Overview of Course

This discussion-based seminar will survey the African American experience through the lens of cinematic stories of personal struggle and triumph. Assigned films will include both documentaries and features. We will also examine ways that African American filmmakers engage with other cultures. Assigned readings will provide additional historical context.

Films will be primarily selected from this list: Slavery In the Making of America, 12 Years A Slave, Belle, Buck and The Preacher, Body and Soul, The Great Debaters, Daughters of the Dust, Marshall, Mr. Civil Rights, The Five Bloods, The Black Panther Party – Vanguard of the Revolution, Mississippi Masala, The 13th Fruitvale Station, The Dhamma Brothers, Sankofa.