ASRC 1855 - FWS: The Anthropo(s)cene and African-African Diasporic Cinemas

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

First-Year Writing Seminar.

L. Siegel.

In the era of the Anthropocene, humanity must consider itself an environmental force. Global disasters—storms, drought, new diseases—call us to ask: Is this really the apocalypse? If so, what can we hope for? We will view African/African diasporic films that consider identity formation and its subsequent constructions of race, class, gender, sexuality, and geography. Examining responses to these primary questions of humanity, nature, belonging and agency in the time of the Anthropocene invites our critical reflection on the medium of filmmaking itself as we attend to the (im)possibilities of the category, ‘African film’. Likely films include: Get Out, Moonlight, and The End of Eating Everything. Students will write reflection responses and film reviews and explore materials from across Africana studies, film studies, and psychoanalysis. The seminar encourages the production of a podcast, zine, short film or film festival proposal.