Why do we put certain films into categories? What constitutes a film genre, how do we recognize it, and what do we do with it? This course examines these questions and more by considering a specific genre over the course of the semester. We will learn to think of genre as a way of comparing and contrasting different films. Genre will also be thought of as a way of creating expectations and measuring experience and meaning. The power of film genre is that it allows us to understand film as a text and film as a social practice at the very same time.

This course examines how language and culture (broadly defined) are implicated in our everyday communication. We will investigate how preconceived beliefs, taken for granted cultural norms, and the language we speak shape how we experience the world and thus shape our "reality." We will examine how a person communicatively accomplishes cultural identities as well as implications of divergent communicative norms and practices for interacting across cultural boundaries.

This course offers an overview of recent narrative fiction feature filmmaking from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. We will explore political, social, and economic circumstances that impact the production, exhibition, marketing, distribution, and reception of films. We will address the ways contemporary films construct images of nations, nationalism, and national culture(s). Feature films and clips will be screened regularly and analyzed using tools of film criticism and cultural studies.

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Exploration of the types of writing associated with the discipline of communication. Development and improvement of the student's writing, research, and critical thinking skills. Fulfills Junior Year Writing requirement.