MW, 11:15 AM-12:30 PM, JH 124
Required film screening: Tu, 7:00 PM-10:30 PM, BU 111
Fulfills COLL S&H Requirement

Instructor: Michael Booth
E-Mail: mbooth@indiana.edu
Office: Mottier Hall 217
Phone: 855-2137

This course offers an introductory survey of American film from the
end of the second World War to the present. We will examine a wide
range of films – both major titles as well as less prominent counter-
traditions – and place them in their historical and cultural
contexts, both within and beyond the borders of the United States.
The goal of the course is to acquaint students with significant
threads of film history and, in the process, to generate a critical
enthusiasm for the rich tapestries woven through its multi-layered
traditions. Students will be encouraged throughout to think about
how new perspectives, informed by concerns of the present, might
further inform our appreciation of this cinematic heritage.

The course will cover several periods, including postwar trends and
the effects of television; the crisis of the studios and the rise of
New Hollywood in the 70s; and the recent histories of the global
entertainment economy.  We will return to a series of themes
throughout each phase: film form, style and effect; race, gender,
class; economic organization; and political concerns. These will
emerge through issues such as exhibition, stardom, genre,
authorship, and technology.