MS 333 - Black Cinema

Unit(s): 4

This course is designed to introduce you to films by or about or for Black people in the United States and throughout the African diaspora. We will consider the question implicit in “by/for/about”: What makes a Black film Black? We will analyze films through cultural, aesthetic, political and historical lenses with particular attention to the social and industrial conditions, such as segregation, discrimination and the rise and ongoing importance of Black independent filmmaking. Not only will we be studying the work of significant Black filmmakers, such as Spike Lee, Gina Prince Bythewood, Oscar Micheaux, Charles Burnett and Ava DuVernay, but we will also be studying films that are milestones in Black culture and show the intersection of film and other popular arts, including “Richard Pryor: Live in Concert,” and “Purple Rain.”

Prerequisite: concurrent RHET 120 or concurrent RHET 126 or concurrent RHET 131 or concurrent RHET 195 or concurrent RHET 203 or concurrent RHET 204 or concurrent RHET 250 or concurrent RHET 297 or concurrent RHET 310 or concurrent RHET 304 or concurrent RHET 320 or concurrent SII 120
College of Arts and Sciences