SYLLABUS
SYG 4003, SOCIOLOGY THRU FILM, FALL 2005, WEDNESDAYS, 6:25-9:05 PM
BUILDING DM, ROOM 100
PROFESSOR: DR. ABRAHAM D. LAVENDER
Professor=s Office: Building DM, Room 322B, FIU, University Park
Phone: 305-348-2247. The best contact is abelavender@aol.com
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There is no denying the tremendous power movies have in shaping our perceptions of the past (flyleaf of Past Imperfect: History According to Movies, required for this course)
Film is more than the twentieth-century art. It=s another part of the twentieth-century mind. It=s the world seen form inside (Don DeLillo in Turning Points in Film History, by Andrew J. Rausch, required for this course).
American motion pictures still dominant the world market with an impact that is difficult to measure. Their role in American culture has been a powerful one since the 1930s and is a hallmark of our culture today (flyleaf of Hollywood=s America: Social and Political Themes in Motion Pictures)
Ever since Edison=s peep shows first captivated urban audiences, film has had a revolutionary impact on American society, transforming culture from the bottom up...(flyleaf of Movie-Made America)
If you want to know about the United States in the Twentieth Century, go to the movies...Movies, even bad ones, are important sociological and cultural documents (Hollywood=s America: United States History Through Its Film)
PURPOSE OF COURSE:
The purpose of this course is to learn how the movie industry in the United States reflects values in the U.S., how the movie industry is influenced by values in the U.S., and how the movie industry influences values in the U.S. The future of movies will be discussed. We will look at five demographic groups based roughly on ethnicity, religion, race, language, and lifestyle. The five groups are Native-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, and Gays. We will see how movies have portrayed the groups, and how and why those portrayals are changing over time. We also will look at the extent to which these groups are or are not represented in the movie industry in the U.S. We see that movies don=t just happen, but that they are influenced by larger forces and also influence the larger society. For each group, there will be a movie, class discussion, and lecture by the professor.
READINGS:
Two books are required. All of Turning Points is to be read. For Past Imperfect, assignments will be made as appropriate depending on the specific topic being discussed. In addition, any handouts which might be distributed (depending on whether the budget allows) will become part of the required readings. The two books are:
(1) TURNING POINTS IN FILM HISTORY, by Andrew J. Rausch, foreword by Joe Bob Briggs. As noted, read all of this book.
(2) PAST IMPERFECT: HISTORY ACCORDING TO THE MOVIES, edited by Mark C. Carnes. This book discusses about sixty movies, analyzing the accuracy or inaccuracy of the movies. Sections will be assigned throughout the course.
GRADING:
There will be two tests. The first test will be about the middle of the semester, and the last will be at the end of the semester. Each test will have 50 questions, worth 2 points each, and will be mostly multiple choice with some true/false. About half of the questions will cover all assigned readings in both books and any handouts given in class, and about half of the questions will cover class lectures and discussions. The final grade will be an average of the two tests, except with attendance as noted below.
ATTENDANCE
Class discussions, student interactions, and the ambience of the class also are important to the learning process. This is not a correspondence school, and you are expected to attend. If you are one of those students who seldom attends class, then this class probably is not the class for you. Attendance will be taken frequently, and the professor reserves the right to lower a grade for any student who misses over one-fourth of the classes when attendance is taken.
TENTATIVE LIST OF MOVIES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):
Little Big Man (Native-Americans/American Indians)
The Perez Family or My Family (Hispanics)
Bambozzled or Rosewood (African-Americans)
An Empire of Their Own (Jews, and the film industry in general)
The Celluloid Closet or The Silver Screen (Gays)
In addition to these major movies, selected parts of other movies will be shown to illustrate points. Possible movies included here will be Dances With Wolves and Smoke Signals (American Indians); Hispanic Hollywood, Bronze Screen, and My Family (Hispanics); Amistad, Color Purpose, and Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood, (African-Americans); Fiddler on the Roof and The Chosen (Jews); and And the Band Played On and Making Love (Gays). The professor has a collection of movies about the history of the movie industry. Selections will be shown from In the Beginning: A Celebration of the American Silent Film, The Hollywood Ten, and others.