Film Genre

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or better in any WC&IL II course or HON 1000.

The study of genre offers a qualitative window onto how audiences perceive and evaluate cinematic form and content. Through the analysis of especially-characteristic films, the course explores key topics in genre studies: notions of popular and cultural value; how genres move across and between different media; and the ways that industrial, social, technological, and aesthetic factors shape the development, circulation, and reception of a film genre. Various “case- studies” are explored from year to year and may include: film noir, comedy, the musical, the Western, science fiction, the road movie, and others.

Credit: 3