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Help me name my eco-film course

2010 December 6
by Shared by Steve Rust

I’ve just heard that I’ll be teaching a 400 level course next summer for the Women and Gender Studies Department at my university. The catch is that I have 24 hours to come up with a more appealing title than “Cinema/Gender/Environment” in order to appeal to students. It’s a 4-week course offered during the second summer session so it’s got to have a fabulous title if it’s going to appeal to students as a fun class. I’d love to hear ideas.

Here’s the current course description:
This course examines the intersection of gender and environment articulated in popular Hollywood cinema and is intended to introduce upper-division students to the theoretical, historical, and aesthetic applications of ecofeminist media studies. Ecocriticism brings to feminist media studies a particular interest in asking questions about how audio-visual media construct and deconstruct patriarchy’s historical influence over our perceptions women and the Earth. To explore how “gender” and “nature” operate as social constructs we will begin with key readings in the development of eco-feminist media studies before delving into the insights of theorist Donna Haraway and film historian Pat Brereton. Coursework includes lively discussion, weekly reading summaries, a group presentation, a critical essay, and short in-class midterm and final exams. We will screen eight films: Duel in the Sun, Deliverance, Metropolis, Gorillas in the Mist, Thelma & Louise, Logan’s Run, Aliens, and Best in Show.

Required Texts:
Donna Haraway, The Donna Haraway Reader and Pat Brereton, Hollywood Utopia

3 Responses leave one →
  1. smonani permalink
    December 6, 2010

    I keep thinking of Lisa Simpson. Some sort of pop culture reference to her?

  2. smonani permalink
    December 10, 2010

    What did you decide on?

    • srust permalink*
      December 13, 2010

      I sent in Common Ground: Gender and Ecology in Cinema and Green Sexuality: Feminism and Environment in Cinema. They haven’t let me know yet.

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