AMST 257
Beyond Tonto: American Indians in Film Spring 2016
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed ENGL 260 / COMP 273 / ARTH 260 / HIST 357
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

In 1893, Thomas Edison unveiled the kinetoscope and allowed audience members to glimpse the Hopi Snake Dance by peeking into the device’s viewing window. Since the birth of the motion picture, films portraying Native Americans (often with non-Native actors in redface) have drawn upon earlier frontier mythology, art, literature, and Wild West performances. These depictions in film have embedded romanticized and stereotyped ideas about American Indians in the imaginations of audiences throughout the United States and around the world. In this course, we will critically examine representations of American Indians in film, ranging from the origins of the motion picture industry to the works of contemporary Native filmmakers who challenge earlier paradigms. We will reflect upon revisionist narratives, the use of film as a form of activism, Indigenous aesthetics and storytelling techniques, reflexivity, and parody. Throughout the semester, we will view and discuss ethnographic, documentary, and narrative films. This course will satisfy the Exploring Diversity Initiative (EDI) requirement as we will examine power relations, cross-cultural interaction, and Indigenous social experiences.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 25
Expected: 20
Class#: 3261
Grading: no pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: attend evening film screenings each week; two short papers; and a 10-page final
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: American Studies majors
Distributions: Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under AMST or HIST; meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under ENGL, ARTH, or COMP
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ENGL 260 Division I COMP 273 Division I ARTH 260 Division I HIST 357 Division II AMST 257 Division II

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