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Schedule of Meetings, Readings, & Screenings


 

Note: Many of the films in this series contain violence, profanity, drug usage, and/or frank sexual content. These films are intended for mature audiences and are not suitable for children under 17 who are unaccompanied by an adult. If you are disturbed by R-rated film content, you should drop the course.

All screening times given below are approximate.

Key to abbreviations for assignments listed on this page:
FFT Thornham, Sue, ed. Feminist Film Theory: A Reader
Buy print version or free online version available via CSU Library
CPK Coursepack Women and Film

F&F (optional)

 Kaplan, E. Ann, ed. Feminism & Film.

Please note: this syllabus is subject to change.

 

Section 1: Feminist Film Spectatorship and Classical Hollywood Cinema 

Week 1         Introductory Concepts

Tuesday, August 13

  Introduction to the course and Week 1 readings
Quiz 0 available on D2L after class and due anytime before Thursday
**Requires Respondus Lockdown Browser and Webcam Monitor** (required for all of our online tests)

Thursday, August 15

Readings for Thursday: 1. Sharon Smith, "The Image of Women in Film" (FFT 14-19 but okay to skim from bottom of page 15-16)
  2. Claire Johnston, "Women's Cinema as Counter-Cinema" (FFT pages 36-40 only)
  3. B. Ruby Rich, "The Crisis of Naming in Feminist Film Criticism" (FFT pages 44-45 only)
  4. Claire Johnston, "Dorothy Arzner: Critical Strategies" (CPK or F&F pages 144-147 only)
View for Thursday: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes via free streaming on D2L or rental on Amazon (Howard Hawks, US, 1953; 91 min.) (Study Guide)
  Quiz on Thursday at start of class on paper

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  From the Journals of Jean Seberg (Michael Rappaport, US, 1995)
  Dance, Girl, Dance (Dorothy Arzner, US, 1940)

 

Week 2        Voyeurism, Sadism, and Transvestism

Tuesday, August 20

Reading: 1. Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (FFT) and
especially the Mulvey Study Guide
  Recommended preliminary reading: John Berger, Ways of Seeing Chapters 2 & 3 on D2L
Quiz on Tuesday at start of class on paper

Thursday, August 22

Reading:

2. Laura Mulvey, "Afterthoughts on 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'" (FFT pages 122-125) and
  Mulvey Afterthoughts Study Guide
View for Thursday: Vertigo via free streaming on D2L or via streaminig rental on Amazon (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1958; 128 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Thursday at start of class on paper

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, US, 1953)
  The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, US, 1947)
  American Beauty (Sam Mendes, US, 1999)
  Moulin Rouge (Baz Luhrmann, US, 2001)
  Eve of Destruction (Duncan Gibbins, US, 1991)
  Fatal Attraction (Adrian Lyne, US, 1987)
  The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg, US, 1934)
  Pretty Woman (Garry Marshall, US, 1990)
  Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1960)
  Commando (Mark L. Lester, US, 1985)
  Duel in the Sun (King Vidor, US, 1946)
  The Man who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, US, 1962)
  Stella Dallas (King Vidor, US, 1937)

 

Week 3        Masquerade, Masochism, and Fetishism—Test 1

Tuesday, August 27

Readings:

1. Mary Ann Doane, "Film & the Masquerade: Theorising the Female Spectator" (FFT Pages 134-139) and Doane Study Guide

  2. Gaylyn Studlar, "Masochism and the Perverse Pleasures of the Cinema" (CPK or F&F pages 203-215: Okay to skim 216-220) and
Studlar Study Guide
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, August 29

Reading: 3. Carol J. Clover, "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film" (FFT pages 234-239 and 245-247)
View for Thursday: The Silence of the Lambs via free streaming on D2L (Jonathan Demme, 1991, 118 min.) Study Guide
Quiz at start of class on paper
Test 1 available via D2L Thursday at 12:30pm

Thursday, August 29 - Friday, August 30

Test 1 available via D2L Thursday at 12:30pm and due before 12p noon on Friday (note: not midnight, but noon!)
**Closed Note/Book and Requires Respondus Lockdown Browser and Webcam Monitor**

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, US, 1953)
  The Devil is a Woman (Josef von Sternberg, US, 1940)
  The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg, US, 1934)
  The Last Seduction (John Dahl, US, 1994)
  Now, Voyager (Irving Rapper, US, 1942)
  The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, US, 1946)

Section 2:  Feminist Counter-Cinemas

Week 4         Feminine Voice, Silence, and Patriarchal Language

Tuesday, September 3

Reading: 1. Annette Kuhn, "Textual Politics" (CPK pages 250-254 and 258-264)
2. Audre Lorde, "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" on D2L
View for Tuesday: 1. Daughter Rite via free streaming on D2L (Michelle Citron, US, 1978; 53 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, September 5

Reading: 1. Hélène Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa" (CPK pages 246, 252-253, and 255-258)
View for Thursday: 1. Hide and Seek via free streaming on D2L (Su Friedrich, US, 1996; 65 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Journeys from Berlin/1971 (Yvonne Rainer, US, 1979)
  The Ties that Bind (Su Friedrich, US/Germany, 1984)
  Thriller (Sally Potter, UK, 1979)
  Misconception (Marjorie Keller, US, 1973-77)
  Jeanne Dielmann... (Chantal Akerman, France/Belgium, 1975)
  News from Home (Chantal Akerman, France/Belgium/US, 1979)
  A Question of Silence (Marleen Gorris, Netherlands, 1982)
  The Punk Singer (Sini Anderson, US, 2013)

 

Week 5        Challenging Patriarchal Language / Speaking Nearby

Tuesday, September 10

Reading:

1. Kathleen Hanna interview on Born in Flames on D2L
2. Interview with director Lizzie Borden "Stay Ready: Lizzie Borden on the Post-Revolutionay Future of Born in Flames" (April 2016) on D2L
3. Review your notes on "The Laugh of the Medusa" and "The Master's Tools"

View for Tuesday: Born in Flames via free streaming on D2L (Lizzie Borden, US, 1983; 80 min.)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, September 12

Readings: 1. Trinh T. Minh-ha and Nancy N. Chen, "Speaking Nearby" Interview (CPK or F&F from bottom of page 320-329)
2. Anna Rutherford, “Changing Images: An Interview with Tracey Moffatt” on D2L
View for Thursday:

1. Reassemblage via free streaming on D2L (Trinh, T. Minh-ha, USA/Senegal/Viet Nam, 1982; 40 min.) (Study Guide)
2. Nice Coloured Girls via free streaming on D2L (Tracey Moffatt, Australia, 1987; 16 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

 

Week 6        Indoctrination and Resistance—Test 2

Tuesday, September 17

Reading:

??1. Hamid Naficy, “Veiled Vision/Powerful Presences: Women in Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema” (CPK pages 131-133 and 136-146)
2. Optional but recommended: Senses of Cinema article about the film on D2L
View for Tuesday: Roozi ke zan shodam/The Day I Became a Woman via DVD on reserve in CSU Library or temporary streaming in D2L through Thursday only (Marzieh Meshkini, Iran, 2000; 74 min.) (Study Guide)

Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, September 19

Reading: Video interview with director Julie Taymor on D2L
  Video interview with producer/actress Salma Hayek on D2L
Recommended: Julie Taymor and Salma Hayek's Introductions to Frida: Bringing Frida Kahlo's Life and Art to Film on D2L
View for Thursday:

? Atlantique? or Frida via free streaming on D2L (Julie Taymor, US/Mexico, 2002; 123 min.)

Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, September 19 - Friday, September 20

Test 2 available via D2L Thursday at 12:30pm and due before 12:00p noon on Friday (note: not midnight, but noon!)
**Closed Note/Book and Requires Respondus Lockdown Browser and Webcam Monitor**

 

Section 3: Redefining The Gaze

Week 7        Female Subjectivity

Tuesday, September 24

Reading: Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, "From Déesse to Idée" (CPK)
View for Tuesday: Cléo de 5 à 7/Cleo from 5 to 7 via free streaming on D2L (Agnès Varda, France, 1961; 90 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, September 26

TBA--Atlantique? Frida?

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  La Pointe courte (Agnès Varda, France, 1954)
  Happiness (Agnès Varda, France, 1964)
  Sans toit ni loit/Vagabonde (Agnès Varda, France, 1985)
  Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse/The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, France, 2000)
  Les Plages des Agnès / The Beaches of Agnes (Agnès Varda, France, 2008)
  Visages Villages / Faces Places (Agnès Varda, France, 2017)

 

Week 8       Refiguring Lesbian Desire

Tuesday, October 1

Readings: 1. Elizabeth Grosz, "Refiguring Lesbian Desire" (CPK bottom of page 69 and top of page 74-81)
2. Jackie Stacey, "Desperately Seeking Difference" (CPK or F&F pages 455-464)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, October 3

View for Thursday: When Night is Falling via free streaming on D2L (Patricia Rozema, Canada, 1995; 94 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, US, 1985)
  All About Eve (Joseph Mankewicz, US, 1950)
  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, US, 1953)
  I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (Patricia Rozema, Canada, 1987)

Week 9      The Postcolonial Gaze

Tuesday, October 8

Readings: 1. Jane Gaines, "White Privilege and Looking Relations" (FFT pages 293-295 and 301-top of 302)
  2. Interview with Claire Denis by Didier Castanet (CPK pages 146-147, 154, and bottom of 157-158)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, October 10

Readings: 1. Interview with Claire Denis by Mark Reid in Jump Cut (First part of interview only; okay to stop at section subheading "J'AI PAS SOMMEIL...") on D2L
  Two short Senses of Cinema articles:
2. Fiona Villella, "Postcolonial Cinema: Chocolat" on D2L and
3. Diana Sandars, "Chocolat" on D2L
View for Thursday: Chocolat via free streaming on D2L or DVD on reserve in CSU Library or DVD rental via Netflix (Claire Denis, France/Cameroon, 1988; 105 min.) (Study Guide)
Optional extra film: White Material via Criterion Channel (Claire Denis, France, 2009; 105 min.)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Beau Travail (Claire Denis, France, 1999)
  L'Intrus (Claire Denis, France, 2004)
  White Material (Claire Denis, France, 2009)

 

Week 10       Opposing the Gaze

Tuesday, October 15

Readings: 1. bell hooks, "The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators" (FFT)
2. Andrea B. Braidt, “Queering Ethnicity, Queering Sexuality: A Paradigmatic Shift in the Politics of Cinema Representation in Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman (1996)" (CPK)
View for Tuesday: The Watermelon Woman via free streaming on D2L (Cheryl Dunye, US, 1990; 90 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, October 17

Reading: 1. Sophie Mayer, "All Dressed Up" chapter from Political Animals: The New Feminist Cinema on Belle (CPK pages 97-103)
  2. Ashley Clark, "Portrait of a Lady" from Sight and Sound on D2L
  3. Watch 50 Shades of Black video interview with Amma Asante (Part 1 and Part 2 on D2L)
View for Thursday: Belle via HBOMax free or via streaming rental on Amazon (Amma Asante, UK, 2015; 102 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, US, 1956)
  Illusions (Julie Dash, US, 1982)

 

Week 11     Girlhood and Resistance / Test 3  

Tuesday, October 22

Reading: Interview with Céline Sciamma and Karidja Touré on D2L
View for Thursday:

Bande des filles/Girlhood via free streaming on D2L or streaming rental on Amazon (Céline Sciamma, France, 2014; 113 min.) (Study Guide)

Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, October 24

Reading: 1. Interview with Deniz Gamze Ergüven on D2L
  2. Video interview with Deniz Gamze Erguven and lead actresses on D2L (from 3:10-23:00)
View: Mustang via streaming rental on Amazon (Deniz Gamze Ergüven, 2015, Turkey; 97 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper
Exam 3 available via D2L Thursday at 5:00pm

Thursday, October 24 - Friday, October 25

  Test 3 available via D2L Thursday at 12:30pm and due before 12p noon on Friday (note: not midnight, but noon!)
**Closed Note/Book and Requires Respondus Lockdown Browser and Webcam Monitor**
Extra Credit Event: Creative Careers Job Fair in Carnes Hall (details TBA)

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Water Lilies (Céline Sciamma, France, 2007)
  Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, France, 2011)
  Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma, France, 2019)
  La haine / Hate (Matthieu Kassovitz, France, 1995)

Section 4: Desire and the Body

Week 12       Reframing Female Desire

Tuesday, October 29

Reading: 1. Review key themes of previous readings by Grosz, hooks, and Stacey, then read:
  2. Susan Pelle and Catherine Fox, "Queering Desire/Querying Consumption: Rereading Visual Images of 'Lesbian' Desire in Lisa Cholodenko's High Art" on D2L
View for Tuesday: High Art via free streaming on D2L or rent on Amazon (Lisa Cholodenko, US, 1998; 101 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, October 31 

Reading: 1. Mercedes McGrath, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl: who’s afraid of teenage girls who defy stereotypes?" from The F Word on D2L
  2. Video Interview with Marielle Heller and Bel Powley on D2L (2:00-29:49 especially including the audience Q&A)
View for Thursday: Diary of Teenage Girl via possible free streaming on D2L or via DVD rental on Netflix or streaming via Amazon $3.99 rental or free with STARZ trial (Marielle Heller, US, 2015; 102 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper
**FCPA Job Fair on Friday**

 

Week 13      Libertine Desire and the Body

Tuesday, November 5

Readings: 1. Selected interviews with Catherine Breillat & reviews of Romance (1999) on D2L
  2. Mark Peranson's review of À ma soeur (Fat Girl, 2001) on D2L
  3. Interview with Claire Denis by Didier Castanet (CPK pages 158-160)
View for Tuesday: Sex is Comedy via free streaming on D2L (Catherine Breillat, France, 2002; 92 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, November 7  

Optional Film: Romance streaming on The Criterion Channel or on DVD reserve in the library (Catherine Breillat, France, 1999)
Discussion of: Sex is Comedy via free streaming on D2L (Catherine Breillat, France, 2002; 92 min.) (Study Guide)

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
0
  Une Vraie Jeune Fille / A Real Young Girl (Catherine Breillat, France, 1976)
  Romance (Catherine Breillat, France, 1999)
  À ma soeur / Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, France, 2001)
  Anatomie de l'enfer / Anatomy of Hell (Catherine Breillat, France, 2004)
  Bluebeard (Catherine Breillat, France, 2009)
  The Sleeping Beauty (Catherine Breillat, France, 2010)
  Abuse of Weakness (Catherine Breillat, France, 2013)

 

Week 14       Genre Hybridity, Female Desire, and the Body

Tuesday, November 12

Readings: 1. Selected reviews of In the Cut on D2L
2. Sue Thornham, "'Starting to Feel Like a Chick': Re-visioning romance in In the Cut" (CPK pages 33-34 and 37-44)
  3. Linda Williams, "Film Bodies: Gender, Genre and Excess" (FFT just the chart on page 275)
OPTIONAL: 4. Maureen Dowd, "What's a Modern Girl to Do?" NYT article on post-feminism
(If you don't subscribe to the NYT, try this alternate link.)
Quiz at start of class on paper
Online course evaluations available on the DUCK this week.

Thursday, November 14

View for Thursday: In the Cut via free streaming on D2L (Jane Campion, Australia/US, 2003; 119 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  An Excercise in Discipline: Peel, Passionless Moments, and A Girl's Own Story (Jane Campion, Australia, 1982-4)
  Sweetie (Jane Campion, Australia, 1989)
  An Angel at My Table (Jane Campion, Australia, 1990)
  The Piano (Jane Campion, New Zealand/Australia, 1993)
  The Portrait of a Lady (Jane Campion, UK/US, 1996)
  Holy Smoke! (Jane Campion, Australia, 1999)
  Bright Star (Jane Campion, Australia, 2009)
  Top of the Lake (Jane Campion, Australia/New Zealand, 2013-17)
  Power of the Dog (Jane Campion, Australia/New Zealand, 2021)

 

Week 15       Re-Envisioning Desire Across Global Bodies--Test 4

Tuesday, November 19

Reading: Review key themes of previous readings by Grosz, Gaines, Villella, hooks, Denis, and Kuhn, then read:
  1. "Saying 'Yes' to Taking Risks: An Interview with Sally Potter" on D2L
Quiz at start of class on paper
Closing Feedback Survey available via Qualtrics survey link posted in D2L

Thursday, November 21

Reading: 1. Virginia Bonner, "Sense and Responsibility in Sally Potter's YES" on D2L
View for Thursday: YES via free streaming on D2L (Sally Potter, UK, 2004; 100 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz at start of class on paper

Thursday, November 21 - Friday, November 22

Test 4 available via D2L at 12:30pm and due before noon on Friday
**Closed Note/Book and Requires Respondus Lockdown Browser and Webcam Monitor**
**Emphasizes Section 4, but be sure that you are able to summarize and connect to the "big themes" from all 4 Sections

 

Clips and recommended additional screenings this week:
  Thriller (Sally Potter, UK, 1979)
  Orlando (Sally Potter, UK, 1992)
  The Tango Lesson (Sally Potter, UK, 1997)
  The Man Who Cried (Sally Potter, UK, 2000)
  Rage (Sally Potter, UK, 2009)
  Ginger and Rosa (Sally Potter, UK, 2012)

 

Week 16       Thanksgiving Break

Tuesday, November 25 - Friday, November 29

  No class meeting during Thanksgiving Break

 

Week 17       Indoctrination and Resistance / Final Exam 4

Thursday, December 5 10:15am - 12:15pm

Reading: 1. Video interview with Gina Prince-Bythewood and Gugu Mbatha-Raw et alia on D2L
  2. Ebert.com review of Beyond the Lights
View for Thursday:

Beyond the Lights via free streaming on D2L (Gina Prince-Bythewood, UK, 2015; 116 min.) (Study Guide)
Frida (from Thanksgiving break) via free streaming on D2L (Julie Taymor, US/Mexico, 2002; 123 min.)
? Atlantique? Girlfight? Class choice?
Quiz at start of class on paper
Class party potluck: Bring food and review questions to share with class on Tuesday! :-)
Closing Feedback Survey due by 11:59pm via Qualtrics survey link posted in D2L