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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

Monday, August 15

Quiz 0 on D2L
**Requires Respondus Lockdown Browser and Webcam Monitor**
(required for all of our online tests)

Wednesday, August 17

Readings for Wednesday: 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 Wednesday: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes via streaming rental for $3.99 on Amazon (Howard Hawks, US, 1953; 91 min.) (Study Guide)
  Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in 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 Transvestitism

Monday, August 22

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 Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, August 24

Reading:

2. Laura Mulvey, "Afterthoughts on 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'" (FFT pages 122-125) and
  Mulvey Afterhoughts Study Guide

View for Wednesday: Vertigo via free streaming on D2L or via streaminig rental on Amazon (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1958; 128 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in 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 FetishismExam 1

Monday, August 29

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 on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, August 31

Reading: 3. Carol J. Clover, "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film" (FFT pages 234-239 and 245-247)
View for Wednesday: The Silence of the Lambs via free streaming on D2L (Jonathan Demme, 1991, 118 min.) Study Guide
Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in class on paper
Exam 1 available via D2L Wednesday at 5:00pm

Wednesday, August 31 - Thursday, September 1

Exam 1 available via D2L Wednesday at 5:00pm and due before 12p noon on Thursday (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

Monday, September 5

  No class meeting today in honor of the Labor Day Holiday

Wednesday, September 7

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
3. Hélène Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa" (CPK pages 246, 252-253, and 255-258)
View for Monday: 1. Daughter Rite via free streaming on D2L (Michelle Citron, US, 1978; 53 min.)
2. Hide and Seek via free streaming on D2L (Su Friedrich, US, 1996; 65 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in 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

Monday, September 12

Reading: 2. Audre Lorde, "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" on D2L
3. Hélène Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa" (CPK pages 246, 252-253, and 255-258)
View for Monday: 2. Hide and Seek via free streaming on D2L (Su Friedrich, US, 1996; 65 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, September 14

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

View for Monday: Born in Flames via free streaming on D2L (Lizzie Borden, US, 1983; 80 min.)
Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in class on paper

 

Week 6        Speaking Nearby Exam 2 **Online via D2L this week**

Monday, September 19

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 Wednesday:

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)

Video Lectures: 5.1.1 - 5.1.3 available after completion of quiz on D2L (folder will not be visible before quiz completion)
Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm **on D2L**

Wednesday, September 21

Reading:

3. Hamid Naficy, “Veiled Vision/Powerful Presences: Women in Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema” (CPK pages 131-133 and 136-146)
4. Optional but recommended: Senses of Cinema article about the film on D2L

View for Monday: Roozi ke zan shodam/The Day I Became a Woman via DVD on reserve in CSU Library or temporary streaming in D2L through Wednesday only (Marzieh Meshkini, Iran, 2000; 74 min.) (Study Guide)
Video Lectures: 5.2.1 - 5.2.3 available after completion of quiz on D2L (folder will not be visible before quiz completion)

Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm **on D2L**

Thursday, September 22

Exam 2 available via D2L Thursday at 12:00pm noon 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 / Refiguring Lesbian Desire

Monday, September 26

Reading: Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, "From Déesse to Idée" (CPK)
View for Monday: Cléo de 5 à 7/Cleo from 5 to 7 via free streaming on D2L (Agnès Varda, France, 1961; 90 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, September 28

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 on Wednesday at 3:35pm in class on paper

 

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)

 

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 8       The Postcolonial Gaze

Monday, October 3

View for Monday: When Night is Falling via free streaming on D2L (Patricia Rozema, Canada, 1995; 94 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, October 5

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 on Wednesday at 3:35pm in 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 9      Opposing the Gaze

Monday, October 10

  No class meeting today during Fall Break

Wednesday, October 12

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 Wednesday: 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 on Wednesday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Week 10       Opposing the Gaze

Monday, October 17

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 Monday: The Watermelon Woman via free streaming on D2L (Cheryl Dunye, US, 1990; 90 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, October 19

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 Wednesday: Belle via HBOMax free or via streaming rental on Amazon (Amma Asante, UK, 2015; 102 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in 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 / Exam 3  

Monday, October 24

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

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

Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, October 26

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 on Wednesday at 3:35pm in class on paper
Exam 3 available via D2L Wednesday at 5:00pm

Thursday, October 27

Exam 3 available via D2L Wednesday at 5:00pm and due before 12p noon on Thursday (note: not midnight, but noon!)
**Closed Note/Book and Requires Respondus Lockdown Browser and Webcam Monitor**

 

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

Monday, October 31

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 Monday: High Art via free streaming on D2L or rent on Amazon (Lisa Cholodenko, US, 1998; 101 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, November 2

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 Wednesday: 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 on Wednesday at 3:35pm in class on paper
**VPA Job Fair on Friday**

 

Week 13      Libertine Desire and the Body

Monday, November 7

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 Monday: Sex is Comedy via free streaming on D2L (Catherine Breillat, France, 2002; 92 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper

Wednesday, November 9

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

Monday, November 14

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 on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper
Online course evaluations available on the DUCK this week.

Wednesday, November 16 

View for Wednesday: In the Cut via free streaming on D2L (Jane Campion, Australia/US, 2003; 119 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in 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       Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 21

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 Monday:

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

Wednesday, November 23

  No class meeting today during Thanksgiving Break

 

Week 16       Re-Envisioning Desire Across Global Bodies

Monday, November 28

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 on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper
Closing Feedback Survey available via Qualtrics survey link posted in D2L

Wednesday, November 30

Reading: 2. Virginia Bonner, "Sense and Responsibility in Sally Potter's YES" on D2L
View for Wednesday: YES via free streaming on D2L (Sally Potter, UK, 2004; 100 min.) (Study Guide)
Quiz on Wednesday at 3:35pm in class on paper

 

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 17       Indoctrination and Resistance

Monday, December 5

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 Monday:

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.)

Quiz on Monday at 3:35pm in class on paper
Class party potluck: Bring food and review questions to share with class on Monday! :-)
Closing Feedback Survey
due by 11:59pm via Qualtrics survey link posted in D2L


Final Exam 4

Monday, December 5 - Tuesday, December 6

Final Exam 4 available via D2L Monday at 5:00pm and due before midnight on Tuesday
**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