Selected topics in the study of film.

Within both normative liberal discourse and radical milleaus, it has become something of a truism that we are living in a "post-truth world." The crisis of truth is invoked to explain the apparently pathological emergence of all manner of "monsters," from climate change denialism, anti-vaxxers, and the varied, often bizarre, political expressions of white supremacist ressentiment. In this respect, the cutting rejoinder offered by The Joker to Batman in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight"—"I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve"—might be said to reflect and anticipate many of the political and ethical challenges and impasses that mark our present historical conjuncture.

The crisis of truth, as the philosopher David Marriott suggests, is more complicated and difficult than it might appear at first glance, and it proceeds from its own set of ellisions and hauntings. In this class, we will explore the crisis of normative political and ethical grammars as this crisis manifests in contemporary cinema.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills