The course will explore key concepts, texts and debates in the field of contemporary cinema and media studies. A central focus of course will be on the intellectual and material histories of cinema studies and media studies as disciplines (and their recent convergence), including the development of different models of film study (film as art, culture, sociological force, industry, etc); the development of classical film theory and film criticism; semiotics and feminist film theory; the historical turn; and the mutual influence of other disciplines in relation to the study of cinema and media. These histories will consider epistemological and ontological frameworks, methodological approaches, and institutional and technological supports for these traditions of study. The course will nevertheless emphasize recent developments in cinema and media studies.
Three broad areas of study will structure the course: cinema and cultural theory (including theories of the cinematic image and sound); national and transnational cinema and culture (from local to global perspectives, and incorporating broad categories of social identity, including class, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, language, and religion); and cinema and technologies of the image (including considerations of pre-cinematic (e.g., projection, photography) and post-cinematic (the digital) on the very constitution of film as a medium of study. The course will consider the question of Canadian approaches to cinema and media Studies: Is there a practice or methodology that is unique to the Canadian context? In addition to gaining an advanced understanding of the field of cinema and media studies, students will sharpen research questions guiding their future individual research projects, including comprehensive examinations and the dissertation.
