Film Theory

This course introduces students to a range of paradigms central to film theory. Every week the class will read and discuss short or medium length theoretical texts, from the earliest film theories (those of Sergei Eisenstein and André Bazin, for example) up to the most recent, including postmodernism and post-theory. Reading assignments will be accompanied by film viewings – works from Hitchcock to Bong Joon Ho – that help illustrate that week’s concept. Students will be expected to contribute to discussions, do weekly writing assignments (in and out of class), and write a paper at the course’s end that applies one of the major theoretical paradigms to a film of their choice.