SCRN 291 - Capstone Course - Variable topics

Fall 2017 Topic: Resisting Media

The title of this capstone seminar means two things.  The first meaning involves the cultural, subcultural, or individual impulse to stand against media, refusing its seductions, calling attention to how it works, and subverting or destroying it.  In this mode, seminar members will engage in a series of dialogues about mainstream and alternative moving image media, as well as close readings of relevant works of critical theory.  We will explore the ways in which popular media tries to make itself “irresistible,” indoctrinating and maintaining its viewers as consumers, while we work to identify possibilities for resistance on individual, local, national, and international scales.  “Resisting Media” also denotes “media that resists,” referring to past and present media objects which themselves work against structures of domination, oppression, and authoritarian rule.  The backbone of the course will involve ten weeks of readings, screenings, intensive discussions, and writing assignments.  The final five weeks will be dedicated to workshopping students’ capstone projects, which may comprise either a written essay (20+ pages) or a video production (10+ minutes; either narrative, documentary or experimental).  Workload and pacing will be intense, commensurate with a senior capstone.  Seminar enrollment is guaranteed to seniors in Screen Studies; other majors enroll by permission only.

Prerequisites: SCRN 101  or Permission.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every fall