2021 Fall
FILM R1B 003 - LEC 003
The Craft of Writing - Film Focus
Identity and Film
Alina Predescu, Lazaro Gonzalez Gonzalez
Class #:32145
Units: 4
Instruction Mode:
In-Person Instruction
Offered through
Film and Media
Current Enrollment
Total Open Seats:
7
Enrolled: 27
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 34
Waitlist Max: 10
No Reserved Seats
Hours & Workload
3 hours of instructional experiences requiring special laboratory equipment and facilities per week, 3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week, and 8 hours of outside work hours per week.
Other classes by Alina Predescu
Other classes by Lazaro Gonzalez Gonzalez
Course Catalog Description
Intensive argumentative writing stimulated through selected readings, films, and class discussion. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
Class Description
This course explores the expression and the representation of identity in film. We will study films that question established perceptions of identity through political modes of representation. These mostly non-narrative films (documentary and essay films) reveal people, places, and social contexts engaged in alternative processes of identity construction and affirmation. We will identify and analyze cinematic technique of representation such as: performative construction of race and gender identity, media archeology of ethnic identity, recuperation of family identity through memory-probing interviews, interview as mediated challenge of unconventional identity, first-person experiential identity of place and space, evocation of trauma and survival. We will explore these film topics in relation to theoretical and philosophical readings, in an attempt to address questions on the politics of belonging to, or being excluded from social categories or groups, and on the tensions between the socio-political necessity and the cultural (ir)relevance of subscribing to identity labels.
This course fulfills the second part of the Reading and Composition requirement, with an emphasis on research. Students will learn to generate research topics, locate and evaluate sources, and write analytical, original papers with arguments supported by those sources. Students will base their writings on close readings of filmic texts.
Rules & Requirements
Requisites
- Previously passed an R1A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R1A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature and Composition. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.
Repeat Rules
Course is not repeatable for credit.
Requirements class fulfills
Second half of the Reading and Composition Requirement
Reserved Seats
Current Enrollment
No Reserved Seats
Textbooks & Materials
See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.
Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials