Contemporary American Cinema

Course Description

Surveys film in the United States from the nineties to the present. Examines cinematic depictions of what America means at the moment: the diverse aspirations and anxieties, fantasies and realities, dreams and nightmares of different segments of society. Analyzes how contemporary films thematize such topics as family, love, success, citizenship, protest, and inequality, storying the dramas and comedies of identity, community, conflict, struggle, and wellbeing in a discordant and multicultural country. Explores cinema’s function as both social commentary and entertainment industry, how movies can reflect and challenge norms and narratives of nation, populace, freedom, and land. Genres include romcom, horror, coming-of-age, crime, neo-western, animation, road movies, buddy movies, and movies about the Iraq War, among others. For this 4-credit class, 3 credits are for standard in-class contact and 1 credit accounts for assigned films to be watched each week by students on their own.

Code

ANTH 385

Credits

4

Subject

ANTH