This course offers students an opportunity to explore the relationships of literary works to one another, their readers, and the field of literary studies.  We will read a series of works written by American authors between 1880 and 1930, putting canonical and lesser-known writers into conversation with one another.  The conversation theme will inform not only the works we read but also shape how we read, write, and “converse” in class and through assignments.  For each set of readings, we will consider multiple conversations:  the processes by which readers

(Offered as ARHA 315 and FAMS 443.)  What constitutes cinematic narrative, distinct from other forms of storytelling? How do we engage film form to tell a story?  Can the camera be a narrator?  How can we alter a traditional narrative structure, and, what are the implications of these transformations? How can we use color to construct the subjective space of a character, or use sound to manipulate the temporal order of the story, creating flashbacks, ellipses or flash-forwards?

(Offered as RUSS 241 and FAMS 321.)  Lenin declared “For us, cinema is the most important art,” and the young Bolshevik regime threw its support behind a brilliant group of film pioneers (Eisenstein, Vertov, Kuleshov, Pudovkin, Dovzhenko) who worked out the fundamentals of film language. Under Stalin, historical epics and musical comedies, not unlike those produced in 1930s Hollywood, became the favored genres.

(Offered as ARHA 225 and FAMS 225.)  This course is a hands-on, in-depth exploration of the formal elements of moving images and sound. We will begin with a study of the camera, and, through in-class projects and individual assignments, we will explore framing and composition; light, color and texture; camera movement and rhythm; editing and relationships between image and sound. We will approach set-up and documentary situations from a variety of formal and conceptual perspectives.

An advanced course in the arts of theatrical design. Primary focus is on the communication of design ideas and concepts with other theater artists. Also considered is the process by which developing theatrical ideas and images are realized. Students will undertake specific projects in scenic, costume and/or lighting design and execute them in the context of the Department’s production program or in other approved circumstances.

(Offered as THDA 353 and FAMS 345.)  An advanced course in the techniques of creating performance. Each student will create and rehearse a performance piece that develops and incorporates original choreography, text, music, sound and/or video. Experimental and collaborative structures and approaches among and within different media will be stressed. The final performance pieces and events will be presented in the Holden Theater. Can be taken more than once for credit.

Requisite: THDA 252 or the equivalent and consent of the instructor. Fall semester. Professor Woodson.