ETHS 271B H - Topic: African Americans and Film

4 Credit(s)

The course examines the portrayals of African Americans in Cinema/TV over the past century. Students will also become well-versed in African American history as a whole to better contextualize the films they study in the semester. In addition, the course seeks to demonstrate the continuity and change in African American history and in Hollywood’s portrayal of Black people. For instance, how did African Americans respond to the depiction of Blacks in Birth of a Nation and Shaft? How (and why) has Hollywood shifted its portrayal of people of color over the years? Finally, this course will emphasize the differences between primary and secondary documents as well as the pros and cons that each may have for students of history.