COMM487

FORMERLY CNTP-487: This seminar explores the complex relationship between contemporary films and the culture in which they are produced, with special attention to films that base their narratives on historical events and people. What do these films tell us about the evens and people they are about, and what do they tell us about the time period in which they were produced? How does the form of films—the choices regarding narrative material, editing, characterization, and visual style—influence the interpretation of important cultural and historical periods or events? What cultural myths do these films create, or reinterpret, about the particular society that produces them? How does the evolution and transformation of film genres and genre conventions contribute to the ideological negotiation of meanings in contemporary films? Film, History, Culture and Myth satisfies the 400-level capstone portfolio course requirement for students in the GLOBAL COMMUNICATIN AND MEDIA concentration of the Communication Arts major and satisfies the CA Upper Level core requirement for all other concentrations. The principle outcome of the seminar will be a major portfolio paper or project that meets the guidelines of scholarly publication, in which students draw on both in-class and outside screenings, discussion, readings, and research.