• Course Description: This course is listed as Special Topics in American Studies on the course selection sheet.

     

    This is an honors elective course for students who are inquisitive and interested in the study of history through films.  This course will be broken up into two semester courses.  The fall semester course will concentrate on the Revolutionary period to the World Wars.  The spring semester course will concentrate on the Cold War period to Modern Terrorism.  We will use film to approach the history of the United States through major historical periods throughout American history.  Students will explore historical topics and periods using films, outside readings, lectures, and class discussions.  They will work individually and in groups to understand the validity of films as historical sources.  This is a history course and as such is reading and writing intensive.

     

    This course treats films as texts deserving the same skills of critical thinking and analysis as any other sources used within a history course.  The class is designed to reveal that some films are valid historical sources, offering a glimpse into the social, political, and cultural historical moment in which it was created.

     

    The screening of films will be paired with other sources.  Each week, students will be asked to create a “fact sheet” of the time period in which we will be studying the film.  Students will be asked to read and take notes of all accompanying documents for each film.  They will then complete film analysis forms and written summaries with their evaluations of the film.  As stated above, this course is writing intensive and involves independent student work outside of class.  It will require students to be self-motivated learners and emphasize thoughtful individual critiques of the films and readings.