Cinema/Media Historiography

Robert King

An introduction to issues and cases in the study of cinema century technologies. This class takes up the definition of the historiographic problem and the differences between theoretical and empirical solutions. Specific units on the history of film style, genre as opposed to authorship, silent and sound cinemas, the American avant-garde, national cinemas (Russia and China), the political economy of world cinema, and archival poetics. A unit on research methods is taught in conjunction with Butler Library staff. Writing exercises on a weekly basis culminate in a digital historiography research map which becomes the basis of a final paper.