Focus on the discussion and analysis of films by German women directors from Lotte Reiniger, pioneer of animation films, and Leni Riefenstahl, controversial director and mythmaker of the Third Reich, to such trailblazing women directors of the New German Cinema as Margarethe von Trotta, Jutta Bruckner, and Helma Sanders-Brahms.

In this historical survey we will study three periods from the first half of the cinema's past (1832-1932): its invention, its silent days, and its transition to sound. From the optical effect of the phenakistoscope (1832) through the efforts of Edison and Lumi're, from the evolution of the classical style of Hollywood to the montage theories of the Soviets, from the adoption of sound-on-film to the benshi strikes in Japan, this course will introduce students to the fascinating figures, institutional structures, art and technologies that built the world's cinema.

We will be reading a number of key feminist texts that theorize the construction of sexual difference, and challenge the oppression of women. We will then address queer theory, an offshoot and expansion of feminist theory, and study how it is both embedded in, and redefines, the feminist paradigms. This redefinition occurs roughly at the same time (1980s/90s) when race emerges as one of feminism's prominent blind spots.

In this course we go behind the scenes and behind the screens of anthropological films, museum exhibitions, 'small media' events such as television, and publications such as National Geographic Magazine, to explore the social contexts of image production, distribution, and interpretation. Focusing on visual activism and ethics, we consider how popular portrayals of our own society and of others' both shape and are shaped by hierarchies of value in the material world.

How are we to respond to Indian popular film, which is notorious for its distracting song and dance numbers, meandering story line, and visually overblown spectacles? This seminar will develop historical and theoretical approaches to Indian films as what scholar Lalitha Gopalan calls a 'constellation of interruptions.' Students will examine feature films in class, write critical papers on scholarly essays, and pursue independent research projects on various aspects of Indian film.

The relationship between colonizer and colonized is two-fold: on the one hand a visible, immediate (military, economic, and political) domination, and on the other, a more subtle, less visible (ideological) domination.

A study of the visions, plans, and frustrations of intellectuals taking part in the revolutionary changes of twentieth-century China. Beginning with the radical youth of the May Fourth Movement, the course will also include Confucian reactions to modernism, moderate constitutionalist solutions, and the anarchist and Communist movements. Topics for discussion will include the ideology and cultural biases of the historian/observer, the role of intellectuals in society, and the impact of European ideas--Marxism, Ibsenism, Darwinism, among others--on traditional Chinese culture.

What social processes and institutions are necessary to bring an end to war? Do the efforts of citizens make a difference? What is the role of beliefs regarding identity? What about access to resources? What is the role of visible forms of restorative or retributive justice? This first year seminar focuses primarily on small, regional conflicts in Africa to explore the social processes and institutions which facilitate the resolution of conflict. We will begin in the late 19th century, but concentrate on more recent events.

This first year seminar explores the history of the country and the city in modern Britain and asks how the conceptualization of these places has shaped our understanding of what it means to be modern. We will address topics such as industrial transformation, the city and country in fiction, rural political radicalism, preservation and recreation in the countryside, organic and environmental movements, and the contemporary politics of rural life.

A comparative history of China, Japan, and Korea from the early seventeenth century to the present, with strong focus on regional interaction. After an introduction to early modern histories and cultures, we will examine the struggles of these countries to preserve or regain their independence and establish their national identities in a rapidly changing, often violent modern world order. While each of these countries has its own distinctive identity, their overlapping histories (and dilemmas) give the region a coherent shape.