Complete Listing of MS Courses
Updated October 17, 2007
Claremont McKenna
FREN 117 CM: Novel and Cinema in Africa and the Caribbean
This course will examine works by writers and filmmakers from French-speaking countries of Africa and the Caribbean. Special emphasis will be placed on questions of identity, the impact of colonialism, social and cultural values as well as the nature of aesthetic creation. Instructor: M. Shelton [Prereq: French 44. Elective]
FREN 133 CM: The Beur Question in Films and Texts
Over the last thirty years a new generation of French citizens has emerged. These are young people of French and North African descent, commonly known as “beur.” Many have grown up in France, in the working class suburbs, or banlieues, major French cities. Indeed, many know little of their family’s culture and language, and feel more at “home” in France, though with daily discrimination they are always reminded that they are not really “French.” The texts will draw on recent political and social commentary on religion and culture and we will also read literary texts. The films will engage a range of topics, such as exile and terrorism, all within the context of the “beur” experience. Offered every other year. Instructor: F. Aitel [Elective]
LIT 34 CM: Creative Journalism
An intensive hands-on course in feature writing styles and journalistic ethics; a primer for writing in today’s urban America. Essentially, journalism, like all art, tells a story. How that story is told is as critical to the success of a piece as the importance of its theme. A series of writing exercises and reporting “assignments” will give both inexperienced and more advanced writers the tools to explore their writerly “voice.” Special attention will be devoted to discussions of the role of the journalist in society. Instructor: R. Masello [Prereq: written permission of department chair. All registered students must attend the first class. Elective]
LIT 36 CM: Screenwriting
A seminar-workshop on the theory and practice of writing screenplays. We will view films and read scripts in a variety of genres, examine the roles of art, craft, and commerce in writing for film, and discuss in general the enterprise of being a writer. Each student will make substantial progress in the writing of an original screenplay. Instructor: R. Masello [Prereq: written permission of department chair. All registered students must attend the first class. Introductory/Elective]
LIT 130 CM: Language of Film
From its inception, cinema has often been conceptualized as having a “language” of its own. This course examines that metaphor from aesthetic, cultural, social, and historical perspectives. We will begin with a close analysis of a contemporary popular film, in an effort to “defamiliarize” typical conventions of cinematic expression, and then proceed through a study of multiple movements and genres in the history of film, from German Expressionism to the French New Wave, from Hollywood to documentary to avant-garde and independent filmmaking. Overall, the course is intended to provide students with a broad introduction to film analysis and to the field of Film Studies. Instructor: J. Morrison [Introductory]
LIT 131 CM: Film History I (1925-1965)
This course surveys the history of cinema as art and mass medium, from the introduction of sound to the rise of the “New Hollywood.” Topics such as cinematic response to World War II, the decline of the studio system, and “new waves” of European filmmaking are studied in social, cultural and aesthetic perspectives. Offered every other year. Instructor: J. Morrison [Media History]
LIT 132 CM: Film History II (1965-Present)
This course surveys the history of cinema as art and mass medium, from 1965 to the present. Topics such as the rise of independent filmmaking in America, the conglomeration of the studios, and European resistance to Hollywood’s domination on the world market are considered in social, cultural, and aesthetic terms. Offered every other year. Instructor: J. Morrison [Media History]
LIT 133 CM: Film and Literature
This course examines correspondences and affinities between literature and film in aesthetic, cultural and social contexts. Throughout we will look not only at specific case studies of literary adaptation or cross-reference, but consider the larger questions of culture value implied in these transactions. Writers and filmmakers to be considered include Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Carson McCullers, Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, and Robert Altman. Instructor: J. Morrison [Theory/Film Theory]
LIT 134 CM: Special Studies in Film
A seminar designed to explore the aesthetic achievement and social impact of film as an art form. Subjects for study include such topics as specific film genres, the work of individual film-makers, and recurring themes in film. Each year the seminar concentrates on a different area-for example, “Film and Politics,” “The Director as Author,” or “Violence and the Hero in American Films.” Offered every other year. Instructor: J. Morrison [Designation based on topic]
LIT 136 CM: American Film Genres
Mainstream genres can be seen as expressions of American culture’s popular mythology. This course will concentrate on selected genres to examine the social values, issues, and tensions that underlie these narratives and their characteristic ways of resolving fundamental societal conflicts. Instructor: J. Morrison [Theory/Film Theory]
LIT 138 CM: Film & Mass Culture
This course will examine film as art and as medium in the context of the rise of 20th-century “mass culture.” We will take up such topics as the role of film in producing the ideas of “mass culture”; the cinematic representation of the “masses;” film as an instrument of the standardization of culture and as a mode of resistance to it; film and modernism; film and postmodernism; representations of fascism in cinema; and “subculture” considered as an effect of mass culture. Offered every third year. Instructor: J. Morrison [Theory/Film Theory]
LIT 139 CM: Film Theory
Instructor: J. Morrison [Theory/Film Theory]
RLST 171 CM: Religion & Film
This course employs critical social, race, gender, and post-colonial theories to analyze the role of religious symbols, rhetoric, values, and world-views in American film. After briefly examining film genre, structure, and screenwriting, the course will explore religious sensibilities in six genres such as Historical Epic Action/Adventure, Science Fiction, Comedy, Drama, and Politics. Instructor: G. Espinosa [Elective]
SPAN 178 CM: The New Latin American Cinema: History, Politics, Gender, and Society
Traces the development of Latin American cinema from the formative years of the 1960s through the 1990’s. Examines both films and theoretical writings of pioneering filmmakers, paying special attention to the emergence of a new women’s cinema in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. Offered every third year. Instructor: S. Velazco [Prereq: SPN 100 or above, or permission of instructor. Elective]
SPAN 182 CM: Latin-American Documentary Cinema
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the thematic and stylistic variety in documentary films from and about Latin America. We will examine a series of questions related to the content, form, and politics of documentary films. The course will include documentaries by Santiago Álvarez, Fernando Birri, Luis Buñuel, Patricio Guzmán, Luis Ospina, Fernando Pérez, Lourdes Portillo, Marta Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Rulfo, Fernando Solanas, Carmen Toscano, Win Wenders, among others. Instructor: S. Velazco [Prereq: upper division Spanish course (100 or above) or permission by instructor. Elective]
Harvey Mudd
LIT 103 HM: Third Cinema
Emerging in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s, the notion of Third Cinema takes its inspiration from the Cuban revolution and from Brazil’s Cinema Novo. Third Cinema is the art of political film making and represents an alternative cinematic practice to that offered by mainstream film industries. This course explores the esthetics of film making from a revolutionary consciousness in three regions: Africa, Asia and Latin America. Instructor: I. Balseiro [Theory or Film Theory]
MS 179 HM: Science and Visual Culture
Scientific visualizations can be imaginative and artful, helpful for thinking through an idea or stimulating curiosity. Technical instruments make the invisible visible: diagnosing illness and surveying subterranean oil fields. Documentaries, museum exhibits, animation and advertising communicate scientific ideas to the public in spectacular and persuasive ways. But should we always believe what we see? In this course we will employ cultural theory to explore the various meanings of scientific imagery in society. Instructor: R. Mayeri [Theory]
MS 50 HM: Language of Film
Language of Film is an introduction to film analysis, exploring the language of film through weekly screenings and discussions. We will examine the craft of filmmaking—cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound, and editing, from silent films, to classical Hollywood cinema, to experimental and independent film and video. We will also consider film as a story-telling medium, as an expressive art form, as an industrial product, and as a preeminent force in transmitting American culture, politics, stereotypes, and myths around the globe. Instructor: R. Mayeri [Introductory]
MS 60 HM: Documentary: Fact and Fiction
Documentary is a dynamic, interdisciplinary field. This fall, students will shoot their own documentaries while analyzing its historical and contemporary forms. We will be looking at how communications technology— photography, film, video, the web—has influenced documentary form and content. In as much as documentary is a way of portraying history, this course will traverse the sociopolitical events of the 20th and early 21st centuries. As representations of people, in ethnographic film, documentaries act as interpreters, interlocutors and even exploiters. We will examine the ethics of the act of representation. We will look at the interplay of fiction and nonfiction in cinematic realism and poetics. We will also examine how documentary has functioned in society to support or undermine the state and the vitality of democracy. Instructor: R. Mayeri [Soph. Jr. or Sr. only. Recommended prereq. MS 49 or equivalent. Media History]
MS 127S HM: The Harmony of Sound and Light
A hands-on exploration of the aesthetics of abstract computer animation and its relation to music. Filmmakers and artists studied will include Kandinsky, Fischinger, the Whitneys, Belson, and many others. Instructor: B. Alves [Prereq: CS 5 or equivalent knowledge of computer programming. Production]
MS 170 HM: Digital Cinema
Digital Cinema is an intermediate/advanced video course, exploring the creative potential of digital video techniques, such as compositing, animation, and motion graphics. Students develop digital projects and participate in critiques. Lectures, discussions, and screenings enhance students' exposure to art and cinema. Prerequisite: Introduction to Video Production or equivalent. By written permission of instructor. Instructor: R. Mayeri [Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 173 HM: Exile in Cinema
A thematic and formal study of literary and cinematic responses to the experience of exile. Exile evokes something that happens to individuals, but also to collectivities. First, something happens in life that provokes a rupture with one's origins and that entails a historical process. Exile is an event, but how does it come about and what are its ramifications? How does exile effect a change of relationship between individual and society, homeland and geography of banishment, home language and adopted tongue? This course examines how writers and filmmakers meet that often painful historical process through creativity. Among the authors to read are Aimé Césaire, Edward Said, George Lamming, V. S. Naipul, Med Hondo, and Hamid Naficy; films to be viewed focus on the third world. Instructor: I. Balseiro [Theory/Film Theory]
MS 179 HM: Science and Visual Culture
Scientific visualizations can be imaginative and artful, helpful for thinking through an idea or stimulating curiosity. Technical instruments make the invisible visible: diagnosing illness and surveying subterranean oil fields. Documentaries, museum exhibits, animation and advertising communicate scientific ideas to the public in spectacular and persuasive ways. But should we always believe what we see? In this course we will employ cultural theory to explore the various meanings of scientific imagery in society. Instructor: R. Mayeri [Theory]
MS 182 HM: Introduction to Video Production
This course is an introduction to video production using digital video cameras and editing systems. Weekly, hands-on workshops will cover the entire production process—from treatment, to camera, lights and tripods, to nonlinear video editing. Students will complete videotapes, and participate in critiques of professional media and each other’s work. Instructor: R. Mayeri [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent coursework. Introductory]
MS 197 HM: Directed Reading/Research
Instructor: Staff
MUS 88 HM: Introduction to Computer Music
The basics of using software on a general purpose computer to synthesize and manipulate digital sounds. Neither a background in music nor the ability to read music is required. A background in computers is helpful but not required. Instructor: Staff [Elective]
MUS 117 HM: Twentieth-Century Music
An investigation of contemporary music through performances, analyses, recordings and discussions of representative compositions from late Romanticism and such 20th-century styles as Neo-classicism, Surrealism and Minimalism, as well as aleatoric and electronic techniques. The course is offered in conjunction with the Joint Music Program. Instructor: W. Alves [Prereq: The ability to read music. Elective]
MUS 179 HM: Special Topic: Film Music
Instructors: Alves & Kirkpatrick [1/2 credit. Elective]
Pitzer
ANTH 23 PZ: China and Japan Through Film and Ethnography
This course will use feature films as ethnographic sources for exploring the cultures of China and Japan. It will juxtapose the examination of historical and anthropological material with films and recent film criticism. Includes weekly film screenings. Instructor: E. Cho [Elective]
ANTH 68 PZ: Life Online: Culture, Technology, Democracy
The main goals of this course are for students to get acquainted with the current state of social science research on cyberspace, to think about what an anthropological and ethnographic approach can gain for us and begin to carry such a project out, and to think critically and collectively about a series of questions about society in the cyber age. Instructor: J. Norvell [Theory]
ENGL 3 PZ: Transatlantic Black/Asian Film
Organized as a film festival seminar this course explores Black and Asian transatlantic immigration, histories, and representations via film and popular culture. The course employs film, cultural criticism, sociological literature, and guest speakers/directors as core materials for examination and discussion. A midterm and final are required. Instructors: D. Basu/L. Harris [Elective]
ENGL 14 PZ: Introduction to African Literature and Film
One of the seriously debated issues concerning African literature today is whether that portion of it written in the European languages forms a constitutive or central part of it. This issue is interwoven with the relationship between oral literature and written literature within Africa’s cultural space. Diverse genres from the different corners of Africa will be read into each other as defining a particular discourse: for example, Ngugi wa Thiongo from Kenya, Wole Soyinka from Nigeria, Nadine Gordimer from South Africa. Instructor: N. Masilela [Elective]
ENGL 44 PZ: Introduction to Latin American Literature and Film
The course will attempt to define Latin America as a literary and historical construct. The survey will cover essential and classical works of Latin American literature. The literary lineages of these works will be uncovered in an attempt to trace their historicity. A series of Latin American films which grapple with the historical problems facing this continent will also be shown. Instructor: N. Masilela [Elective]
ENGL 92 PZ: Twentieth-Century Brazilian Literature and Film
Brazil is one of the Third World countries which possesses a great literary and cinematic tradition, including one of the most fascinating examples of modernism in the world. By comparing literature and film, this course will attempt to enter the Brazilian film and fictional imagination of the 20th century. Instructor: N. Masilela [Elective]
ENGL 93 PZ: Modern Polish Literature and Film
Poland is one of the exhilarating enigmas of Central Europe, a country tragically overflowing with romantic spirit in a geopolitical region where perhaps sober realism should be the order of the day. Despite this complicating factor, Poland has produced both great literature and outstanding film. The course will attempt to unravel the gushing romanticism of the 20th-century Polish literary and cinematic imagination. Instructor: N. Masilela [Elective]
ENGL 101 PZ: Modern Cuban Literature and Film
The course will attempt to trace the development of the Cuban literary imagination from Jose Marti, in the context of the national liberation struggle for independence, to Roberto Fernandez Ratamar, in the context of the construction of socialism. The literary works (fiction and poetry) of Alejo Carpentier, Jose Lezema Lima, Severo Sarduy and Infant will form the centerpiece of the course. The films of Humberto Solas, Sara Gomez, Sergio Giral, and Gutierrez Alea will be part of this exploratory process. Instructor: N. Masilela [Elective]
ENGL 105 PZ: Indo-British Literature & Indian Film
This course will survey the literary structure of Indian literature in the English language from Sri Hurobindo and Radindrath Tagore to Salman Rushdie. Its positioning in relation to other Indian Literatures from Vedic and Sanskrit Literatures to Urdu Literature will be examined. The films of the late great Satyajit Ray will be shown. Instructor: N. Masilela [Elective]
ENGL/BK 132 PZ: Black Queer Narratives and Theories
This course examines African American writers and film and video-makers whose focus on race and sexuality shape the content and form of a black queer narrative. The class will explore relationships between black queer artists and black feminist and queer theories. Instructor: L. Harris [Prereq: IDBS 10 or written permission. Theory]
ENVS 50 PZ: Nature through Film
We examine ideas of nature and the environment and how they have been explored in film. From wildlife documentaries, to popular dramas of environmental struggles, to cult classics and Disney’s animated visions of nature, the human-nature relationship has been depicted through film to transmit particular views of the world. We view and study films, read relevant theory, and actively critique ways in which our worldview has been shaped and impacted by cinema. Instructor: P. Faulstich/M. Herrold-Menzies [Elective]
HIST 150 PZ: Journalism in America, 1787-Present
This course traces changes in the communication of "news" in the United States, from courthouse oratory in the early republic to network television in the late 20th century. Topics of study include the invention of "news" itself in the early 19th century, the development of journalism as a profession, the rise and fall of objectivity as a professional goal since 1900, and the ways in which changes in technology have affected the transmission of information. Instructor: S. McConnell [Elective]
IIS/GFS 110 PZ: (Mis)Representations of near East and Far East
An examination of Zen Buddhism, not as a mystical cult but as a mainstream intellectual and cultural movement in China, Japan, and also the modern West. Issues to be addressed include: How do iconoclastic religious reform movements develop wealthy institutions and diverse textual and artistic traditions? What is religious meaning for nuns and monks who hold that there is nothing to know? What can this mean in the modern world? Instructor: J. Parker [Prereq: any one of Religious Studies 10, 100, 103, or 117 or permission of instructor. Elective]
MS 43 PZ: Beyond Road Movies
Immigration, Exile and Displacement in Media. This is a survey of contemporary media productions that address the displacement of peoples in diasporic cultures. In this course, we will focus on the cultural, social, and political conditions that led to mass migrations around the world, and how these conditions have influenced media artists in their practice. Instructor: M.Y Ma [Prereq: MS 50, or PO MS 49 or PO MS 51 or equivalent, and permission of instructor. Elective]
MS 45 PZ: Documentary Media
This course involves production, a historical survey of documentary practices in photography, film and video, and a discussion of the ethical and ideological issues raised by the genre. Students will be expected to produce two short documentary projects in any media. Instructor: J. Lerner [Media History]
MS 46 PZ: Feminist Documentary Production and Theory
Women have made politicized documentaries since the invention of the motion picture camera. Students will learn this complex theoretical, historical and political tradition while producing their own feminist documentary. Enrollment is limited. Course fee: $150. Instructor: A. Juhasz [Prereq: MS 50, PO MS 49, PO MS 51 or equivalent, or MS 82. Theory/Intermediate Production]
MS 47 PZ: Independent Film Cultures
While Hollywood is the dominant film system, it is by no means the only structure through which films are made or enjoyed. Artists, political people, counter-culture types, and many others who oppose mainstream culture have created independent film cultures including avant-garde, “indie” and digital cultures. Course work will explore these three cultures through readings, screenings, written papers, and production projects. Instructor: A. Juhasz [Media History/Theory/Film Theory]
MS 48 PZ: Media Ethnography/Autobiography
This integrated production/theory course will survey the rich traditions of autobiographical and ethnographic media production while also reading theories and histories of these practices to consider the diverse ethics, strategies, contradictions, and motives of using a camera for knowledge of self and other. Students will produce media ethnographies and autobiographies, as well as written analyses of these practices. Course fee: $150. Instructor: A. Juhasz [Prereq: MS 82. Theory or Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 50 PZ: Language of Film
Film and video are often considered to be a distinct semiotic system or art form with their own “language.” This course surveys the variety of structures which can organize moving pictures: from Hollywood continuity editing, Soviet montage and cinema verité to voice-over documentary, talking-heads and postmodern voices with no center at all. The course includes silent film, classic Hollywood narrative, avant-garde film and video, documentary and activist video. Instructor: T. MacLean [Introductory]
MS 51/SOC 51 PZ: Class, Caste and Colonialism in Film and Documentaries
This course will explore the narratives, politics and representations of inequality across a number of key socialogical variables that include social class distinctions, caste, colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism, and their intersections with race, ethnicity, nationalism, war, sexuality, freedom, and political repression in their historical, economic, and social context. Instructor: D. Basu [Elective]
MS 54 PZ: If the Buddha Made Movies
The teachings of the historical Buddha, (6th century BCE), spread from India to China and from there to all of Asia. With the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1951, prominent Tibetan Buddhist teachers fled to the West bringing “the dharma” with them. Slowly but surely, the Buddhist perspective is influencing American contemporary culture. What does Buddhism offer the occidental world? Through cinema, autobiography, and the writings of contemporary teachers, and by practicing basic sitting meditation, we will examine the basic premises of Buddhist thought, and enhance our capacities for kindness, compassion and wisdom. Instructor: V. Mudd [Elective]
MS 55 PZ: Shooting the Truth: The Rise of Political Documentary
This course will explore the evolution of the documentary genre with a particular emphasis on political films. From the simple ethnographic beginnings, to the complex creative expression of political truths that we see today, we will research the historical conditions and events that gave rise to some of the most influential American political films. The styles, ethics, choices and techniques employed by important filmmakers will be explored. Instructor: V. Mudd [Media History]
MS 60/SOC 60 PZ: Transnational Migrations and Circulations
How do immigration laws, air travel, international money orders and couriers shaped the experience of communities in which the majority of working adults living in the North? How do these communities use media to maintain connections across an international border? Students will collaborate with a class at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatan. Instructors: J. Lerner and J. Calderon [Media History]
MS 61 PZ: Pan-American Vanguards
An introduction to a range of modernist vanguard movements from 20th Century South, Central and North America, this course surveys the literary, cinematic and fine arts production of these groups. Emphasis is placed on the close analysis of primary texts and comparative studies across genres, media and national boundaries. Instructor: J Lerner. [Media History]
MS 68 PZ: U.S. Popular Culture
This course investigates the historical development and social relevance of popular culture in the United States. Using the analytical methods of American Studies, cultural studies, Visual Culture, Film Studies and Studio Art, we will use an interdisciplinary approach to explore both dominant and counter narratives of nation, citizenship, and community. Instructor: J. Lawless [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent. Media History]
MS 71 PZ: Video Art
This course examines video as an art practice. Through readings, screenings, visits to art venues, and written assignments, students will analyze the historical, conceptual, and aesthetic issues informing contemporary video art and artists. Instructor: J. Lawless [Media History]
MS 72 PZ: Women and Film
An investigation of both the oppressive and oppositional potential of the fiction film as it either captures or constructs cultural understandings of women’s sexuality, agency and identity. This introduction to feminist film theory and scholarship will consider the representation of women in a variety of classic Hollywood and avant-garde film and video. Instructor: A. Juhasz [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent. Theory/Film Theory]
MS 73 PZ: Race, Theory, and Media
This course makes race central to critical media studies. Theoretical concerns about race and nation, difference, aesthetics, cultural production and consumption remain central to investigations of critical junctures in history including colonialism and European empire, US Civil Rights era, the Cultural Wars, and the 2001 World Conference on Racism. Instructor: Staff [Elective]
MS 74 PZ: Sound Theory, Sound Practice
An intermediate-level course focusing on sound theory and relationships between sound and image. This topic will be examined through reading assignments, screenings and listening sessions, in-class presentations, writing and sound recording assignments. In this class students will engage with the history of audio reproduction, the concepts of French theorist Michel Chion, the psychoanalytic theories on the female body and voice, the notion of the soundscape, and the relationship between ethnography, colonialism, and audio technology. Theory. Instructor: M. Ma [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent. Theory/Film Theory]
MS 76 PZ: Gender and Genre
Generic coding allows for the telling and re-telling of narratives which revel in (white, male, heterosexist) society’s “hidden” fears, desires and beliefs. But what happens when the demons, seductresses, whores and monsters of such tales revision genre for their own ends? We will consider how horror, melodrama and film noir speak to/for/about women. Instructor: A. Juhasz [Theory or Film Theory]
MS 78 PZ: Intermediate Video Projects
This is a topic-driven, intermediate-level production course. Topics are chosen in response to student interest in particular areas of media theory, or to enable them to adapt to ever-changing platforms of media technology. Students in the class will develop specialized technical skills based on their training in introductory production courses, and focus on specific fields of knowledge within Media Studies. Instructor: M-Y. Ma [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 79 PZ: Silent Film
The invention of cinema fit within the emerging order of modernism? This class will examine early cinema in the context of the turn-of-the-century project of extending the field of human vision, examining topics such as ethnography, science, journalism, travel, representations of the city and architecture, and the construction of racial difference. Instructor: J. Lerner [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent. Media History]
MS 80 PZ: Video and Diversity
An introductory-level course exploring video as a medium, particularly as it is utilized by women, people of color, lesbians and gays, grassroots activists, as well as other people who are under and/or mis-represented by mainstream media. Students will learn about the history of video technology, and how certain developments within it made video an accessible and powerful tool for self-expression and political intervention. Class activities include screening of independent videos, writing assignments, and group discussion. Instructor: M. Ma [Elective]
MS 81 PZ: DIY Media
From George Holliday's “home” video that captured the LAPD beating of Rodney King to the development of Independent Media Centers during the protests against the WTO in Seattle, from the riot grrrl zines to Iraqi bloggers Salam Pax and Riverbend, the underground ethic of “do-it-yourself” has emerged as powerful social force in media. In this course we will produce and distribute our own DIY print and digital projects while learning the history and contemporary practices of low or no budget media production. Instructor: J. Lawless [Introductory. Students with no production experience require instructor permission]
MS 82 PZ: Intro to Video Production
This workshop is an introduction to all aspects of digital video production—camera, lights, tripods, sound and non-linear editing. Hands-on assignments will be organized around the formal properties and power of video. The workshop will allow students to evaluate each other’s work as well as that produced by media professionals and to create a final video of their own. Instructor: A. Juhasz [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent. Enrollment is limited. Fee: $150. Introductory]
MS 83 PZ: Contemporary Practice in Media
Contemporary Practice in Media is a class developed around visiting media artist’s presentations through the Pitzer Cinematheque Series and field trips to media exhibits in Los Angeles. Students will be provided with related readings in order to shape and lead discussions on how these artists and exhibitions relate to larger media studies histories. Students will expand on these discussions through writings for the class. Through Contemporary Practice in Media, students will have immediate exposure to media artist’s work, as well as the presentations of their ideas how they connect to a larger media practice and history. There will be 5 artist presentations and 2 field trips to see exhibitions in Los Angeles for this class. Each artist or exhibit will be accompanied by a selection of readings that explore the ideas in the work. Through these artist presentations and student led discussions, the classes will further explore how and why practicing artists are adding to a growing media history. Instructor: K. Sears [Media History]
MS 84 PZ: Handmade Film
Rejecting the prevailing Hollywood wisdom that one needs millions of dollars to make a movie, this class explores different models for creating moving images with the most modest of resources. Options to be considered include hand processing, camera-less films, PXL video, super-8 film, recycling and appropriation. Students will be expected to create several short exercises in order to familiarize themselves with these different techniques, as well as a final project. Course fee: $150. Instructor: J. Lerner [Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 86 PZ: History of Ethnographic Film
This course offers a historical survey of ethnographic film, beginning in the silent era with the early efforts of Robert Flaherty and with Curtis, and continuing to recent works by Manthia Diawara, Marlon Fuentes and Trinh T. Minh-ha. Instructor: J. Lerner [Media History]
MS 87 PZ: Media Sketchbook
This is an intermediate-level video production class. Students are required to complete short (one to two minute assignments every other week. The objectives of the class are to further refine the skills of shooting, editing, etc., and to develop a critical vocabulary to talk about your work and the work of others. Course fee: $150. Instructor: J. Lawless [Prereq: MS 82 or equivalent. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 88 PZ: Mexican Visual Cultures
A survey of both popular and elite visual arts in Mexico from the time of Independence to today, including painting, prints, murals, sculpture and, more recently, film and video. Emphasis will be placed on the interchanges between media and the understanding of visual culture as a reflection of social changes. Instructor: J. Lerner [Media History]
MS 89 PZ: Mexican Film History
This survey of the evolution of Mexican media extends from the first Edison to contemporary video art. Special attention will be paid to the avant-garde and other marginalized cinemas in relation to other art forms, experimental filmmakers from other countries working in Mexico and the Mexican film industry. Instructor: J. Lerner [Media History]
MS 91 PZ: History of American Broadcasting
Studies the history of American broadcasting from the diffusion of radio as a mass media through the transition to television, up to the development of television as the dominant broadcasting form. Students will begin to understand the impact of U.S. broadcasting by familiarizing themselves with key programs and trends. Instructor: T. MacLean [Media History]
MS 92 PZ: Television Genres
The course is based on the premise that television has been discussed as a monolithic presence in its cultural setting far more frequently than cinema or literary forms. In response, we will consider how television is made up of distinct modes--some historically sequential, some simultaneous. Key genres that will be discussed include: live drama, mini-series, sitcom, soap opera, sketch comedy, game show, science fiction, variety, news & reality. We will also engage with intermedia studies-developing close and critical readings of how television engages with radio and film in its use of genre. We will draw on theoretical approaches to television as well as close readings of texts. Instructor: T. MacLean [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51, equivalent or permission from instructor. Theory]
MS 99 PZ: Advanced Editing
This course integrates the theory and history of editing with instruction in on-line non-linear vide editing. Reading and viewing assignments will complement hands-on editing exercises. Instructor: E. Otto [Prereq: MS 82. Course fee: $150. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 100 PZ: Asian Americans in Media
This is an historical survey of Asian American involvement in media production, beginning with the Silent Film Era and ending with contemporary projects in film, video, and new media. In this course, we will focus on the shifting yet continuous participation of Asians in the production of media in North America, and look at how changing political, social, and cultural discourses have shaped media representations of Asians throughout this period. Instructor: M. Ma [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent, or PI AA 90 or PI AA 101 or CMC HIST 125. Media History]
MS 109 PZ: Queer Film & Video
This course integrates Queer Studies and Media Studies through a feminist perspective. We will look at queer representation in film and television and investigate the historical and contemporary debates and theories concerning queer media production. At the same time, we will explore issues of gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, censorship, and independent and underground cultural practices. Instructor: J. Lawless [Elective]
MS 110 PZ: Media & Sexuality
This course is an intermediate/advanced-level course examining the intersections between media theory and the study of sexuality. In exploring issues including transgenderism, pornography, censorship, feminism, queer cinema, and representations of race and sexuality, this course focuses on compelling case studies that provide students with specific understanding of the prevailing debates and defining theories of sexuality within media studies. Please note: Students must be aged 18 and above to enroll in this course. Instructors: A. Juhasz/M-Y. Ma [Prereq: MS 50, PO MS 49 or PO MS 51 or equivalent. Theory]
MS 133 PZ: Media Arts and the World-Wide Web
Production and theory course exploring the use of web for micro distribution, video exchange projects, and innovative communication/activism projects online. Students will work together to establish a video web site with discussion board and carry out an exchange/distribution project with LA youth inner-city group and possibly international student/youth partners. Making direct contact with exchange partners is key. There will be regular readings and web presentations on developments in new media arts. Students will learn to compress video for web and basic web design. Emphasis will be on how media communication forms are changing and how we can utilize personal media and online exchange to learn more about ourselves and others. Working in groups or individually, students will implement hands-on media production projects with local non-profit and social service agencies. Students will culminate projects with an end of semester event for all participating groups. Instructor: G. Lamb [Intermediate/Advanced Production, Fee: $150]
MS 135 PZ: Learning from YouTube
What can YouTube teach us, and is his how, what, and all we'd like to learn? Over its hundred year history, readical media theorists have looked with utopian zeal to a moment in the media future which turns out to be upon us: a time where access to the producition and distribution of media is democratically available outside channels organized by capital. So why is the technology being used primarily to spoof mainstream media forms and what does this tells us about the media, our society, and political possibility? Instructor: A. Juhasz [Media History]
MS 182 PZ: Advanced Video Production
MS 191 PZ: Senior Project
MS 192 PZ: Advanced Media Project
Student designed media production project involving advanced production and post-production skills, adequate pre-production research, and writing component. Instructor: Staff [Prereq: Media Studies 82. Pass/No Credit only. Fee: $150. May be taken twice for credit. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 193 PZ: Directed Reading or Study in Media
Student designed media studies project involving advanced readings in theory, history or aesthetics with written analysis. May be taken twice for credit. Instructor: Staff [Designation dependent on topic]
MS 194 PZ: Media Arts for Social Justice
Working in groups or individually, students will implement hands-on media production projects with local non-profit and social service agencies. Students will culminate projects with an end of semester event for all participating groups. Collaboration will be a key component with Pitzer Ontario Project, CORE Partners of CCCSI including Kaos Network and the Women’s Multimedia Center. Course fee: $150. Instructor: Fall, G. Lamb/Spring, Staff [Prereq: MS 82, or Art 120 (PZ) or Art 141 (SC) or by permission. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
MS 196 PZ: Media Internship
Internship in media related industry or institution integrated with significant and clear connection to academic curriculum through independent written or production project. May be taken twice for credit. Pass/NC only. Instructor: Staff.[Elective]
MS 197 PZ: Media Praxis in Ontario
Political people and communities have often used the media to contribute to social change within the context of and in dialogue with theoretical and political traditions. As we study these moments in media history (e.g., Soviet montage, Third Cinema, feminist film, queer cinema, hip hop), we will ourselves be engaged in something similar: a semester long community-based media project in Ontario. We will look at moments in film history where artists created socially-conscious art while also attempting to theorize this practice. We will read this writing and view its associated work; we will discuss what we can gain for our own practices in Ontario from their experiences, ideas, and images. Then, we will make and theorize our own media praxis. Instructor: A. Juhasz [Prereq: MS 49, 50, 51 or equivalent, and 82. Theory or Intermediate/Advanced Production]
POL 155 PZ: Anarchist History and Thought
This course provides an introduction to the history and theory of anarchism. Major theorists covered include Godwin, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Goldman, and others. The course will also add to materials available online at Anarchy Archives. Instructor: D.Ward [Elective]
POST 133 PZ: Film, Politics and The Cold War
For nearly 50 years, the Cold War influenced nearly all aspects of American political and cultural life. This course examines Cold War genre films in an effort to understand how Americans perceived the Soviet threat and how these popular perceptions influenced international and domestic politics. The films of the Cold War represent important historical artifacts because they provide a window into the American mind by capturing the anxieties, optimism and ambivalence of the American public. It is the aim of this course for students to develop an understanding of the nexus between art and politics and in the process become familiar with key international and domestic political events of the Cold War era. Instructor: Adrian D. Pantoja [Elective]
SOC 69 PZ: Sociology of Popular Culture
SOC 71 PZ: Sociology of Popular Music
This course explores popular music and society with an emphasis on audio visual media. It emphasizes the societal conditions in which particular genres of popular music emerge; the role of the visual in music consumption and production; issues of authenticity and appropriation; the production and consumption of globally and the political and social implications of popular music as it affects, and is affected by class, gender, race, sexuality, diasporic movements and local-global tensions. Instructor: Dipa Basu [Elective]
SOC 136 PZ: Framing 'Urban' Life
The course draws upon a wide range of disciplinary orientations that examine the theories of urban life and representations of urban places and their cultures through literature, websites, maps, architecture, photography, documentary, film, popular art, music and advertising in local and international cities. It synthesizes visual and literary analysis of urban history and culture with the political economy of urbanization to: introduce you to influential works on the city, city cultures and representations or urban like; provide research skills in visual sociology and its application to city life and cultures and to simulate and act as a foundation for those going/returning from external studies site for Dareeling/Nepal. Instructor: Dipa Basu [Elective]
WRIT 28 PZ: Workshop in Journalistic Writing
The course provides students the opportunity to experiment with a variety of journalistic subjects, voices, and styles in forms that include news, feature, profile, and opinion writing. In addition to studying excellent models and reviewing media ethics, students will explore strategies for developing and researching topics and building effective stories for diverse audiences. Workshops will provide them with extensive and constructive critiques of their drafts. Students interested in writing for campus publications are encouraged to enroll. Instructor: L. Peterson [Elective]
Pomona
ARHI/CH 67 PO: Contemporary Chicano Art and Its Antecedents
Chicano art as an autonomous offspring of Mexican art. The influence of Mexican muralists and other Mexican artists depicting the dramatic changes brought by the revolution. Instructor: P. Botello [Elective]
ANTH 89B PO: Tourism & Travel
Exploration of issues surrounding international tourism and travel. Case studies of tourism around the world. Topics include ethnic tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism, heritage tourism, sex tourism and tourist culture. Critical examination of tourism discourse with the aim of providing skills for informed travel. Instructor: R. Fletcher [Elective]
ARHI 141A PO: (Re)presenting Africa: Art, History, and Film
The seminar centers on post-colonial African films to examine (re)presentations of the people, arts, cultures and socio-political histories of Africa and its Diaspora. Course critically examines the cinematic themes, aesthetics, styles and schools of African and African Diasporic filmmakers. Offered alternate years. Instructor: P. Jackson [Theory]
ARHI 141B PO: Africana Cinema: Through the Documentary Lens
Course examines documentary films and videos created by filmmakers from Africa and the African Diaspora (United States, Britain and Caribbean). Topics include: history and aesthetics of documentary filmmaking, documentary as art, the narrative documentary, docu-drama, cinema vérité, biography, autobiography and historical documentary. Offered alternate years. Instructor: P. Jackson [Theory/Film Theory]
ARHI 159 PO: History of Art History
Theories of art history in modern times, from Hegel to Schnaase, Semper, Riegl, and Wölfflin to Warburg and Panofsky, and to the Frankfurt School (Benjamin and Adorno). Postmodern challenges to traditional art historiography. Instructor: J. Emerick [Not open to first-year students. Art History]
ARHI 184 PO: Modernism, Antimodernism & Postmodernism: A Social History of North American Art
A comparative analysis of artistic production in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in the 20th and 21st centuries. Examines issues of race, class, and gender and the relationships between artistic theories and practices, economic developments, and social and political movements (e.g. the Mexican Revolution, the Depression, the Women's Movement). Instructor: F. Pohl [Art History/Elective]
ARHI 185 PO: History of Photography
Explores evolution of the photographic image in documentary work, portraiture, aesthetic expression, journalism, and advertising from its inception to the present time. Instructor: K. Howe [Art History/Media History]
ARHI 186F PO: Topics in North American Art (Seminar)
Intensive investigation of a variety of topics relating to the production and reception of art in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Topic: Representations of Indigenous Cultures. Instructor: F. Pohl [Art History/Elective]
ARHI 186K: Whiteness: Race, Sex, Representation
An interdisciplinary interrogation of linguistic, conceptual and practical solipsisms that contribute to the construction and normalization of Whiteness in aesthetics, art, visual culture, film, and mass media. Course questions dialectics of "Blackness" and "Whiteness" that dominate Western intellectual thought and popular culture, thereby informing historical and contemporary notions and representations of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Instructor: P. Jackson [Theory]
ARHI 186T PO: Art and Time
Technological developments over the past 200 years have altered relations between art and time. How has moving from painting to lithography, photography, film and digital media influenced the creation of art and its relation to beholders? Considering North America and Europe since 1800, we explore relations between still and moving images, and ask how artists manipulate our experience of time. Alongside mainstream forms, we examine wax museums, natural history dioramas, stereographs, tableaux vivants, MTV. The seminar constitutes a brief history of making and looking at images. Instructor: A. Reed [Theory]
ARHI/BK 186W PO: Whiteness: Race, Sex and Representation
An interdisciplinary interrogation of linguistics, conceptual and practical solipsisms that contribute to the construction and normalization of whiteness in aesthetics, art, visual culture, film and mass media. Course questions dialectics of “Blackness” and “Whiteness” that dominate Western intellectual thought and popular culture, thereby informing historical and contemporary notions and representations of race, gender, sexuality and class. Instructor: P. Jackson [Theory]
ARHI/BK 186L: Critical Race Theory, Representation & The Rule of Law
Examines the role of law constructing and maintaining racialized, gendered and classed disparates of justice, as well as the intellectual, aesthetic, scientific and political convergences of critical jurisprudence with representational practices in African Diasporic visual arts. Prerequisites: Completion of one of the Black Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicano Studies or Gender and Women's Studies courses. Instructor: P. Jackson [Theory]
ARHI 186Y: WMDs: Cinema Against War, Imperialism, & Corporate Power
Course description: Documentary films (weapons for mind decolonization) by human rights advocates offer critical narratives effectively silenced by the blare of commercial mass media and post-9/11 nationalism. This study of visual culture and representational theories is for global villagers eager to raise their historical awareness, deconstruct the rhetoric of power elites, debunk the conceits of imperialism, and dismantle the deceits of transnational corporations. Course promotes active spectatorship, courage as the antidote to fear, and anti-war activism (see: http://costofwar.com/index.html) Instructor: P. Jackson [Theory/Film Theory/Media History]
ART 20 PO: Photography I
A basic photographic course emphasizing all aspects of black and white film exposure, development, and printing. Classes develop technical and conceptual expertise, knowledge of historic and contemporary directions in the field, and an ability to make extended, personal statements in the medium. Equipment needed: camera; tripod useful but optional. Instructor: S. Pinkel [Introductory]
ART 21 PO: Digital Art I
Introduction to creative and conceptual strategies for artists working in the area of digital art. Readings and lectures provide a historical, technical and conceptual framework, while studio practice introduces computer- and network-based methods of art production. Instructor: M. Allen [Introductory]
ART 23 PO: Computer Programming for Art
Computer Programming for Art looks at the strategies and techniques for using programming in the creation of algorithmic, interactive, networked and electronic art work. Computer programming fundamentals are applied to aesthetic and cultural concerns through assignments and student directed projects. Instructor: M. Allen [Prereq: Art 21 or equivalent class. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 122 PO: Photography II
Image making, using color photography and computer graphics, focus on traditional and non-traditional approaches to making art. Course is designed to build the student’s creative and conceptual abilities, and includes field trips and readings in critical theory. Each fall. Instructor: S. Pinkel [Prereq: ART 20, Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 123 PO: Documentary Photography
Explores approaches to visual documentation through in-depth group photo/text projects. Includes black and white and color photography, computer generation of image/text pages, and practice in “reading” of photographic images in the news media, advertising and the photographic essay. Instructor: S. Pinkel [Prereq: ART 20]
ART 125 PO: Photography and the Politics of Representation
Students make projects, both photographic and computer generated, to construct meaning in both traditional and non-traditional venues. Photographic images, both historic and contemporary, will be studied to explore social, political class and gender implications. Offered alternate years. Instructor: S. Pinkel [Elective]
ART 128 PO: Installation: Art & Context
Advanced seminar on the artistic practice of installation and other non-traditional art forms, e.g., performance art, earthy art, and public art. Studio projects that investigate elements of installation such as space, light, scale, context, and materials. Discussion, slides, videos, visits to art sites, and critical readings. Instructor: M. Teixido [Elective]
CSCI 51 PO: Introduction to Computer Science with Laboratory
Introduction to the field of computer science using the object-oriented language Java. Topics include iteration and recursion, basic data structures, sorting and searching, elementary analysis of algorithms and a thorough introduction to object-oriented programming. Special emphasis on graphics, animation, event-driven programming and the use of concurrency to make more interesting programs. Each semester. Instructor: K. Bruce/E. Bull [Elective]
CSCI 52 PO: Fundamentals of Computer Science
A solid foundation in functional programming, procedural and data abstraction, recursion, and problem-solving. Applications to key areas of computer science, including algorithms and complexity, computer architecture and organization, programming languages, finite automata, and computability. Instructor: E. Bull [Prereq: CSCI 51. Elective]
ENGL 64C PO: Creative Writing: Screenwriting
Practice in a literary form, with some attention to technical theory and to the creative process. Instructor: V. Thomas [Prereq: permission of the instructor. Production]
ENGL 118 PO: Nature of Narrative in Fiction and Film
Investigates narrative as a fundamental mode of understanding and organizing human experience. Practice of storytelling in writers like Calvino, Diderot, Kundera, Borges, Proust, Kafka, Dante, Sterne, Woolf and Sartre; and in filmmakers like Lynch, Hitchcock, Roeg, Mallek and Allen. Theories of narrative from Aristotle through Freud to Barthes. Instructor: A. Reed [Elective]
ENGL 125D PO: Literature & Film of the African Diaspora
An overview of contemporary literature and film with particular attention to representations of African cosmologies as fields of resistance. Instructor: V. Thomas [Elective]
ENGL 147 PO: Contemporary Critical Theory
Introduction to the tasks and problems of contemporary literary theory. Readings drawn primarily from structuralism and post structuralism. Offered alternate years. Instructor: P. Mann [Media Theory]
ENGL 170L PO: Special Topics in Contemporary Fiction
Instructor: K. Fitzpatrick
FREN 102 PO: Paris: Myth or Reality?
A study of the intellectual, artistic and social life of Paris portrayed in films, paintings, songs, poetry and cultural texts. Essay, discussion and presentations, collective computer Web project on special topic: music, painting, photography and poetry. Authors and filmmakers include Baudelaire, de Beauvoir, Ernaux, Truffaut, Varda and Kassaovitz. Instructor: M. Saigal [Prereq: FREN 44, Elective]
FREN 110 PO: Contemporary French Films
A study of the political, psychological and cultural aspects, as well as the role of men and women in films. Emphasis on oral and written expression through discussion, essays and oral presentations. Different filmmakers each year, including Truffaut, Godard, Poirier, Diane Kurys and Pagnol. Creation of a Web page as a final project. Instructor: M. Saigal [Prereq: FREN 44, Elective]
GRMT 134 PO: National Stereotypes in Advertising
Explores the cultural implications of the use of national stereotypes on American print advertisements and TV commercials. Provides analysis, historical overview and theoretical background. Focuses on the stereotypical representation of various nationalities in American advertising. Emphasis on depiction of Germans and Germany. Half-course language component GERM 189 may be taken in conjunction by students with GERM 44 or above. Instructor: F. Kronenberg [Elective]
HIST 90 PO: Oral History and Multimedia Technology
An introductory workshop which explores oral history’s uses in research and in preserving memory.
Topics covered: ethics and legalities, interview procedures and conduct, new technologies and the
methods to use them. Students will use video cameras and other media equipment for field and
laboratory work and focus on the problems and potentials of videotaping interviewees. Instructor: P. Loureiro [Elective]
HIST 122 PO: The Historical Film
This course examines the use of film to represent history. It will introduce students to the
evolution of motion pictures, especially documentaries, which make claims to truth about past events.
Beginning with silent films showing historic tableaus through the engaged films of the depression
through cinema verite to the controversial political documentaries of today, this course will
examine both the history of film and the history presented by film. It will especially examine the
methods and problems encountered as filmmakers attempt to create historical narratives of people who
have left few visual records. Instructor: V. Silverman [Elective]
MS 49 PO: Introduction to Media Studies: Print, Media, Television, and Popular Culture.
Presents a comprehensive view of the issues important to media studies, including the development of new
technologies, visual literacy, ideological analysis, and the construction of content. Students read theory,
history and fiction; view films and television programs; and write research and opinion papers.
Instructor: L. Mullens [Introductory]
MS 51 PO: Introduction to Digital Media Studies
An interdisciplinary introduction to digital and electronic media, exploring the relationships between
“old” and “new” media forms, the historical development of computer-based communication and the ways
that new technologies are reshaping literature, art, journalism and the social world.
Instructor: K. Fitzpatrick [Introductory]
MS 89L PO: Race, Class, Justice and Cause Celebre Trials
Explores issues of race, class and justice as they develop in the context of cause Celebre criminal trials. Trials and executions have long been staples of imparting cultural values and major venues of public spectacle. In this course special attention will be given to the effect of mass media on public perceptions on notable cases. The class examines the Scottsboro Boys trial of the 1930s, the Rodney King Beating Trials of 1992, the trials of OJ Simpson in 1995 and 1997 and the Duke Lacrosse prosecution of 2006. To paraphrase Professor Darnell Hunt of UCLA "How, in a period of US history marked by pressing economic, foreign policy and civil justice concerns [could these cases] become such a national obsession?" Instructor: F. Lynn [Media History]
MS 147 PO: Topics in Media Theory 1
A close examination with an emphasis on the visual arts (painting, photography, film, video,
installation art, performance art, conceptual art, art museums). Course may be repeated once
for credit as topics vary. Instructor: J. Friedlander, L. Mullens [Prereq: 49 or a
20th-century Art History course. Theory] Laboratory course designed to develop electronic compositions
using techniques of analog and digital synthesis. Permission of instructor required. 96B may be
repeated once for credit. Instructor: T. Flaherty [Elective]
MS 149 PO: Topics in Media Theory 2
A rigorous, focused inquiry into the theorists, schools and movements that have set the terms for
analysis of contemporary media, including print media, film, television and the Internet. Topics
change from year to year; course may be repeated for credit as topics vary.
Instructor: K. Fitzpatrick, L. Mullens [Theory]
MS 191 PO: Senior Thesis
Instructor: Staff
POL 82 PO: The Vietnam War
A study of the Vietnamese conflict from both the Vietnamese and American perspectives. Special
attention given to the ways in which the internal and the international contexts of the conflict
changed over time and the impact these situational changes had on the outcome of the war. The
seminar relies heavily on analysis of audio-visual materials. Instructor: D. Elliott [Elective]
POL 134 PO: American Politics in a Media Age
Equips the student, already visually oriented from infancy, with ability to monitor and critically
interpret political institutions and communications. Explores ways in which news media shape American
politics and ways in which politicians seek to influence media. Focuses on effect of the media in
specific events. Examines how new communications technologies structure political conflict and
decision making. Instructor: L. Flynn [Elective]
RUST 103 PO: Dostoevsky and Popular Culture
Examines the relationship between Dostoevsky’s works and contemporary entertainment literature. Focuses on
the role of sensational themes, plots and characters in Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment,
The Idiot, and The Possessed. Instructor: S. Larson, K. Klioutchkine [Elective]
RUST 111 PO: Russian History and Society through Film
Acquaints students with Russian films depicting the tremendous changes in the country from the Bolshevik
Revolution of 1917 to the present. Although this course discusses film theory and semiotics, its main
emphasis is on history and on the confrontations between the real Soviet world and the fictional reality
created by the filmmakers. [Elective]
RUST 172 PO: Russian Visual Culture
This course uses visual material--paintings, films, maps, photographs, monuments,
fashion, public rituals, folk art, web sites, architecture and urban design--as a
basis for a survey of major developments of Russian culture from the 10th century
through the present. Several themes unite the course: the icon and the monument as
models for the articulation and transmission of sacred meaning, secular authority and
national identity; the relationship between official/orthodox and underground/heretical
visual cultures; the ways in which visual culture mediates the relationship between
public and private life (in, for example, architecture, urban planning and interior design).
The course will also introduce students to a variety of critical approaches and strategies for the analysis
of visual material. Instructor: S. Larsen [Elective]
SPAN (RLL) 105 PO: Spanish & Latin American Film
Cultural issues in Spanish and Latin American film. Emphasis on oral and written expression
through weekly discussions and essays. Topics include politics, economics, the role of women,
and the Catholic Church. Instructor: M. Donapetry [Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: PO
SPAN 44 or equivalent. Elective]
THEA 1 PO: Introduction to Acting
Introduction to basic acting techniques. The fundamentals of voice, movement, relaxation,
text analysis, characterization, and sensory and emotional-awareness exercises. Detailed
analysis, preparation and performance of scenes. Required for majors, prerequisite for
advanced theatre courses. Each semester. Instructors: Staff [Elective]
THEA 2 PO: Visual Arts of the Theatre
The visual principles underlying the design of theatre productions: theatre architecture,
staging conventions, historic and contemporary design, and environmental theatre. Attendance
at professional theatre productions in the L.A. area, films, slides, readings, projects in
three-dimensional design. Instructor: S. Linnell [Elective]
THEA 4 PO: Theatre for Social Change
Explores plays, essays, films/videos, theoretical positions and problems regarding theatre
for social change through participatory acting workshops from the arsenal of Theatre of the
Oppressed by Augusto Boal. [Elective]
THEA 12 PO: Intermediate Acting
Scene study and voice work. Rehearsal and studio performance of selected scenes. Students will gain an
understanding of the actor’s work of character analysis through the use of objectives, inner monologues,
and character research. Instructor: M. Thomas-Sala [Prereq: Theatre 1 or 3. Elective]
THEA 20B: Theatre Crafts: Lighting, Sound and Management
An introduction to the technical production areas of the theatre, with emphasis on equipment and
techniques of lighting, design and technical aspects of sound, and the fundamentals of stage and
theatre management. Instructor: Ruzika, Staff [Elective]
THEA 100E PO: Acting for Film & Television
This course develops technical and conceptual techniques for the interpretation and performance
of comedy and drama for film, television and emerging technologies. Students will audition,
rehearse and perform on camera a variety of scenes from film and theatre. Students will analyze
and critique their on-camera work as well as work of classmates and established actors.
Instructor: Staff [Prereq: THEA 1 or 3; and 12. Elective]
THEA 130 PO: Introduction to Directing
Introduction to basic skills and responsibilities of direction for the stage. Emphasis on
detailed text analysis, directorial concept, play selection, auditioning and casting,
design concept, blocking, actor coaching, rehearsal strategies, and production management.
Workshop scenes are presented and evaluated. Instructor: B. Bernhard [Prereq: Theatre 1 or
3, 2, and 12 or stage manage or assistant direct a faculty-directed show. Elective]
THEA 140 PO: Writing for the Stage
Introduction to the techniques of creative writing for theatre, structuring the
basic idea, development of character and situation, and rewriting.
Instructor: A. Horowitz [Elective]
Scripps
AMST 125 SC: Race in Pop Culture and Media
This course will introduce you to the history of popular culture and media, focusing on the sociohistorical contexts of racial representations and the production and consumption of media and popular culture by people of color. We will consider examples from minstrel shows, films, advertising, music, radio, television, public amusements, and digital media. Instructor: M. Delmont [Elective]
ARHI 181 SC: Art Since 1945
Painting, sculpture, and non-traditional art forms from Abstract Expressionism to the present, with
emphasis on American art. Topics include Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimalism, Conceptual and
Performance Art, Land Art, Site-Specificity and Institutional Critique, feminist art and video.
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Instructor: J. Koss
[Prereq: one previous art history course. Art History/Elective]
ARHI 186K SC: Seminar in Modern Art
The seminar examines in depth one theme or set of themes in 19th- and 20th-century art and related fields.
Topic changes each year. Instructor: J. Koss [Open to juniors and seniors. Prereq: one upper-division art
history course. Art History]
ARHI 188 SC: Representing the Metropolis
Concentrating on the visual arts and incorporating film and literature, this seminar examines
selected 20th century representations of such cities as Vienna, Paris, London, Moscow, Berlin,
New York, and Los Angeles. We will explore the cultural and political configuration of the metropolis
as modern, cosmopolitan, and urban. Instructor: J. Koss [Prereq: one upper-division art history course. Elective]
ART 134 SC: Between Analog and Digital Printmaking
The digital print is considered something of a hybrid in the print and photo world. Crossing platforms
between the etching studio and the digital art lab, students will create works that integrate both
methodologies. Systems including etching, solar printing, monoprinting, digital transfer and analog
and digital printing will be explored. Instructor: N. Macko [Prereq: Art 141. Lab Fee: $75.
Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 141 SC: Introduction to Digital Imaging
This course is designed to develop a sense of computer literacy using the Macintosh system and to acquaint
students with the most current state-of-the-art programs in graphics software. Critical discourse is a
key element to the structure of the course in examining some of the principles of visual literacy that
are encountered in photography, video, animation, and the Internet. Laboratory fee: $75. Offered
annually. Instructor: N. Macko [Production]
ART 142 SC: Intermediate Web Design
This course will focus on learning how to read and write HTML code. We will review the basics of
Dreamweaver and more advanced features in web design and layout by producing a “pseudo” website.
Students will produce an “official” website for a “client”—an organization, group or campus office
of their choice at The Claremont Colleges. They will identify and contact an appropriate client and
work with him or her to develop, design, and build a website that is ready to be published by the
end of the semester. Related readings and screenings on cyber culture and Internet theory will be
assigned. Instructor: N. Macko [Prereq: Art 141. Lab Fee: $75. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 143 SC: Digital Color Photography
Adobe Photoshop is a program of many levels and complexities. This course will provide the student with an
opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the program through a series of advanced tutorials.
Students will then create a digitally output portfolio. Issues of digital printing, digital photography
and contemporary photographic practice will be discussed in relation to their work. Related readings
on contemporary photography and digital art practice. Laboratory fee: $75.
Instructor: Staff [Prereq: ART 141, 145. Introductory]
ART 144 SC: Advanced Web Projects
This studio course builds on students’ web design experience and introduces them to animation and motion
graphics for the web using Macromedia Flash software. Production is augmented by critiques and discussions of
conceptual and formal ideas. Instructor: Erica Cho [Prereq: SC ART 141. Lab fee $75. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 145 SC: Beginning Photography
A lecture and laboratory course in black-and-white photographic principles with an emphasis on visual
content, aesthetic concepts, and creative seeing. Instruction in basic camera and darkroom technique and
in the history of the photographic medium. Instructor: K. Gonzales-Day [Students need to have constant
access to a 35mm camera. Lab Fee: $75. Introductory]
ART 146, 147 SC: Intermediate/Advanced Photography
This course continues training in traditional black-and-white photography and explores alternative
processes. In addition to darkroom techniques, the curriculum includes reading in contemporary art criticism,
self-directed projects, and group critiques. Laboratory fee: $75. Offered annually. Instructor: K.
Gonzales-Day [Prereq: Art 145. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 148 SC: Introduction to Video
A studio course introducing students to the basic techniques of digital video production: camerawork
and non-linear editing. Production is augmented by critiques, screenings, and discussions of conceptual
and formal ideas. Instructor: E. Cho [Non-Scripps student need instructor permission. Introductory]
ART 149 SC: Intermediate Video
Students continue to develop digital projects and begin to create motion graphics for video using Adobe
After Effects software. Production is augmented by critiques, screenings, and discussions of conceptual
and formal ideas. Instructor: T. Kim-Trang Tran [Prereq: Art 148 or equivalent. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 150 SC: Advanced Video
Students continue to develop digital projects and begin to create motion graphics for video using
Adobe After Effects software. Production is augmented by critiques, screenings, and discussions of conceptual
and formal ideas. Instructor: T. Kim-Trang Tran [Prereq: Art 148 or equivalent. Intermediate/Advanced Production]
ART 181G SC: From Beauty to the Abject: Race, Whiteness and Modernism
Looking at various aesthetic models, this course will highlight the intersection of modern and contemporary
art criticism with issues related to social and cultural constructions of difference as manifested within
the visual arts. Topics include modernism, whiteness, race, and the history of lynching in California.
Instructor: K. Gonzales-Day [Media Theory]
ART 183 SC: Feminist Concepts & Practices
Feminist Concepts & Practice in Media Studies and Studio Art. This course is designed to advance
students' understanding of media literacy and further develop their skills in appropriate application
of various media including print, photography, and digital art. A seminar/studio course, it examines the
recent history and current trends in the above media through readings and projects with an emphasis on
women's roles and contributions. [Prerequisites: Art 131, Art 141, or Art 145, or permission of
instructor. Laboratory fee: $75. Intermediate/Advanced Production or Theory]
ENGL 189A SC: American Film: John Ford, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock
Analysis of major works by each director in artistic and historical context. Instructor: J. Peavoy [Media History]
ENGL 189B SC: American Film: Orson Welles, Preston Sturges, Fritz Lang
Analysis of major works by each director in artistic and historical context. (Note: Lang films will be
chosen from his American period.) Instructor: J. Peavoy [Media History]
ENGL 189C SC: Fifties Film: Pop Culture and Society
Using American films from the fifties, we will explore the relation between popular culture and the society
that produces it. Includes films such as “Some Like it Hot,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Singing in the Rain,”
and “High Noon.” Instructor: J. Peavoy [Media History]
ENGL 189D SC: Genre: The Art Film
In the 50s and 60s, foreign films became a cultural phenomenon in the United States.
They were seen as works of art, in contrast to the “products” of the Hollywood “factory.” We will study
these films in terms of their reception in American culture. Works by Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa,
Buñuel, Godard, Ray, and others. Instructor: J. Peavoy [Media History]
FREN 114 SC: Documenting the French
GRMT 114 SC: Plotting Crime
This course covers various “genres” of criminality in modern European fiction and film,
including murder, criminal vice, theft, sex crimes, white-collar corporate conspiracy
crimes of passion and domestic violence. We explore two related (but distinct) topics: how
crimes are planned and executed; and how they are then turned, step-by-step, into compelling
literary and cinematic storylines. Course taught in English. Instructor: M. Katz [Elective]
GRMT 167 SC: Metropolis: Imagining the City
Whether pictured as a labyrinth, stage set, utopian pleasure-dome or gigantic living room,
the urban landscape has played a crucial role in the attempt of 20th-century writers and
artists to come to terms with modernity. The course will move from the squares of 19th-century
Berlin, the grid of Manhattan, to the malls and theme parks of Los Angeles, using fiction
(Poe, Kafda, Wm. Gibson), film (Lang, Wenders, R. Scott), essays (Eco, Didion) and urban theory
(Sennett, Choay) to investigate how changes in the perception of the city reflect the ways
modernity sees itself. Course taught in English. Instructor: M. Katz [Elective]
MS 49 SC: Intro to Media Studies
This course will provide an overview of the development of the new media of photography, film, video, and digital imaging and examine principles of visual literacy. Drawing from a variety of texts and other theoretically informed models (film, video, new media), this course will provide students with a critical understanding of popular and/or mass cultural production. Instructor: T. Kim-Trang Tran [Introductory]
MS 191 SC: Senior Thesis in Media Studies
Instructor: Staff
Joint
MS 190: Senior Seminar