Admission requirements
This course is only available for second year students in the BA International Studies. The number of participants is limited to 25.
Description
The sociopolitical experiences and aesthetic movements of new wave films have marked significant phases in the history of international cinema since the mid-1940s. What or who makes cinema new? Is the New Wave a moment, or is it continuous? And, what aesthetic, social, and political issues do New Wave films attempt to address? Encouraging students to seek possible answers to these questions, this course, “International Film Culture and New Waves,” examines the historical emergence of and critical debates over new wave films and their ever-present afterlives in moving image culture. The course is organized both chronologically and thematically. Beginning with Italian Neorealist works in the mid-1940s, it goes on to investigate major new wave film movements including the French and Japanese New Waves in the late 1950s and the 1960s and the Hong Kong and Taiwanese New Waves in the 1980s and 1990s. The course ends with recent Chinese and South Korean film auteurs’ works introduced at international film festivals. Pursuing interdisciplinary and inter-regional approaches, students will investigate major topics including the impact of war and postwar experiences on aesthetic impulse, historical and critical interactions between transnational cinephiles and national film movements, the intertextual relationship between genre film and art cinema, and the role of technology in exploring new styles and forms within the context of international film and media culture. The course consists of mini-lectures, film viewings, class discussions, group presentations, and analytical and argumentative essay writing.
Additionally, students will work through W.C. Booth, G.G. Colomb, J.W. Williams, The Craft of Research, third edition, Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Course objectives
The elective courses for International Studies are designed to teach students how to deal with state-of-the-art literature and research questions. They are chosen to enhance the students’ learning experience by building on the interdisciplinary perspectives they have developed so far, and to introduce them to the art of academic research. They are characterised by an international or comparative approach.
Academic skills that are trained include:
Oral presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using up-to-date presentation techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience;
3. to actively participate in a discussion following the presentation.
Collaboration skills:
1. to be socio-communicative in collaborative situations;
2. to provide and receive constructive criticism, and incorporate justified criticism by revising one’s own position;
3. adhere to agreed schedules and priorities.
Basic research skills, including heuristic skills:
1. to collect and select academic literature using traditional and digital methods and techniques;
2. to analyze and assess this literature with regard to quality and reliability;
3. to formulate on this basis a sound research question;
4. to design under supervision a research plan of limited scope, and implement it using the methods and techniques that are appropriate within the discipline involved;
5. to formulate a substantiated conclusion.
Written presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured written presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using relevant illustration or multimedia techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website.
Mode of instruction
Lecture, seminar style discussion and supervised research.
Lectures, seminar style discsussions, presentations, and academic paper writing.
Course Load
A brief calculation of the course load, broken down by:
Total course load for the course: 10 EC x 28 hours= 280 hrs
Hours spent on attending lectures: 24 – Time for completing assignments, preparation classes: 136 – Time to write a paper (including reading / research): 120
EC: 10.0
Assessment method
Weekly assignments and a final paper of approx. 4-6,000 words (excluding tables and bibliography).
Attendance———————————————————————————————————————————-15%
Active Class Participant (Weekly Postings and Presentations)—————————————-30%
Formal Paper Assignments——————————————————————————————————55%
Note: The maximum possible grade to be obtained for re-submission of the final essay is a 6.0
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used. For tutorial groups: please enroll in blackboard after your enrolment in uSis
Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.
h3. Reading list
Required Texts
James Tweedie, The Age of New Waves: Art Cinema and the Staging Globalization
W.C. Booth, G.G. Colomb, J.W. Williams, The Craft of Research
Recommended Texts
David Bordwell, Film Art: Introduction
Timothy Corrigan, Short Guide to Writing about Film
Readings will be on reserve at university libraries.
Suggested readings and useful websites will be mentioned on the Blackboard site.
Registration Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs Not applicable. h3. Remarks
This course is recommended for students who are interested in East Asian cinema and media culture.
Contact
Dr. N. Han, email n.han@hum.leidenuniv.nl