African Americans in Film during the Jim Crow Era 4219-SD153
In this course, we will explore the contested images of African Americans in American film from the earliest movies through those produced in the Civil Rights era. We look at the ways both white and black film makers created and perpetuated demeaning stereotypes as well as how those stereotypes were challenged. We will consider the ways in which careers of African American performers and film makers represented both the limitations and the possibilities of making a living in movies. Finally, we will analyze how these films represent a chronicle of African American society and culture during the time in which Jim Crow ruled and was eventually destroyed.
Topics:
Week 1: The social and cinematic context of the first movies
Week 2: Early cinema and images: Uncle Tom's Cabin
Week 3: Establishing the stereotypes: The Birth of a Nation
Week 4: Oscar Micheaux and racial uplift: Within Our Gates
Week 5: Harlem Renaissance and film
Week 6: Black silents
Week 7: Race and the Production Code
Week 8: Race movies
Week 9: Making Genres Black
Week 10: Hollywood Stars: The Careers of Steppin' Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel
Week 11: Radical: the career of Paul Robeson
Week 12: World War II: The Negro Soldier
Week 13: Hollywood goes all black: Stormy Weather
Week 14: The decline of race movies
Week 15: Civil Rights and the Noble Negro: The early career of Sidney Poitier
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
After taking this course, students will have knowledge of
African American life in the Jim Crow era (1890-1965)
how Hollywood films portrayed African Americans
how African Americans portrayed themselves on film
Skills
After taking this course, students will have deepened their skills in
conducting original research on cinema
communicating the results of that research in good English prose
analyzing films as historical documents
Competences
After taking this course, students will
have a deeper understanding of the role of movies in perpetuating racial stereotypes
be able to identify and recognize the deployment of those stereotypes
have a better understanding of the historical background of current race relations in the contemporary US
Assessment criteria
Course Requirements: Students are expected to attend class meetings prepared to discuss the assigned readings.
A research paper of 10-12 pages (66.6%)
Students will also be required to make 6 contributions to a forum on the COME platform (33.3%).
Bibliography
Reading assignments will be selected from the following books and may be supplemented by additional essays:
Thomas Cripps, Slow Fade to Black and Making Movies Black
Donald Bogle, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks
Mark Reid, Redefining Black Film
Manthia Diawara, Black American Cinema
Jesse Rhines, Black Film/White Money
Valerie Smith, Representing Blackness
Anna Everett, Returning the Gaze
bell hooks, Reel to Real
Pearl Bowser, Oscar Micheaux and His Circle
Gladstone Yearwood, Black Film as a Signifying Practice
Donald Bogle, Brown Sugar
Melvin Donaldson, Black Directors in Hollywood
Susan Courtney, Hollywood Fantasies of Miscegenation
George Alexander, Why We Make Movies
Ed Guerrero, Framing Blackness
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: