WMST 241 - Topics in the Constructions of Gender

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2020/21b: Women and/in Cinema: an international perspective. Alice Guy-Blaché (1873-1968) is not a household name in the 21st century; it might surprise many of us to learn that she was a pioneer in filmmaking, and is credited with directing as early as 1896 one of the first fictional narrative films, La Fée aux Choux (The Cabbage Fairy). The world over, many women have followed in her footsteps, making films that foreground women’s perspectives. This course highlights the long but not-always-recognized legacy of Guy-Blaché to consider the ways in which women from various cultures have harnessed the power of the cinematic medium to interrogate what it means to be “feminist.” Through culture-specific discussions of the effects of patriarchy on perceptions of gender and sexuality as well as on (post)colonial histories of the societies considered, we analyze themes such as migration, class, gender politics and the roles that personal choice and ethics play in shaping women’s narratives rooted in the US, France, India and colonial New Zealand. Possible filmmakers and films include: Agnès Varda (L’une chante l’autre pas [1977]), Jane Campion (The Piano [1993]), Deepa Mehta (Fire [1996], Earth [1998], Water [2005]), Philippe Faucon (Dans la vie [2008], Fatima [2016]), Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere [2012], Selma [2014]) and Catherine Corsini (La belle saison [2015]). Vinay Swamy.

May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS