Film & Media Studies 322 - Feminist Cinema

Fall
2014
01
4.00
Krupa Shandilya
T 02:30PM-05:00PM
Amherst College
FAMS-322-01-1415F
MERR 403
kshandilya@amherst.edu
SWAG-469-01,ASLC-452-01,FAMS-322-01

(Offered as SWAG 469, ASLC  452 [SA], and FAMS 322.)  How do we define the word “feminism”? Can the term be used to define cinematic texts outside the Euro-American world? In this course we will study a range of issues that have been integral to feminist theory--the body, domesticity, same sex desire, gendered constructions of the nation, feminist utopias and dystopias--through a range of South Asian cinematic texts. Through our viewings and readings we will consider whether the term “feminist” can be applied to these texts, and we will experiment with new theoretical lenses for exploring these films. Films will range from Satyajit Ray’s classic masterpiece Charulata to Gurinder Chadha’s trendy diasporic film, Bend It Like Beckham. Attendance for screenings on Monday is compulsory.


Limited to 20 students.  Fall semester.  Professor Shandilya.

Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.