MP6029 - Cinema and Society

The course will be taught via a series of lectures and seminars. Students are also required to watch one set film per week and, in some cases, may be required to view additional material.

Each lecture will introduce a key film and situate it within its original social (and historical/industrial) context. The lectures will be accompanied by relevant screenings. In the seminars, the issues raised in the lecture/by the film will be discussed in relation to academic literature.

The summative assessment – a written essay or video essay equivalent – aims to ensure that students are able to work and think independently and critically about cinema and society. Reading-based seminars aim to ensure that the students engage with secondary reading. Formative feedback will come from their peers and the module tutor throughout the course will develop their skills, their ability to work independently and collaboratively; thereby identifying strengths and weaknesses in their learning strategies. This will come in addition to formal feedback the student will received having completed the summative assessment.

You will be academically supported by the module tutor with whom you can make private appointments during their scheduled office hours. These are in place to encourage you to seek advice on course-related materials, including course content and the final assessment.

The seminars will also provide an arena of academic support both from classmates and the module tutor during group discussion. Such discussions are encouraged to aid in your ability to solve problems, to develop robust peer support networks, and to develop key transferable skills that can be employed in the workplace.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

You will be able to demonstrate specialist knowledge of the issues, themes and scholarly debates that characterise the study of cinema in relation to key social concerns.

You will be able to demonstrate analytical and interpretive skills required to formulate and justify independent critical viewpoints regarding cinema's engagement with complex social issues

You will be able to demonstrate an enhanced ability to select from an array of appropriate research methods, theories, and concepts relevant to cinema and society, and deploy said approaches in order to produce appropriately sophisticated written work

On completion of the module you will possess detailed knowledge of cinema as a mass communications industry

Intellectual/Professional Skills & Abilities
You will display your ability to work independently, including organising your time and meeting deadlines

You will display your ability to participate in collaborative discussions, including being confident in challenging others’ ideas

You will display your ability to communicate effectively to diverse audiences in seminars

You will display a clear understanding of how to build upon the transferable skills you have attained during the degree programme as part of your continuing development beyond university

Personal Values Attributes
You will be able to display the attitudes and skills needed to engage and work constructively, sensitively and ethically in conjunction with people from various socio-cultural backgrounds and with divergent skill-sets

Home students
You are required to submit either a 3000 word written essay or an equivalent video essay (7 minutes maximum).

Kaplan students
You are required to submit a 3000 word written essay.

This submission is worth 100% of the overall module grade. The assessment is designed to assess the your ability to research, process and reflect on, complex ideas pertaining to cinema and society.

You will have tutorials in the final week of the semester in which the module tutor will feedback to you regarding your individual progress on the module (your contribution to seminars, attendance, and so forth) based on observations made during teaching sessions.

You will be assessed on your ability to conduct analysis and think critically during the lectures and seminars. This will test your ability to critically engage with film across different historical periods. Class discussions in seminars will also be used to assess your understandings of the concepts outlined in the lectures, and the key reading you will have conducted.

You will receive formative feedback from your peers and the module tutor during the seminars throughout the course, allowing you to apprehend how your analytical skills are developing. You will receive both formative commentary and a summative mark on your written work. You are encouraged to reflect on your methodological choices throughout the course, allowing you to formatively assess your own performance beyond the seminars. The summative assessment will be accompanied with feedback that will support future learning by indicating areas for development, both in your critical skills, and your methodological practices.

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In this module, you will critically examine the relationship between US filmic institutions (films and industrial bodies – hereafter “cinema”) and different social contexts, including, for example: changes to the Hollywood Studio System (and the birthing of the “New Hollywood”), cinema’s responses to war and global trauma, and cinema’s engagement with issues surrounding race, gender and sexuality. Taught through lectures, demonstrations (film screenings) and student-led seminars, the course explores many of the ways cinema has engaged with key societal concerns.