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Program Info
Department Info
- College of Humanities and Fine Arts
- (530)898-5351
- (530)898-5581 (fax)
- email: hfa@csuchico.edu
- Humanities Program
- (530)898-6379
- (530)898-5468 (fax)
- email: hum@csuchico.edu
Course Offerings

The Minor in Cinema Studies

Course Requirements for the Minor: 18 units

The following courses, or their approved transfer equivalents, are required of all candidates for this minor.

Approaches to Film: 6 units

2 courses selected from:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
ARTH 482	Film as Visual Art	3.0	FS
The visual aspect of film (without which there would be no film), a history of film imagery, analysis of aesthetic aspects of montage, examination of relationships between film and major nineteenth and twentieth century art movements, avant-garde and underground film, recent developments, including experiments in video and computer-generated imagery. Innovative filmmakers such as Maya Deren and Hans Richter will be studied. 3 hours lecture. (000780)
ENGL 301	Introduction to Film	3.0	FA
Introduction to film as a narrative art form, with emphasis on key works and major directors from various periods of international and American film history and on major critical and theoretical concepts. 2 hours lecture, 3 hours laboratory. (003460)
HUMN 380	Food and Film	3.0	FS	GE
This course explores themes about food in international cinema, with special attention to the social, cultural and historical contex for food as depicted in film, the cultural issues regarding national, ethnic and gender identity, and how the art and history of cinema have presented the many roles that food plays in our lives. 2 hours discussion, 3 hours laboratory. This is an approved General Education course. (020650)
PHIL 383	Philosophy and Film	3.0	FS	GE
Critical examination of selected cinematographic works, with special emphasis on the clarification and analysis of the philosophical ideas they entail. 2 hours discussion, 3 hours laboratory. This is an approved General Education course. (007248)
RELS 365	Religion and Film	3.0	SP
An examination of the representation of religious concerns and meaning in modern film. Utilizing resources developed in religious traditions and in the field of religious studies, the course examines themes central to the human condition such as selfhood, religious conviction, despair, redemption, and race and ethnicity. 3 hours lecture. (008149)

Cinema and Anglophone Cultures: 3 units

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
CDES 342	Documentary Film	3.0	FS
The origins and major movements in the area of the documentary film. The various uses relating to propaganda, social problems, and personal insight. Production motivations in seeking the mass audience through documentary. Open to non-majors. 3 hours discussion. (001683)
CDES 344	American Cinema	3.0	FS
Motion picture beginnings. How production, distribution, and use developed to make motion pictures a powerful medium for mass communication. The significance of the motion picture as an entertainment, education, information, and propaganda device meeting unique social needs and purposes. Open to non-majors. 3 hours discussion. (001677)
ENGL 203	Shakespeare on Film	3.0	INQ	GE
Through examining the texts and film interpretations of Shakespeare plays, students in this course develop a deeper understanding of both Shakespearean drama and the language of film. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. (015856)
ENGL 303	Survey of American Film	3.0	SP
Study and criticism of selected American films, with emphasis on their literary sources, their illustration of various literary conventions, and their use of language. 2 hours lecture, 3 hours laboratory. (003463)
ENGL 401	Themes in American Film	3.0	FA
A study of modern themes in selected American films. 2 hours lecture, 3 hours laboratory. (003481)

Foreign Language Cinema: 3 units

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Sustainable	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
FLNG 315	Myth & History in European Cinema		3.0	FS
Prerequisites: HIST 103 or HIST 110. This course is also offered as HIST 315. Discusses the ways in which film reflects and shapes European society since World War I. Examines the relationships of history, politics, and cinema in Italy, France, Germany, Britain, and the former Soviet Union. 2 hours lecture, 2 hours activity. (003772)

OR (the following course may be substituted for the above)

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered
HIST 315	Myth & History in European Cinema	3.0	FS
Prerequisites: HIST 103 or HIST 110. This course is also offered as FLNG 315. Discusses the ways in which film reflects and shapes European society since World War I. Examines the relationships of history, politics, and cinema in Italy, France, Germany, Britain, and the former Soviet Union. 2 hours lecture, 2 hours activity. (003772)
FREN 480	French Cinema	3.0	INQ
An introduction to French cinema as a narrative form, with emphasis on key films and directors from various periods of French film history. The class is taught in English. All films have English subtitles. 3 hours discussion. (003813)
GERM 482	Weimar Cinema: From Caligari to Hitler	3.0	INQ
Class taught in English. All films have English subtitles. Historical survey of film classics from the Expressionist cinema, the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich, with an introduction to the main currents in film aesthetics and theory from Kracauer to contemporary feminist film theories. Readings of major authors on films, including Brecht, Eisner, and Kracauer. Screening of films by Murnau, Lang, and von Sternberg. 3 hours discussion. (004223)
GERM 484	The New German Cinema	3.0	INQ
Class taught in English. All films have English subtitles. Historical survey of representative films from the post-war era, the New German, and feminist cinema, including study of their cultural and social significance, with a component of significant film aesthetics and theories from Kluge to contemporary feminist film theories. 3 hours discussion. (004224)
ITAL 482	Italian Cinema -- General History, Genres, and Trends	3.0	INQ
The Italian Cinema as a creative art form has had a profound and lasting impact on world cinematography. The course will include Italian film history and the study of major trends and techniques. The relationship of the cinema to socio-political, economic, and literary events in Italy and the world will be studied: Neorealism, The Felliniesque, Spaghetti Western, Commedia all'Italiana, and more recent trends. The class is taught in English and all films have English subtitles. 3 hours discussion. (005111)
JAPN 381	Japan in Film	3.0	INQ
This course is taught in English. It examines a variety of Japanese films involving the following cultural themes: roles of men and women, society, history, politics, education, theater, sports, music, industry, comedy, etc. In the process, the students examine and analyze the myths and realities of Japanese people as portrayed in the films. Discussions are designed to increase students' awareness of intercultural communication, to foster their preparedness for functioning in the complex order of Japanese society. All films have English subtitles. 3 hours lecture. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 6.0 units. (020182)
SPAN 481	Film and Literature in Spain and Latin America	3.0	INQ
Prerequisites: SPAN 301; SPAN 341 or SPAN 342; or faculty permission. Students will consider the elements that constitute literary and cinematic masterpieces by examining films based on a variety of texts: epic poetry, drama, short story, legend, novel, zarzuela, and filmscript. The films will represent the cultural and linguistic diversity in areas of Spain and Latin America. 3 hours discussion. (009183)

Electives: 3 units

3 units selected from:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered
CDES 352	Media Arts and Identity	3.0	FS
Examines the creation and propagation of representations of identity, such as sexuality, ethnicity, race, nationality and class within film, video and electronic arts. 3 hours discussion. (020661)
CDES 353	World Cinema	3.0	FS
Investigates the concept of world and national cinema within historical, economic, cultural, and theoretical contexts. 2 hours discussion, 2 hours activity. (020662)

or choose any course offered in one of the three sections above or any film course offered in the University, with the approval of the Humanities advisor.

Comparative Study: 3 units

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
ARTH 433	European Art: Twentieth Century	3.0	FS
Prerequisites: ARTH101 and ARTH 102 for art majors. An investigation of the European Avant-Garde of the first half of the century: Modernism, Cubism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dada, Neue Sachlichkeit, the Bauhaus, and Surrealism in painting, sculpture, architecture, and performance art. These movements will be related to music, dance, literature, theater, and to the European social, intellectual, and political ambience of the period up to and including World War II, when key European artist refugees arrived in the United States. Such artists as Marcel Duchamp, Kathe Kodwitz, and Pablo Picasso will be considered. 3 hours lecture. (000777)
ARTH 441	Contemporary Art: 1980-present	3.0	FS
Prerequisites: ARTH 102 for Art majors. An investigation of artists and issues that have occupied the global contemporary art world since 1980. 3 hours lecture. (000838)
ARTH 484	History of Photography	3.0	FS
The development of photography from roots in classical and medieval discoveries to the present, its role in historical documentation, its reciprocal influence upon the arts, its contribution to science, and its importance as an extension of human vision. Non-silver processes and fusion of photography with computer and other media will be examined. Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Weston are among the photographers to be considered. 3 hours lecture. (000773)
ENGL 451	Modern Poetry	3.0	FS
Study of twentieth-century British, American, Continental, and Latin American poetry. 3 hours seminar. (003543)
ENGL 453	Modern Drama	3.0	FS
British, Continental, and American drama from Ibsen to the present. Topics vary from semester to semester. 3 hours seminar. (003549)
ENGL 454	Comparative Literature	3.0	FS
Comparative study of major genres, themes, and literary figures in literature. Topics vary from semester to semester. 3 hours seminar. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 6.0 units. (003552)
ENGL 461	The Modern Novel	3.0	FS
British, American, Continental, and Latin American novels in the twentieth century. 3 hours seminar. (003562)
HIST 325	Modern European Thought and Culture	3.0	SP
An exploration of the main currents in European intellectual history from the French Revolution to the present, emphasizing the rise of modernism in art, literature, philosophy, and the social sciences in the twentieth century. The focus will be on the analysis of primary texts by Marx, Freud, Nietzche, and other writers and thinkers. 3 hours seminar. (004528)
HIST 416	Contemporary Europe, 1914-Present	3.0	FA
An examination of the history of European society, politics, and ideas in the twentieth century. The emphasis is on the causes and course of the First World War, the rise of communism in the Soviet Union and of fascism in Italy and Germany, the emergence of modern culture in the interwar period, the causes and course of the Second World War, and the reconstruction of postwar Europe. 3 hours seminar. (004602)
MUSC 293	History of Jazz	3.0	SP
The historical and philosophical study of jazz from its African origins to the various forms in which it exists today. 3 hours lecture. (006184)
MUSC 294	History of Rock Music	3.0	FA
An in-depth study of Rock and Roll music and culture as it relates to the development and changes in American and world social orders. A study of the impact of Rock and Roll on social, economic, cultural and political structures. 3 hours lecture. (006186)
MUSC 303	Music History (1900 to the Present)	3.0	FA
Prerequisites: MUSC 202, MUSC 302, and faculty permission. The chronological development of western music from 1900 to the present through the study of literature, musical scores, recordings, films, and live performances. 3 hours lecture. (006153)
PHIL 202	Philosophy East and West	3.0	FS	GE GC
A philosophical analysis of major ideas in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian thought and their relationship to basic philosophical developments in the west. 3 hours discussion. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved Global Cultures course. (007185)
PHIL 303	History of 19th Century Philosophy	3.0	FS
Western philosophical thought from Kant through the twentieth century, including the phenomenological and analytic traditions in western philosophy. 3 hours lecture. (007183)
PHIL 305	Continental Philosophy	3.0	FA
The phenomenological movement and its impact on philosophy, literature, and psychology, with attention to Husserl's views on mind, body, and intersubjectivity and Heidegger's ideas of being-in-the-world, authenticity, and death. 3 hours seminar. (007204)
PHIL 307	Existentialism	3.0	FA	GE
An examination of existentialism from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Sartre, and de Beauvoir. An analysis of the basic forces, concepts, and figures which have shaped existentialism. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. (007205)
THEA 315	Gender and the Stage	3.0	FS	GE
This course is also offered as MCGS 315. A study of gender issues as they have been dealt with in plays and productions throughout the history of the theatre. The course will focus on the portrayal of women and men on stage as well as key figures who broke barriers in the areas of playwriting, acting, designing, and production. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. (009520)
THEA 350	History of Modern Theatre	3.0	SP	GW
Prerequisites: ENGL 130 (or its equivalent) with a grade of C- or higher. Corequisites: Concurrent enrollment in THEA 350X is required. The development of physical theatres, scenery, costuming, acting, directing, playwriting, and business procedures from the nineteeth century through today. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement course; a grade of C- or higher certifies writing proficiency for majors. (009232)
THEA 350X	Readings in Dramatic Literature	1.0	SP
Prerequisites: ENGL 130 (or its equivalent) with a grade of C- or higher. Corequisites: Concurrent enrollment in THEA 350 is required. Reading and discussion of selected plays compliment the study topics of Theatre History. 1 hour lecture. (009233)