Course Description
Popular Hollywood films as they illustrate culture, social
class, race, gender, identity, and other sociological concepts.
The ideological and utopian aspects of film are emphasized.
Athena Title
Sociology in Film
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in SOCI 3000
Non-Traditional Format
This version of the course will be taught as writing intensive,
which means that the course will include substantial and ongoing
writing assignments that a) relate clearly to course learning;
b) teach the communication values of a discipline, for example,
its practices of argument, evidence, credibility, and format;
and c) prepare students for further writing in their academic
work, in graduate school, and in professional life. The written
assignments will result in a significant and diverse body of
written work (the equivalent of 6000 words or 25 pages) and
the instructor (and/or the teaching assistant assigned to the
course) will be closely involved in student writing, providing
opportunities for feedback and substantive revision.
Prerequisite
SOCI 1101 or SOCI 1101H or SOCI 2600 or permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will use film and other texts to analyze contemporary (and past) American cultures and subcultures in order to better understand the ways in which forces of social reproduction and social transformation continually operate to make and remake human societies.
- Students will analyze the Hollywood film industry in terms of its organizational structure (production, financing, advertising, and distribution) and its role in contemporary global culture.
- Students will be able to conceptualize and describe movies not simply as a form of entertainment but as a powerful cultural force that contains within it many of the themes and contradictions that are part of the larger society.
- Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in written work that is appropriate for an academic context.
- Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in speech that is appropriate for an academic context.
- Students will consider, engage, and analyze opposing viewpoints or arguments about what can be learned from popular films about the selected topic, supporting their own conclusion about the importance of film as a representation of the selected topic, such as romantic relationships and family interactions and patterns, with sound reasoning based on evidence.
- Students will submit reaction papers on films, which will include responding to a question prompt based on assigned material and class discussion. After receiving feedback, students will have the opportunity to incorporate the feedback into a longer version of the written assignment that incorporates content from films and readings assigned for the module.
Topical Outline
- 1. How do sociologists look at film?
a. The cultural diamond
b. Ideological and utopian themes
c. Political issues: Can movies have be political even when they’re not about politics?
2. The Structure of the Film Industry
a. Movie Distribution Works
b. The Art of the Deal
c. How Theaters Get A Movie
d. The Need for Concessions
e. First Run vs. Second Run
3. Film criticism and critics
4. Social Class in the Movies
5. Ethnicity, assimilation, and nostalgia
6. Gender Relations and romance in the movies and in life
7. Blacks, whites, conflict, and romance
8. Alienation, Autonomy, and the Self
9. The State and Social Conflict
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
