American History in Film @ West LA College

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”

Ansel Adams
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40 Syllabus CHEE – By remaining in this class, I, the student, agree  to read and accept the terms of the syllabus!

Final Exams (Project): Thursday, December 17th, 1:45-3:45 PM

How will you teach, present or guide your classmates?   Discussion & Presentation Leads:

10 minute presentation with your group to the class! (while it is a group project, you are responsible for only your own words)

Think about the questions, Who/what/when/where/why/how? AND:  

  • Film, characters, and director (and the occasional actor)
  • impact on the period it was produced
  • Period of time we are studying
  • Intersection of film and history (include lectures and articles!)
  • What does the film express regarding American values, of the time they are representing, or of the time the film was created

15-20-minutes of class discussion facilitation:

Remember the questions from the syllabus?, e.g. Race, class, (trans)gender, sexuality, and intersection of film and history

Make sure you have discussion questions, 3-5 questions each!

Amazon Trial for free access to films:

American Film Institute – the movies we will be watching are categorized as AFI’s top 100 films.  You can also search the catalog for other films: http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/search.aspx?s=

Week 2 Assignments:
  1. Thoroughly Modern Millie, 1967, George Roy Hill.  http://ffilms.org/thoroughly-modern-millie-1967/
  2. Lecture on Women & Humanities:  Historic Overview  http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/women-in-humanities-chee-112014
  3. Lecture on Women during the 1920s & 30s:  http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/52-guest-lecture-192045-chee
  4. Sarah Patenaude, “The Pill,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015,  30 seconds – The PILL – Patenaude
  5. Laura J. Lee, “The Spirit of St. Louis,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.138
  6. Kerry D. Harlow, “The Jazz Singer.”  in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015.
  7. “The Jazz Singer,” Aland Crosland, 1927.  30 seconds – Jazz Singer (article) and film excerpt:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIaj7FNHnjQ&list=PLqYqM-IgtcsUwyUcRmyndhlcdC0YSg2Ax&index=3
  8. Optional:  Bessie Smith, “St. Louis Blues,” 1929, part 1 excerpt,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ1wtjO4In8&list=PLqYqM-IgtcsUwyUcRmyndhlcdC0YSg2Ax&index=5

read, reflect and write down key terms or questions from the 20s and 30s that affected women, African Americans, music, and American society.

Week 3 – Paper Bios Due

Bios – Student Self-Bios 9.2014

Week 4  Readings & Late Paper Bios Accepted

  1. The Depression:  The Grapes of Wrath, John Ford, 1940.  http://ffilms.org//?s=the+grapes+of+wrath
  2. Kristine Hornsby, “The Wall Street Crash” in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, 30s – Wall Street Crash
  3. Jonathan T. Reynolds, “‘Pile it High, Sell it Low,'” p.104 30s – King Cullen – Pile it High…
  4. Jonathan T. Reynolds, “Profile:  JM Keynes” 30s – JM Keynes
  5. Christopher Teters, “The New Deal” 30s – FDR & the New Deal
  6. Lectures on the 30s & the Great Depression:  http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/52-guest-lecture-192045-chee

Week 5-6 Assignments 

  1. Etudes!
  2. The 40s, Automobile Industry and Film Biographies:  Tucker:  the Man and his Dream.  Francis Ford Coppola, 1988.  http://putlocker.is/watch-tucker-the-man-and-his-dream-online-free-putlocker.html (this link may or may not work, but keep clicking on play and do not download anything)
  3. Lecture on the Depression & WWII – http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/52-guest-lecture-192045-chee
  4. Candace Goucher, “The Model T Ford,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.98
  5. Jeremy Rich, “Red Rubber Scandal in the Belgian Congo,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.136
  6. Another lecture on the 40s coming soon…

Week 7 

  1. The 50s, and the Politics of McCarthyism. The Front, Martin Ritt, 1976, 94 min. (Woody Allen) or Good Night, and Good Luck. George Clooney, 2005.  http://putlocker.is/watch-the-front-online-free-putlocker.html
  2. Lecture – The Cold War – http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/lecture-9-the-cold-war
  3. Lecture – The Cold War & Domestic Policy (let’s save this one for the Sci-Fi section)
  4. Lecture – Hollywood & McCarthyism – a photo montage – http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/hist-40-hollywood-mccarthyism-the-politics-of-naming-names
  5. Grace Chee, “The Fall of the Berlin Wall,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.150
  6. Christopher Teters, “The Cuban Missile Crisis,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.82

Week 8 Readings – October 22

  1. The 50s Atomic Age and “Sci-Fi” in Movies: The Day the Earth Stood Still, Robert Wise, 1951, 92 min. (Netflix)
  2. Lecture – The Cold War & Domestic Policy http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/lecture-11-ii-cold-war-boom-in-the-us-53962907
  3. John Tibbetts, “The Machine in the Garden,” The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003, pp.590-593  Machine in the Garden
  4. Laura J. Lee, “Albert Einstein,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.20
  5. Laura J. Lee, “Transistor,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.22
  6. Laura J. Lee, “The Spirit of St. Louis,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.138
  7. Russell Zimmerman, “Sputnik,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.24
  8. Christine Hornsby, “One Giant Leap,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.148
  9. Grace Chee, “the World Wide Web,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.28
  10. Laura J. Lee, “Pong,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.44

Week 9 – October 29

  1. The 50s: White Suburban, Middle-Class Teenaged America: Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray, 1955, 111 min. http://putlocker.ms/watch-rebel-without-a-cause-online-free-1955-putlocker.html
  2. Sarah Patenaude “The Year of the Barricades,” in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.86 (this article fits tangentially, by thinking about it retrospectively)
  3. David Wilt, “Suburbia,” The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003, pp.480-487  Film in History – Suburbia
  4. Ron Green “Children and Teenagers in the Twentieth Century,” The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003, pp.241-487. Film in History – Film in History – Teens

Week 10 – November 3

  1. The 50s: America in Korea: M*A*S*H. Robert Altman, 1970, 116 min
  2. Lecture – The Cold War & Domestic Policy http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/lecture-11-ii-cold-war-boom-in-the-us-53962907 (section on the cold war & Korea only)
  3. Craig Lockard on the Korean War Lockard – Korean War
  4. Philip J. Landon, “The Korean War,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003  Columbia – Korean War
  5. Craig Lockard, “Dien Bien Phu,” in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.66
  6. Grace Chee, “The Fall of the Berlin Wall,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.150
  7. (Optional):  Check out Robert Ebert’s review on MASH:  http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mash-1970

Week 11 – November 10

  1. The 60s: America in Vietnam & Cambodia: Good Morning Vietnam, Barry Levinson, 1987, 120 min. & the Killing Fields, 1984, 141 min http://putlocker.is/watch-good-morning-vietnam-online-free-putlocker.html
  2. Professor Chee’s video lecture on the Cold War:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CPscJImZ-w
  3. Lecture on the section on the Vietnam War:  http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/lecture-9-the-cold-war
  4. Peter Rollins, “The Vietnam War,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003  Columbia – Vietnam War
  5. Craig Lockard, “Dien Bien Phu,” in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.66
  6. Russell Zimmerman, “Soviet Defeat in Afghanistan,” in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.68
  7. Kristopher Teters, “The Cuban Missile Crisis,” in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.82
  8. Candace Goucher,“Profile: Patrice Lumumba,”in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.146

Week 12-13 – November 12 & November 17

  1. Immigrant, Union & Communist Backlash of the 50s:  The Salt of the Earth, Herbert Biberman, 1954, 94 minutes
  2. Previous lectures on the Cold War & McCarthyism
  3. Scott L. Baugh, “Mexican Americans,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003  Columbia – Mexican Americans
  4. Terry Hong, “Asian Americans,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003  Columbia – Asian Americans
  1. 60s Civil Rights & the Significance of Sidney Poitier in Film: The Defiant Ones, Stanley Kramer, 1958, 97 min. or A Raisin in the Sun, Daniel Petrie, 1961.http://putlocker.is/watch-the-defiant-ones-online-free-putlocker.html
  2. Lecture on the American Civil Rights Movement:http://www.slideshare.net/gchee99/lecture-12-ii-us-civil-rights-chee
  3. Raymond Arsenault, “Civil Rights,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003  Columbia – Civil Rights
  4. David E. Wilt and Michael Shull, “African Americans after World War II,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003Columbia – African Americans After WWII
  5. Kristopher Teters, “’I Have a Dream,” in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.84

Week 14

  1. The 60s and Women:The Way We Were, Sydney Pollak, 1973.  OR The Stepford Wives, Bryan Forbes. 1975  & a nod to TV & Women: I Love Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore Show http://ffilms.org//?s=the+way+we+were
  2. Molly Haskell, “Chapter 6:  The Sixties” in From Reverence to Rape:  The Treatment of Women in the Movies, Second Edition, University of Chicago, p.323
  3. June Sochen, “Women in the Twentieth Century,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003, pp.310-315 Columbia – Women
  4. “Jewish Americans,” in The Columbia Companion to American History on Film, Peter C. Rollins, Editor, Columbia University Press, 2003, pp.263-8 Columbia – Jewish Americans
  5. Sara Patenaude, “Kaiser Wilson,” in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015,  p.74
  6. Grace Chee, “Pablo Picasso,” in The 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015,  p.

Week 15

  1. The 60s Counter Culture and the Beatles: Across the Universe, Julie Taymor, 2007.  http://ffilms.org//?s=across+the+universe
  2. Jonathan Reynolds, “The Peanut Vendor,”in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.42
  3. Jonathan Reynolds, “Global Broadcast of ‘All You Need is Love,’” in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.26
  4. Timothy Sofranko, “Woodstock,” in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.46
  5. Sara Patenaude, “Stonewall,”in 30-Second Twentieth Century, Ivy Press, 2015, p.88

 

 

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