The Courses Available for Fall 2004 include:

 ASCE BC 3594x: Tyranny of the Normal: Representations of Medicine in Film and Culture. 4 pts.
Doctors and researchers do not hold a monopoly on medical knowledge or beliefs.  While theirs may be more scientific, that does not make them necessarily more relevant to the study of the patient and of the illness.  Both the actualities and the metaphorical possibilities of illness and medicine abound in literature, film and modern culture.  These other "meanings" of disease, illness, organ transplants, genetic engineering and prosthesis have stirred debate about what it means to be an individual or even what it means to be human.  We will question the nature of medical knowledge itself.  Is our social knowledge of medicine becoming more complex commensurate with scientific developments, or is it primarily a reflection of leterary and cultureal traditions?  In this colloquium, we will read stories and essays by Franz Kafka, Thmoas Mann, Anton Chekov, Tony Kushner, Susan Sontag, Michel Foucault, Karatani Kojin and Donna Haraway.  Since there sill be a lot of critical reading, we will use movies as text and consider visual representations of illness, medicine and the abnormal body.  In doing so, we will consider such films as Dirty Pretty Things, Red Beard, Rosemary's Baby, The Elephant Man, Freaks, Dead Ringers, Wit and others.  Open to Columbiand Barnard. undergraduates. - Andrew Schonebaum, Tuesday (movie), Thursday (class) 6:10pm-8:00pm.

CLEN W 3390: Studies in Narrative - The Road Movie. 4 pts.
This course is taking temporary shelter under the title 'Studies in Narrative,' but its actual subject is a particular narrative genre, the 'road movie.'  The particular question I want to keep asking is how this genre became so knowing, so assured about itself, even at the relatively early stages in its emergence.  As one element of this course, we will begin by looking at some literary precursors: the Odyssey; and early 'picaresque' novel called The Unfortunate Traveller; the satiric and widely traveled Candide; Huckleberry Finn; On the Road; and a contemporary fiction; Jonathan Saffran Foer's Everything is Illuminated.  I assume that most members of the class will have previously read the Odyssey, and so I will ask everyone to show up at the first class having recently refreshed themselves on its contents.
Then, on to film.  Bibliographies and material on film theory will be provided.  We will start with two important precursors, It Happened One Night (Capra, 1934) and Sullivan's Travels (Sturges, 1941).  Then on to a crucial early rendition, in which most elements of the mature road movie are present, but not fully developed, They Live by Night (Ray, 1948).  Then the sublime Badlands (Malik, 1973); followed by Thelma and Louise (Scott, 1991) in which women do the driving; and a film which in my view signals the possible decadence of the genre, Natural Born Killers (Stone, 1994); and finally a film that knits many of our themes together, O Brother (Coen Brothers, 2000).  Members of the seminar will also be encourages to do some freelance viewing, of such films as Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1967), Easy Rider (Hopper, 1969), Two-Lane Blacktop (Hellman, 1971), and Paris, Texas (Wenders, 1984); I'll have a pool of DVDs available for loan, together with local rental options.
All this will lead up to two 'finished' papers (over and above some short classroom presentations): a 6-8 page paper on one of the literary narratives (or a related narrative) read in the first six weeks, and then a 15 page 'seminar' paper on one of the films we have viewed, or a similar film of your choice, in its enlarged literary/cinematic context.  One of the questions I want to keep asking throughout involves the shifting relations of the transients and the societies they encounter: what is the locus and relative balance of 'good' and 'evil,' criminality and honesty, innocence and experience?  Another question involves the challenge posed to genre criticism by the fact that genres are never 'pure.'  In the case of film, what about the constant tendency of 'road' movies to diversify and merge with various look-alikes, some very different in their core assumptions: gateway movies, heist movies, buddy movies, and the like?
People seeking admission to this course need not have extensive film studies experience, but should be ready to view and discuss movies without checking their brains at the door.  I'll expect you to be no less smart and alert and rigorous about Badlands than about any canonical literary text.  Those seeking admission should send Michael Mallick (mgm3@columbia.edu) a paragraph about reasons for wanting to take the course, class standing, and other possibly relevant considerations - no later than Friday 3 September.  No one should enroll who cannot attend the Tuesday evening screenings.  The class roster will be posted in Philosophy Hall by noon Monday 6 September. - Paul Strohm, Class meeting: R 4:10pm-6:00pm, Screenings: T 8:00pm-10:00pm.

ENGL BC 3119: Screenwriting. 3 pts.
A practical workshop in dramatic writing for the screen. Through a series of creative writing exercises, script analysis, and scene work, students explore and develop the basic principles of screenwriting. Either a polished short film script or a preliminary draft of a feature screenplay is the final project. (Preference given to students concentrating in film. Does not count as a course for those concentrating in writing.) - David McKenna, W 2:10pm-4:00pm.

ENGL BC 3200: Film Production. 3 pts.
An exploration of basic narrative tools at the filmmaker's disposal, with a particular emphasis on camera work and editing.  Examines basic cinematic syntax that provides a foundation for storytelling on the screen.
Prerequisite: ENGL BC 3201 and permission of the instructor.  Sophomore standing.  ENROLLMENT LIMITED TO 12 STUDENTS.  Students must send a one-page application to the instructor via e-mail (lbe1@Columbia.edu) explaining why the student wishes to take the course, the foundation work (whether academic or work-related) in film, video, the arts, etc. the student has had, and any final project the student may have in mind. - Lawrence B Engel, W 2:10pm-4:00pm.

ENGL BC 3201: Introduction to the Study and Theory of Film. 3 pts.
A survey of the history of American and international film and an introduction to film theory, including feminist, psychoanalytic, structuralist, and post-structuralist methodologies. Film contextualized through theory and through the lens of popular culture (advertising, television, music videos) and genre (the Hollywood film, women’s film, action movies, westerns, sci-fi, documentary, “Third World,” and “alternative” film, etc.) Weekly screening. - Marie Regan, M 6:10pm-10:00pm.

FILM W 3001: Introduction to the Study and Theory of Film. 3 pts.
Lecture and discussion. Priority given to declared film majors. Fee: $50. Basic principles of film study--film aesthetics (mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound); film history (interaction of historical, economic, ideological, and technological determinants); film theory (realism, cinema specificity, relationship of film to other arts); and film criticism (feminist, Marxist, structuralist, semiotic, psychoanalytic, auteurist, and generic approaches). Discussion Section Required. - Marie Regan, R 1:30pm-5:15pm.

FILM W 3005: Laboratory in Screenwriting. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: FILM R4005. For film majors only. Exercises in the writing of film scripts. - Hope Dickinson Leach, T 6:00pm-9:00pm.

FILM W 3050: The Documentary Tradition. 3 pts.
Film screening, lecture, and discussion. Fee: $50. Documentary film from the late 1890s to the mid-1980s. Attention focuses on the documentary as a means of either supporting or attacking the status quo, on the relationship between the creators and consumers, on claims to truth and objectivity, and on how new technology influences the oldest form of filmmaking. Discussion Section Required. - Lawrence B Engel, M 6:00pm-10:00pm.

FILM W 3054: Laboratory in Fiction Filmmaking. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: FILM W4098. Fee: $50. Exercises in the use of video for fiction shorts. - Christopher L Carlson, W 10:00am-1:00pm.

FILM W 3200: Silent Cinema. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: Film W3001. Fee: $50. Survey of the early history of film aesthetics and technology, including the impact of Griffith and Eisenstein, German Expressionism, the French avant-garde, the consolidation of Hollywood, the relationship between film and theatre, changing approaches to performance, and the place of women and minorities in early cinema. Discussion Section Required.- David J Sterritt, T 10:00am-1:50pm.

FILM W 320: International Film History, 1930-1960. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: FILM W3001. Film screening, lecture, and discussion. Priority given to declared film majors. Fee: $50. Stylistic and thematic development from the dawn of the sound film through World War II and beyond in German, French, Italian, Japanese, and Scandinavian cinema. Key works by Pagnol, Renoir, Lang, Vigo, Rossellini, Dreyer, Ophnls, Fellini, Bergman, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Ozu. Discussion Section Required. - Andrew G Sarris, M 2:00pm-5:45pm.

FILM W 3300: Topics in American Cinema: Film Noir. 3pts.
Prerequisites: FILM W3001 or W3100. Fee: $75. Film screening, lecture, and discussion. Course content changes yearly. The Hollywood "Film Noir" emerged in the l940s as a creative force in the cinema. Films to be studied include "Laura," "Double Indemnity," "The Big Sleep," "Out of the Past," "Force of Evil," "and "In a Lonely Place." Discussion Section Required. - Andrew G Sarris, T 2:00pm-5:45pm.

FILM W 3840: Senior Seminar in Film Studies. 3 pts.
A seminar for senior film majors planning to write a research paper in film history/theory/culture. Course content changes yearly.

FILM W 3850: Senior Seminar in Screenwriting. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: FILM W3001, W3005, and R4005. A seminar for senior film majors. - David McKenna, T 2:00pm-5:00pm.

FILM R 4005: The Film Medium: Script Analysis. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: FILM W3001. Lecture and discussion. Fee: $50. The dramatic and cinematic principles of screen storytelling, including dramaturgy, character and plot development, use of camera, staging, casting, sound, editing, and music. Diverse narrative techniques, story patterns, dramatic structures, and artistic and genre forms are discussed, and students do screenwriting exercises. Discussion Section Required. - Milena Jelinek, R 10:00am-1:00pm.

FILM W 4098: Film Theory I: From the Origins To Mitry 3 pts.
Prerequisite: FILM W3001. Fee: $50. An introduction to classical film theory, from its beginnings to the early structuralist work of Christian Metz. Discussion Section Required. - James A Schamus, M 10:00am-1:50pm.

FREN BC 3047.8: Africa in Cinema - Kaiama L Glover, TR 4:10pm-5:25pm.

FREN BC 3049: France on Film.
Films on and of the period from the 1930s to the present, focusing on the interplay between history, ideology, and culture. Prerequisite: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor - Serge Gavronsky, W 4:10pm-5:00pm (Screening T 7:10pm-8:30pm).