Images of African Americans in Film 4219-RS272
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
elective courses
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Upon completing this course, the student:
KNOWLEDGE:
- Has advanced knowledge of the life of African Americans during the Jim Crow era (1890-1965).
- Understands how Hollywood films depicted African Americans and how African Americans portrayed themselves in films.
- Has an in-depth understanding of the historical background of current racial relations in the United States.
SKILLS:
- Can utilize the acquired knowledge to independently solve research problems in the area of American studies.
- Can gather and present research findings using correct English at a B2+ level and advanced terminology relevant to the research area.
- Can analyze and interpret primary sources, such as films, as historical documents.
COMPETENCES:
- Critically perceives films as tools that perpetuate stereotypes.
- Is prepared to independently identify these stereotypes.
Assessment criteria
Students are expected to attend class prepared to discuss the assigned readings and the film(s) under review. As a part of your grade, you will need to submit answers to questions about the readings and films for 5 different weeks. Each week, the instructor will post questions about the next week’s readings and film in an online forum on the COME platform, your answers are due by midnight of the Monday BEFORE the readings and film are to be discussed in class. Each answer is worth 6 points for a total of 30 points (20% of your grade). Only answers posted in the online forum and on time will count, and only those who attend class on the day the answers will be discussed will earn points for their answer. Additionally, you will write an 8-12 page analyzing two films (100 points, 66%). You will also be expected to make a presentation of your research in class of 10-15 minutes during the last three weeks of class (20 points, 14%).
Bibliography
Readings:
Siegesmund, “Legacy of African American Stereotypes”
Grieveson, “Fighting Films”
Mangun, “African American Response to The Birth of a Nation”
Rogin, “D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation”
Gaines, “Fire and Desire”
Schuyler, “The Negro Art Hokum”
Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”
DuBois, “Criteria of Negro Art”
Cripps, “The Films of Spencer Williams”
Regester, “Black Films, White Censors”
Frost, “Regulating Nigger”
Leyda, “Black Audience Westerns”
Berenstein, “White Heroines and Hearts of Darkness”
Everett, “Lester Walton’s ‘Ecriture Noir’”
Klotman, “The Black Writer in Hollywood”
McCabe, “Borderline Modernism”
Koppes and Black, “Blacks, Loyalty, and Motion Picture Propaganda”
Griffin, “The Gang’s All Here”
BMP Report on Stormy Weather
Nickel, “Disabling African American Men”
Frost, “Hedda Hopper and Race”
Gordon, “‘Somewhat like War’”
Briggs, “Who Dat Man?”
Ryfle, “The Politics of Super Fly”
Films:
Ethnic Notions
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The Birth of the Nation
Within Our Gates
Go Down, Death!
Lying Lips
Harlem Rides the Range
Ingagi
Son of Ingagi
Judge Priest
Borderline
The Negro Soldier
Stormy Weather
Home of the Brave
A Raisin in the Sun
Super Fly
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: