Maymester

HUMN 3660/FILM 3660The Postmodern
David Ferris
Analyses the cultural and critical practices as well as the thought that defines the postmodern period at the end of the twentieth century.Prereq., HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing. HUMN 3660 and FILM 3660 are the same course. Approved for the arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

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HUMN 4502 Nietzche

Term A

HUMN 4010 Hitchcock and Freud
Paul Gordon

This class will apply Freud’s psychoanalytic method of interpreting works of art to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Although Hitchcock is often self-consciously Freudian in his art (eg. in Vertigo, Spellbound, etc.), the true “latent content” of the films is only to be revealed by an application of Freud’s theories of narcissism, the Oedipus-complex, the uncanny, etc. “against the grain” of the manifest content of Hitchcock’s works themselves. For example, we will seek to explain Hitchcock’s recurrent and complicated use of “maternal super-egos” (as in Psycho), of male narcissism (as in Rear Window), of a violent “male protest” (Shadow of a Doubt) and of a female and trans-gendered violence of nature and the unconscious (Marnie, The Birds). And above all, we will examine the persistence figure of “Mother” in Hitchcock’s films as it informs all of his leading female characters. Requirements: Weekly viewing of the films will be accompanied by class presentations and discussions, culminating in a final research project involving the psychoanalytical interpretation of at least one of Hitchcock’s films. Prerequisite: HUMN 2000 &/or junior/senior standing.

Term B

HUMN FILM 4135 Art and Psychoanalysis

Paul Gordon

Explores psychoanalytic theory as it relates to our understanding of literature, film, and other arts. After becoming familiar with some essential Freudian notions (repression, narcissism, ego/libido, dream work, etc.), students apply these ideas to works by several artists (e.g., Flaubert, James, Kafka, Hoffmann, and Hitchcock). Same as FILM. Prerequisite, HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.