HIS2061 Special Topics: History Though Film

This course examines historically-based films as both primary and secondary sources of information about the past. The material in films, just as with written and other “traditional” sources, needs to be critically analyzed for its perspectives, biases, interpretive choices, intended purpose, and ultimately, reliability. Thus, many of the same skills that historians bring to their analysis of more traditional primary and secondary sources can also be applied to the critical interpretation of non-traditional sources like film. The course also challenges students to examine the relative successes or failures that the selected films have had in portraying the past, and asks them to analyze how present events, cultures, and attitudes shape our view of the past. The course will ultimately attempt to answer these two over-arching questions: Where are films situated with regard to other kinds of historical discourse? Just what, if anything, do history films convey about the past, and how do they convey it? Credits: 3.000

WRT 1011 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 AndEDU 1011 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or EDU 1001 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or EDU 1201 Lecture Min Credits: 2.00 And HIS 1011 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or HIS 1012 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or HIS 1021 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or HIS 1022 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or HIS 1031 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or HIS 1032 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or PHI 1011 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00 Or REL 1011 Lecture Min Credits: 3.00