MDST 370

Contemporary Cinema

4 Undergraduate credits
Effective August 1, 1998 – Present

Graduation requirements this course fulfills

This course uses currently playing films as entry points into a study of wider issues around film as an art form, cultural phenomenon and industry. Students attend various screenings of Hollywood blockbusters, low-budget art films and experimental works, and then analyze them and their significance relative to topics in film theory and aesthetics.

Special information

Note: Students pay admission fees and parking at movie theaters.

Learning outcomes

General

  • Able to advance in oral and written forms, arguably true positions in support of the aesthetic qualities of a particular film at an advanced level.
  • Gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of contemporary cinema Develop criteria for evaluation of films.
  • Improve critical thinking and writing skills.
  • Understands and can synthesize aesthetic and critical principles of cinema in relationship to literature and theater at an advanced level.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Goal 6: The Humanities and Fine Arts

  • Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.
  • Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within a historical and social context.
  • Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.
  • Engage in the creative process or interpretive performance.
  • Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.