Course details

Name: ENFL - 251

Title: HOLLYWOOD AND AMERICAN JEWISH CULTURE

Section: 02

Semester: Spring - 2013

Credits: 3

Description:
Hollywood and American Jewish Culture

In 1922, the Episcopalian minister William Sheafe Chase asked, “What ground is there for thinking that the motion picture industry is in the despotic control of four or five Hebrews?” Chase was expressing an opinion that resonated throughout the 20th Century, that Hollywood was a powerful cultural force being controlled by a foreign people at odds with the values of Christian America. This course examines the question of ethnicity and culture by focusing on the representation of Jewish identity and the Jewish-American experience in Hollywood film. It also explores the complex relationship between Jews—both immigrant and native born—and the motion picture industry. We will study films from the silent and sound era, many directed by major American auteurs such as Frank Capra, Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet and Woody Allen. Films likely to be screened in class include The Jazz Singer, Crossfire, Gentlemen’s Agreement, The Pawnbroker, Zelig. You do not need a background in Jewish American history or Jewish religious traditions to take this course.


Last updated on 2012-10-18 By Simon Arthur (simona)

Schedule: Thursday From 2:30 am To 5:30 pm

Graduation requirements:

• Genre Study (Film)
• ()
• Ethnic Studies (3b)
• Class Issues (3d)

Teaching Faculty: Simon Arthur (simona)

Is course canceled: No