Anthropologists have made films since the origins of the discipline and have long debated the role of film in the production of knowledge about others. This course explores the history, evolution, critiques, and contemporary practices of ethnographic film. We will consider key works that have defined the genre, and the innovations (and controversies) associated with them; we will engage documentary, observational, reflexive, and experimental cinema; and we will consider Indigenous media as both social activism and cultural reproduction.

The word theatre, derived from the Greek word theatron, means "seeing place". How do plays reflect vital aspects of time, place, and people? In this class, we'll use dramatic texts as lenses through which to better understand key historical periods and movements of the last 200 years. What new perspective can we gain from Suzan-Lori Parks' dramatization of the American Civil War in Father Comes Home From the Wars? How does Brecht's Mother Courage reflect the rise of fascism in the late 1930s?

This course will examine the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the afterlife of Hitchcock in contemporary U.S. culture. We will analyze Hitchcock films in a variety of interpretive frames, including feminist and queer theories, and in shifting historical contexts including the Cold War. We will also devote substantial attention to the legacy of Hitchcock in remakes, imitations, and parodies. Hitchcock films may include The Birds, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, North by Northwest, Psycho, Rear Window, Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt, Spellbound, Strangers on a Train, and Vertigo.

Social media connects communities, informs us about friends' lives, and gives us a platform on which to share ideas and form identities. Beyond that, social media play an increasingly conspicuous role in national and transnational politics, from the Arab Spring to the viral spread of fake news around the 2016 US election.

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of the rich and diverse world of Chinese films, offering students a deep understanding of the historical, cultural, and artistic dimensions that shape this dynamic film tradition. We will highlight four major periods: The May Fourth and New Cultural Movement (1919-1930), the socialist era, the transnational developments since the 1980s in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and the current digital era.

While women have written plays since the seventeenth century, the twentieth- and twenty-first century has witnessed a boom in women playwrights. This course will familiarize students with some of the major female playwrights of our era, such as Wendy Wasserstein, Caryl Churchill, Suzan Lori-Parks, and Nzotke Shange, as well as newer playwrights (Amy Hertzog, Katori Hall, and Young Jean-Lee).

Audio storytelling is an art form that enables you to communicate effectively with an audience. In this course, you will learn how to produce audio stories with a strong narrative and compelling characters. Students will practice pitching story ideas, scripting and reporting, develop interviewing skills, field recording techniques and learn the fundamentals of multi-track audio production software during in-class tech labs. In addition, students will perform listening exercises, readings, and have the opportunity to participate in seminar discussions and feedback sessions.

This course offers practice in the fundamentals of dramatic structure and technique. Weekly reading assignments will examine the unique nature of writing for the theater, nuts and bolts of format, tools of the craft, and the playwright's process from formulating a dramatic idea to rewriting. Weekly writing assignments will include scene work, adaptation, and journaling. The course will culminate in a significant writing project. Each class meeting will incorporate reading student work aloud with feedback from the instructor and the class.

This course will focus on the demonstration of scenic painting techniques based on traditional methods and innovative problem-solving. Projects will be introduced with a demonstration; the remainder of class periods are intended for work on assigned projects. Come to class prepared to work and dressed appropriately in attire that can be discarded after the course (footwear included).

This hands-on course will explore creative video editing practice and modes through the production of several short projects, revisions, group screenings and feedback sessions. While this is primarily a production course, we will learn about the history of the craft, read iconic texts, and view selected films to help inform our process and understanding of editing.