Undergraduate Courses (list)

This course surveys the major trends in American cinema from the 1940s to the present, a period in film history that witnessed the decline of the Hollywood studio system and the rise of television, independent filmmaking, and the blockbuster. While examining these large scale industrial changes, we will consider how a range of films and movements—including the American New Wave and slasher horror, as well as animation and digital effects—shaped and were shaped by broader questions about everything from politics, race, and gender to youth culture, suburbanization, and techno-scientific innovation. Our goal in the process is to develop an understanding of the diversity of forms that American cinema has taken and the ways it continues to evolve, both nationally and globally.