CMS 3340: National Cinemas African American Cinema

Course Objectives

This is a revolving topics National Cinemas course, meaning that we study different cinemas as they relate to national identities.

This semester, we will study how selected African American films reflect and shape American identities. Although we will consider some Hollywood representations of African Americans, our task is not to simply list the stereotypes that abound in mainstream films. Instead, our primary texts will be Independent films written and/or directed by African American filmmakers, and we will analyze how ideologies of race, gender, class, sexuality, capitalism, and nation intersect in all of our films.

Our studies will move relatively chronologically, beginning with early films like D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) and Oscar Micheaux's Within Our Gates (1920), as well as Blaxploitation films like Melvin Van Peebles's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) and LA Rebellion films like Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep (1977), Haile Gerima's Sankofa (1993), and Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust (1991). We will spend the remainder of the semester studying contemporary African American films like Leslie Harris's Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (1992), Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992), John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood  (1991), Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied (1989), Malcolm Lee’s Undercover Brother (2002), Tanya Hamilton's Night Catches Us (2010) and a film or two selected by the class.

Course Format

You will watch at least one film outside of class each week; often we will watch two films, so that we can see as many of these great films as possible. Some hard-to-obtain films we will screen during class as well. To allow us the most time to watch and talk about these films, course readings will be fairly light and exams will be take-home instead of in-class.

It is therefore very important to complete all film viewings and reading assignments before our Tuesday class. You will be responsible for a weekly quiz on our films and readings and for lively class discussions on our assigned material. If you do not plan to watch the films and read our assignments, you should drop the course.

Film Screenings

Please note that the films are mandatory. That is, you must watch the assigned films before Tuesday's class meeting on your own on DVD or streaming. Do NOT watch films on YouTube or other poor quality, truncated versions of the films. These films will be the primary subject matter of our exams, so high quality screenings viewed each week are important; do not rely on having seen these films when they were first released or even last month, since we will be approaching them from very different perspectives now than we did then. If you do not plan to watch the films on DVD or streaming on your own, you should drop the course. We will view additional excerpts from selected films during class lectures.

Always arrive five minutes early to class lectures, not only because we will start promptly but also because late arrivals are extremely disruptive. If you must arrive late, always use the back door to enter the room. Do not eat loud foods, use cell phones or text, talk with classmates, sleep, or leave the room during class; these are a time for serious study of our film texts so you should be taking copious notes during each film to prepare for your class discussions and exams. You may wish to bring a penlight to classes to help you take notes in the dark. Anyone behaving disruptively during class will be asked to leave.

Required Texts (Available at the campus bookstore or online vendors)

There is no required textbook for this course. All readings are available via hyperlinked PDF files on our schedule page. You must print out each reading, annotate it as you read, and bring it to class with you each week.

Recommended Optional Texts (Available via online vendors or bookstore)

1.     Manthia Diawara, ed. Black American Cinema. Routledge: 1993. (ISBN-10: 0415903971 ISBN-13: 978-0415903974)

2.     Mark Reid, Black Lenses, Black Voices. 2005. (ISBN-10: 0742526410 ISBN-13: 978-0742526419)

Note: If you have added this course during the schedule change period and/or were not present for the syllabus review the first day of class, you are required to meet with me the following week to review course requirements and policies.