HCRT-230: Women in Film

Women in Film -- this course traces the depiction of women in American feature film, from the Golden Age of Cinema (such as George Cukor's "The Women" from 1939) to contemporary films with independent voices, prominent women filmmakers, and multi-cultural points of view. Films to examine include Michael Curtiz's "Mildred Pierce," Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," Julie Dash's "Daughters of the Dust," Jane Campion's "The Piano," Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," and new films such as "Suffragette," "Carol," and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." How and why have depictions changed? What do recent studies about women's participation in top-rated feature films tell us? These films will be viewed as powerful social and political expressions, and as cinematic art.