Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Seminar | 10 x 1 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,000-word essay | 40% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,000-word essay | 40% |
| Semester Assessment | Student presentations | 20% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. participate in social debates concerning the study of Cinema in Spanish America
2. show understanding of the historical background of the region
3. show understanding of the changing trends in Spanish American cinema from the 1950s to 2000
4. demonstrate skills in comparative analysis and to show familiarity with cinematic and technical vocabulary
5. engage critically with a variety of scholarly material including monographs and specialised articles
6. present their findings in a logical, organised and scholarly fashion both orally - through debates and presentations - and in written form - through essays.
Aims
This course aims to familiarise students with questions of Spanish American culture and its representation within film from the 1950s to 2001. It will give students a broad understanding of the most important aspects of Spanish American Cinema in its historical, socio-economic and political context. It will explore the themes of social criticism, gender and sexuality and national identity as seen through the medium of film. It will also give students a basic understanding of film analysis.
Brief description
The course studies Mexican, Cuban, Chilean and Argentinean cinema covering a period from 1952-2001. Thematically, it will cover aspects such as national identity, gender and sexuality and social critique in 6 films of this period.
Content
Week 2 - Spanish American Cinema: introduction and context. Lecture.
Week 3 - Spanish American Cinema: introduction and context continued. Analysis of theoretical debate on cinema in Latin America.
Week 4 - Los olvidados (Luis Bu'rel, Mexico, 1952). The first session will take the form of a lecture on this film followed, in the second session, by a seminar discussing the film as a whole class or in small groups.
Week 5 - El chacal de Nauhueltoro (Miguel Littin, Chile, 1969).
Week 6 - Retrato de Teresa (Pastor Vega, 1979, Cuba). The first session will take the form of a lecture on this film followed, in the second session, by a seminar discussing the film as a whole class or in small groups.
Week 7 - Yo, la peor de todos (Maria Luisa Bemberg, Argentina, 1990). The first session will take the form of a lecture on this film followed, in the second session, by a seminar discussing the film as a whole class or in small groups.
Week 8 - Lista de espera (Juan Carlos Tabio, Cuba, 2000). The first session will take the form of a lecture on this film followed, in the second session, by a seminar discussing the film as a whole class or in small groups.
Week 9 - Y tu mama tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, Mexico, 2001). The first session will take the form of a lecture on this film followed, in the second session, by a seminar discussing the film as a whole class or in small groups.
Week 10 - Class presentations/Revision.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | Students will develop oral communication in seminars and student presentations; written communication will be developed in assessments in English. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will be able to assess their own progress week by week through their increased understanding of the issues raised and the skills developed. |
| Information Technology | Students will use on-line journals and source collections; delivery of course materials and information via e-learning system. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Students will acquire transferable skills such as the ability to create and deliver presentations; in-depth acquaintance with cinema as an academic subject. |
| Problem solving | Students will select appropriate reading material; developing evaluative analysis and critical skills and formulating a detailed argument. |
| Research skills | Students will analyse cinematic representations in their political/historical contexts and synthesize information in an evaluative argument. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students will acquire Modern Spanish vocabulary; slang expressions; a variety of Spanish language from different countries in the region. |
| Team work | Students will participate in debates and group presentations in seminars. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5