 3rd edition.

Class Format : A major portion of this class will involve watching and critically analyzing films. Wednesdays will be our film screening days, with class running from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. On Mondays we will discuss and critically analyze the films we have seen. Students will be required to write critical “film reviews” of the movies we see . Since a major part of this class is watching and critically reviewing films, attendance is critical.

Grading : Grades will be based on class participation and attendance (15%), film reviews (40%), a take-home midterm (20%), and a take-home final (25%). I reserve the right to give unannounced quizzes and assignments in class. Content will count most heavily in all written work, but grammar, spelling, and style will also affect your grade.

Course grades will be defined in these terms:

A--Excellent--( Thoughtful, coherent, insightful, contributes)

B--Good--( Knows material well, lacks depth, not outstanding)

C--Fair--( Adequate, average, passing, little participation)

D--Poor--( Little understanding, little effort, incoherent)

F--Fail--( No evidence of understanding, no work, no learning)

Exams : There will be a take-home midterm and final in this class. The exams will ask students to critically analyze and contrast these films' competing perspectives on American society and culture. Students will discover that the more notes they take and the more thoughtfully they review these films the easier it will be for them to write the midterm and final exams.

Class Participation and Attendance : Because this is not a lecture
course, active class participation is very important . Participation and attendance will be a large part of your grade (20 %). You must participate actively in class discussion in order to get a high participation grade. Class attendance is required . There are 4 excused absences to be used for illness, business, tragedy, or even pleasure ( or when you just got the blues). There are no other excused absences – for any reason ! So use your absences judiciously. If you miss 5 times, your attendance grade will be lowered one letter grade (in other words, the best grade you could possibly get would be a B) , 7 times another letter grade, 8 times another letter grade, 10 times another letter grade, and at 12 absences, you will get a zero for attendance. More than 12 absences will be grounds for failure of this course. So please try to attend class regularly .

Film Reviews : Out of the 14 movies we watch this semester, students will be required to write 4 film reviews ( 2-3 pages each). As long as their film reviews are turned in at the time they were first due, students will be allowed to revise their reviews throughout the entire semester for a higher grade. Film reviews will be graded on how well they critically analyze how a movie works and how it examines larger cultural and social issues in American history and society. You are required to write at least two film reviews before the midterm is due (Oct. 29) .

Incompletes : I will be very reluctant to give a grade of Incomplete (I). I assign incompletes only to students who have successfully completed most of the course work and who have been prevented by significant and unanticipated circumstances from finishing all of their assignments.

University Honor Code : As citizens of an academic community of trust, CU-Boulder students do not lie or cheat whether they are on campus or acting as representatives of the University of Colorado in the surrounding communities. Neither should they suffer by the dishonest acts of others.The University of Colorado has adopted a Student Honor Code. See the website at: http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html . The University of Colorado has also adopted a code of student behavior for classrooms. See the website at: http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html . Students are responsible to honor the Student Honor Code and Classroom Behavior Code . Please go to these two websites to read these codes and to understand the Student Honor Code at CU-Boulder.

As faculty, students, and members of the University community, we value honor, integrity, and morality. Honor is about academic integrity, moral and ethical conduct, and pride of membership in a community that values academic achievement and individual responsibility. Cultivating honor lays the foundation for lifelong integrity, developing in each of us the courage and insight to make difficult choices and accept responsibility for actions and their consequences, even at personal cost.

Students with Disabilities : I encourage students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, and psychiatric disabilities, to discuss with me after class or during my office hours appropriate accommodations. If you have any additional questions about how the University can accommodate your disability, please see me or the Coordinator of Disability Services in the Disability Services Office , 322 Willard Hall, (303-492-8671). If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services early in the semester so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities (303-492-8671, Willard 322). See the Disability Services website www.colorado.edu/sacs/disabilityservices .

Religious Obligations and Class Attendance: If you have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments, or other required attendance, because of religious obligations, please notify me two weeks in advance of the conflict to request special accommodation. See the CU Policy at this website: http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html .

Cheating and Plagiarism : My policy on cheating and plagiarism is to assign a zero to the work in question. Plagiarism is copying another person's work and turning it in as your own. Plagiarism can involve buying a “class paper” online, copying another student's work, or copying whole paragraphs and material from other sources, such as encyclopedias or textbooks. See the website for the Pledge not to Plagiarize: http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/Code.html .

Daily Readings and Films

Jan. 10 See City Lights (1931)
Inroduction: American History and Film.

Mintz and Roberts, pp. 1-16

Jan. 12 See City Lights (1931)
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 16-18, 33-41,

Jan. 14 City Lights (1931): Class and the
Great Depression in City Lights
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 53-63

Jan. 17 No Class – Martin Luther King Holiday

Jan. 19 See Casablanca (1942)
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 169-179, 187-190

Jan. 21 See Casablanca (1942)

Jan. 24 Casablanca (1942):
Loyalty and Betrayal in Casablanca

Jan. 26 See The Third Man (1949)
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 193-194;

City Lights Film Review due

Jan. 28 See The Third Man (1949)

Jan. 31 The Third Man (1949)
Innocence and Corruption in the world of Film Noir

Feb. 2 See Rear Window (1954)
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 221-230;

Casablanca Film Review due

Feb. 4 See Rear Window (1954)

Feb. 7 Rear Window (1954):
The Paranoid Culture of the 1950s
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 195-202, 243-246;
“Nightmare in Red” (web)

Feb. 9 See Far from Heaven (2002)

The Third Man Film Review due

Feb. 11 See Far from Heaven (2002)

Feb. 14 Far from Heaven (2002):
Regimentation and Conformity in 1950's America

Feb. 16 See Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Rear Window Film Review due

Feb. 18 See Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Feb. 21 Breakfast at Tiffany's:
The Struggle for Women's Lives in the early 1960s
“She Got the Devil in her Heart” (web)

Handout Take-home Midterm

Feb. 23 See Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 252-264

Pleasantville Film Review due

Feb. 25 See Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Feb. 28 Dr. Strangelove (1964):
Nuclear Fear and Insanity during the Cold War

March 2 See The Graduate (1967)

Breakfast at Tiffany's Film Review due

March 4 See The Graduate (1967)

March 7 The Graduate (1967)
The 1960s Youth Revolt against the System
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 265-274

March 9 See Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Dr. Strangelove Film Review due

March 11 See Full Metal Jacket (1987)

March 14 Full Metal Jacket (1987):
The American killing machine in Vietnam
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 284-297; “To Zinder” (web)

March 16 See One Flew Over the Cuckoo's News (1975)
“1976 Carter Speech” (web)

The Graduate Film Review due and
Take-home Midterm is due

March 16 See One Flew Over the Cuckoo's News (1975)

March 18 See One Flew Over the Cuckoo's News (1975)

March 21-25 No Classes -- Spring Break

March 28 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's News (1975):
Cynicism, Conformity, and Exhaustion in
the 1970s

March 30 See Wall Street (1987)

Apocalypse Now Film Review due

April 1 See Wall Street (1987)

April 4 Wall Street (1987):
Reaganomics, Trickle-down, and the decade of the Yuppie
Mintz and Roberts, pp. 298-308 ; “100 harshest Facts”(web)

April 6 See Do the Right Thing (1989)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Film Review due

April 8 See Do the Right Thing (1989)

April 11 See Do the Right Thing (1989

April 13 Do the Right Thing (1989):
Race and class in the 1980s and 1990s

Hand out Take-home Final

April 15 See Natural Born Killers (1994)

Wall Street Film Review due

April 18 See Natural Born Killers (1994)

April 20 Natural Born Killers (1994):
The Media, Violence, and Cynicism in the 1990s

April 22 See American Beauty (1999)

Do the Right Thing Film Review due

April 25 See American Beauty (1999)

April 27 See American Beauty (1999)

April 29 American Beauty (1999):
Middle-class Angst in the 1990s

Take-Home Final Exam: Due Monday, Dec. 13th,
between 10:00 and 4:00 p.m. in my office (Sewall 42C)

Dr. Chris H. Lewis Ph. 492-5878 Office: Sewall Hall 42C Office Hours: T, Th, 1:00-4:00 E-mail: cclewis@spot.colorado.edu

Handout Take-home Midterm

Dr. Chris H. Lewis
Ph. 492-5878
Office: Sewall Hall 42C
Office Hours: T, Th, 1:00-4:00
E-mail: cclewis@spot.colorado.edu