ABOVE CLASS OPEN TO MAJORS ONLY
ABOVE CLASS COLL INTENSIVE WRITING SECTION
ABOVE CLASS OPEN TO UNDERGRADUATES ONLY

From "Birth of a Nation" to "Titanic," filmmakers have been
fascinated by historical events. (And for their part, many
historians are closet fans of history films.) But what happens to
history when it is put on film? Can filmed history measure up to
written history? Can written history ever captivate us the way a
good movie can?

In this course we'll try to come to terms with these questions as we
view and discuss a number of films from a variety of places and
times. In general, we'll try to pair a film's treatment of a
particular historical event or subject with a written account of the
same material. We'll compare their strengths and weaknesses and
judge how the history changes as it moves from print to film and
back again. Throughout, we'll try to assess what film, as a visual
medium, brings to the study of history.