Course Description
From its earliest days, cinema has maintained a keen interest in sex and sexuality. Many film critics have argued, in fact, that sex and eroticism are fundamental to cinema’s pleasures.
This course will take a historical view of sexual representation on screen from the 1950s to the present—a period in which cinematic representation shifted toward making sex public. In this course, we will focus primarily on scripted feature-length films, art cinema, and avant-garde cinema. We will consider how the cinema has functioned as a how-to manual and a site of memory-fantasy, scripting how we experience sex-sexuality and how we make sense of ourselves as modern sexual subjects. Certainly, the ideological operations of sex in the cinema will be central to our study, but we will also consider how filmmakers, critics, and viewers challenge dominant conceptions through alternative cinematic production and criticism. Finally, we will consider the work of producing sex on screen through scholarship on sexual labor. Major theories, analytics, and methods in the course include feminist film criticism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, queer theory, and studies of race and representation. Some background in film studies—including formal analysis, film history, and writing about film—is recommended but not required.
Please note: Moving images sexual representations have the power to elicit a range of viewer effects, both psychic and somatic. Students who are sensitive to such representations should reach out to instructor before enrolling in the course.
Strategic Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate a grasp of evolutions in sexual image making on screens, large and small, from the 1950s to the present
- Gain an understanding of theories and methods used to study sex on screen including but not limited to feminist analysis, Marxism, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and studies of race and representation
- Visually analyze sexual representations in moving image cultures
- Present oral arguments with confidence
- Conduct independent research using primary and secondary sources
- Compose argumentative, evidence-based papers that situate author within ongoing conversations in studies of sex on screen
Required Texts
- History of Sexuality, Volume 1, Michel Foucault
- *Additional required readings are posted on the course site. You must print out all readings and bring them, with your annotations, to class.
- All films listed in syllabus.
Recommended Text
- Short Guide to Writing About Film (any edition), Timothy Corrigan
Assignments
- Once during the semester, each student will lead class discussion for roughly 45 minutes to an hour (begins with an overview of the readings for the week that lasts for roughly 20-25 minutes, followed by guided discussion with peers and instructor)
- A short oral presentation (5 minutes max) on a topic related to sex on screen presented early in the semester
- One article-length research paper (20-25 pages, double-spaced) or multimedia project (5-10 minute video essay) with shorter written component (10-12 pages) on screen topic of student’s choice (topic must be approved by instructor)
- A brief presentation (10 minutes max) on research findings at the end of the semester
*authors likely to include Linda Williams, Amber Jamilla Musser, Lee Edelman, Ngyuen Tan Hoang, Damon Young, Sergio Rigoletto, Celine Shimizu, Eve Sedgwick, Sigmund Freud, Jed Samer, Mireille Miller-Young, B. Ruby Rich, Heather Berg, Juana María Rodriguez