World Screen: Aesthetics and Politics

This subject is not offered in 2009.

50 points of first year level study.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject explores contemporary screen aesthetics and politics. Students are given key conceptual tools with which to learn to utilise, and articulate the range of positions of communication of aesthetic and political movements of world cinemas of the 21st century. This subject introduces students to the aesthetic positions of specific screen productions and theories including examples from South-Central Asian Critical Aesthetics, Asian-Pacific, Contemporary Japanese, Western European, Scandinavian, South and North American industries. Specific directors works might include Jim Jarmusch and Gus Van Sant. Students will engage with the contemporary critical cinematographic concepts including those of Theodor Adorno, Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, Homi Bhabha, Stanley Cavell, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Sarah Kofman, Julia Kristeva, Emmanuel Lavinas, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Luc Nancy, Jacques Ranciare, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Paul Virilio, Slavoj Zizek. On completion of the subject students should be able to articulate a range of aesthetic connections and positions, and have a focused knowledge of a specific set of cinematic and cultural theory with which to negotiate world screen conditions.

4000 words total, comprising of a 1000 word case study and presentation 25% (commencing at the beginning of the semester and due at the end of semester), and a 3000 word research essay 75% (due at the end of semester). Students are advised to consult the following web address for details of assessment penalities which apply to this subject http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/policy/assessment/policy/penalities.html.

A subject reader will be available.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

• Students who complete this subject should be able to recognize and explain a range of critical cinematographic theory.

• This subject demonstrates to students the uses of critical theory in relation to world cinemas.