Rutgers University - Center for Middle Eastern Studies

(01:685:395:01)

Rutgers University - Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Intro to “Third World” Cinema (“Middle East” and North Africa: A Cinematic Study) (01:685:395:01)

Fall 2013

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Instructor: Fakhri Haghani

Time: T5:00 – 8:00 pm TIL-103D

Email:

Tell: (732)445-8444 X7

Office Hours: 12:00 – 1:00pm T and by appointment, LSH – B304

Course Description:

“Middle East” and North Africa are heterogeneous regions on ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural, and historic levels. They are made up of different communities, peoples, states, and governments. Although literary and historical studies have recently flourished to discuss this heterogeneity regarding the region’s existing local differences, life styles, and popular cultures, the visual representations of this diversity have yet to emerge. In the lights of Hollywood’s one-sided stereotypes about this region, cinematic productions play significant roles in raising awareness in public in seeking films made by filmmakers that offer representations at variance. Cinematic productions have specifically assumed significance in the region in the lights of the 1950s and 60s emergence of post-colonial national independent states, national liberation movements, and the question of cultural identity. Alongside varied developmental processes of political, cultural, and commercial circumstances of film production, technological changes have profoundly affected film industry. The spread of mass media in the region during nineteenth and through twentieth centuries, including the press, radio, television, record and tape players and most recently DVDs which produced development of “mass culture” in the region has played a significant role in popularizing cinema. Dissemination of social media and its role in the emergence of current democratic waves in the region has also made the study of cinema and its role in the process of transformation of culture, national tradition, and cultural symbols important.

The course intends to provide a deeper understanding of cinematic productions in each particular country by taking into consideration differences and similarities in the lights of comparisons and juxtapositions. The required readings will provide formal as well as textual analysis of the filmmaking industry in addition to the question of reception of individual films in the region. In so doing, it will center on transformation of film genres throughout decades as means to exploring sociopolitical and cultural conditions of the countries of the region. On a broader level, the course will contribute to the analysis of “Third World” cinema in sociopolitical contexts, including issues of race, class, and gender; relation between “Third World” cinema and the “West,” roles of women, the youth, and various marginal groups, and complex question regarding “modern” and “traditional” values and cultures. The course intends to engage students in group discussion with colleagues concerning complex issues in history and culture of the “Middle East” and North Africa and their representations. Students will be required to produce group projects as well as individual papers in this course, advancing their skills both in collaborative team work and writing. Two group projects intend to encourage students to reach out to their creative and artistic skills and imagination to produce cinematic works.

This course will adhere strictly to the Academic Integrity Policy and the Code of Student Conduct at Rutgers University. For information on the issue of plagiarism please see

Plagiarism Tutorials

20 minute interactive-tutorial on Plagiarism and Academic Integrity,

Camden Plagiarism Tutorial

Consult Don't Plagiarize: Document Your Research! Tips about how to take notes so that you don't plagiarize by accident.

The course consists of discussions and activities designed to supplement your readings. We will incorporate relevant maps, material culture, pictures, films, and media clips to our class sessions. This syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary depending upon the progress of the class. Please turn off your cellphone and computer and put them away during class meetings. You are NOT allowed to use your laptop during class session. . I require that you show up, speak up, no facebook, or texting. If I catch you playing with your it-device you will be asked to read to the class the contents of your texts/emails or share your facebook with the class. A course about cinema is all about training your senses; it means overcoming and controlling distraction by improving your aesthetic sense of attention; therefore I do require you to try and cultivate this skill in my class.Students who do not follow this instruction will be given a warning first and if repeated major reductions will take place on their attendance/participation grade which will seriously impact their final grade. Students seeking to record my lecture or/and other conversations in my classroom MUST FIRST OBTAIN MY PERMISSION IN WRITTEN FORM. Title 2A, Article 156A-3 of the New Jersey Statues specifically prohibits recording persons without their consent and classifies it as a crime of the third degree with serious prison and fine penalties. Please do not bring food to the classroom except for small snacks.

Students with disabilities requesting accommodations must follow the procedures outline at

REQUIRED TEXT (available at the Livingstone Bookstore):

Shafik, Viola. Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity. (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 1998).

(ISBN: 9774244753)

Additional readings will be placed on Sakai throughout the semester.

Suggested Bibliography:

Arms, Roy. Arab Filmmakers of the Middle East (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2011).

Ginsberg, Terri & Chris Lippard. Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema.(Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, 2010)

Hillauer, Rebecca. Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers (Cairo: The American Univ. in Cairo Press, 2005)

University of Berkeley:

ArteEast

al-Bab

Arab Film Distribution

Arabian Sights

IHYA

FilmBirth

Kurdistan.fi

Arab Film Distribution

COURSE REQUIREMENTS & EVALUATION:

FINAL GRADE: There are 100 regular points in this course. Grading in this course uses plus grades.

Attendance (10 points): You may have one excused absence during the semester. You must have a reasonable excuse and a written document for additional absences. If you expect to miss a class, please use the University absence reporting website

to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent to me. In cases where students must miss classes for periods longer than one week, they will be directed to see a Dean of Students for assistance to help verify these circumstances. You must come to class on time and remain for the entire class session. Late comers will be warned and noted on their final grades. Attendance will be taken in this class.

Class Participation (15 points): This is an equally weighted assignment to your writings, exams, and presentations. I expect you to come to class ready to raise questions and comments when discussion starts. You won’t be graded for your ideas (as long as it’s appropriate to our discussion) but for your active and meaningful participation in the class. In order to create an equally participatory environment for all students and to encourage students to keep up with reading assignments, I will call on students during our discussion sessions.

Midterm and Final Group Project and Presentation (20 points each): A midterm and a final group project and class presentation will replace the midterm and final exams in this course. Guidelines with details on these group projects and presentations will be provided during the second week of class

Written Assignments (15points): Each student is required to submit weekly journals on films, which will be submitted the week after watching and discussing each film.Specifics about writing assignments will be provided for you on the second day of class. Late submissions, without a legitimate excuse, will be marked down.

WeeklyPresentation (10 points): Each week, a student (or a group of students) will coordinate the class session. The student will be responsible to give a short presentation on the assigned readings and to raise questions for class discussion. Guidelines with details on daily presentation will be provided.

Weekly Individual Assignment (10 Points): Each week, you are required to post on Sakai’s Class Discussion site a quote from the reading(s) that interested you, a question you wants address during our class time, and a list of the key terms used in the readings. Each week, after watching a film and during our discussion session, students are required to address these quotes, the questions they raised, and some of the key terms from the readings and analyze them in the lights of the film. At the end of the semester each student is required to submit a collected list of the key terms discussed in the class, including those addressed by their peers, brief definition of the terms in the lights of our readings and film analysis, and relevant name of the films watched during class or on your own.Add to this list the quotes and questions you posted on Sakai’s Class Discussion.

*Please check topical outline below for all deadlines.

Extra Credit: Due to various writing and presentation assignments required for this course, I hesitate to provide extra credit opportunities. Rare cases could be discussed with the instructor before selecting topics and/or the type of assignment.

A = 90-100

B+ = 89-87B = 86-80

C+ = 79-77C = 76-70

D = 69-65

F = Let’s not even think about that!

TOPICAL OUTLINE

T9/3 Introduction to the Course, Syllabus, Students Introduction, Q & A

The History of Arab Cinema

Women Who Loved Cinema Pt. 1 & 2 by Marianne Khoury

HISTORY, NATIONAL LIBERATION, ANDCULTURALIDENTITY: THECOMMITTED CINEMA

T9/10National Cinema, Cultural Identity and Genre: Realism