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Academic Year 2004/2005

Sophomore Seminar Middle East on Film
HIST 183 SP

The most influential Western cultural medium for the peoples of the Middle East has been cinema. Western film has shaped how Middle Easterners view their own world and has been the most important lens through which Middle Easterners have interpreted for themselves the often-mysterious Occident. Film has also worked in the other direction, with Hollywood representing and misrepresenting the realities of the region to generations of movie-goers. This course will start off with a review of how the West has told the history of the region through such blockbusters as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Exodus", and "Battle of Algiers". It will then turn to film production in the region itself with examples produced by Israeli, Palestinian, Turkish, Egyptian, Syrian, and Iranian filmmakers. Through the study of the latter, students will be asked to explore the question of whether a global culture of cinema has emerged or whether film in the region speaks with an "indigenous voice". Can a global medium be incorporated without a global message?

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Masters,Bruce A.   

Times: .....F. 01:10PM-04:00PM;     Location: PAC125;

Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 19)

SR. major: 2   Jr. major: 2

SR. non-major: X   Jr. non-major: X   SO: 15   FR: X

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal:    Reading Non-Verbal Texts, Writing

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005

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