PROVOCATIVE WITNESS: CINEMA & GENOCIDE (FM3085)

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This class explores what it means to be a witness or a spectator to unimaginable crimes, using fiction films, documentaries and witness testimonies to explore the Shoah and the Armenian, Cambodian and Rwandan genocides. We ask: what does film make visible, and how does it transform the spectator’s relationship to the events and to the taking action?
Place in the Film major: To be included as an option in the film major within both the Genres and Topics category as well as the International Cinema Category

Code: 
FM3085
Name: 
PROVOCATIVE WITNESS: CINEMA & GENOCIDE
Discipline: 
FM (Film)
Type: 
Regular
Level: 
Undergraduate
Credits: 
4
Can be taken twice for credit?: 
No
Pre-requisites: 
None
Co-requisites: 
None

Learning Outcomes

  1. Breakdown different ways spectator are engaged, challenged or entertained by different media forms.
  2. Curate testimonies from the VHA in a class chorus to challenge/expand storytelling uncovered in course films.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of political, social and historical factors in a range of international incidents of mass violence and genocide.
  4. Engage films and video testimonies in structured ways to understand how filmic choices contribute to how events are understood.
  5. Present findings of our class in final class conference.

Archived Syllabi