Mini Term

Bollywood Mini Term, 2010

Students will participate in analyzing Bollywood films and the Bollywood culture. We will also study significant Hindu texts and take a trip to a Hindu temple.

Prom Queens, Rebels and Neo-Maxi Zoom Dweebies: Teens in Film

Where do I belong in this world? Who am I? How do I really know that he/she loves me? Just what is a Neo Maxi Zoom Dweebie? Teen movies from 1950-present show teens grappling with these and other defining issues; often in humorous and poignant ways. This course will use contemporary film criticism and cultural studies to investigate what films about teens say about what it means to be teenager. We will watch Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass, Carrie, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Clueless, American Pie, Election, Heathers, Say Anything and others, including one playing at a local theatre. We will also read several short stories that center on teenage narrators and one novel, Perks of Being a Wallflower. Students will be responsible for maintaining a viewing journal, creating an alternate list of films, and analyzing a film in groups. The final product will be either a selection of film clips about one theme or a student-written screenplay of a scene centered on a theme from the week’s discussions.