PHIL 2015 Thinking Cinema

This is an archived copy of the 2021-2022 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit https://hbook.westernsydney.edu.au.

Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 101989

Coordinator Alex Ling Opens in new window

Description Through close examinations of key philosophical and theoretical writings on film, this unit considers the many ways in which cinema has been 'thought' throughout its short history. Incorporating ontological, phenomenological, psychoanalytic, poststructuralist, cognitivist and other approaches, the unit explores the ways in which key philosophical and theoretical concepts have been taken up and addressed by film, in addition to considering the ways in which cinema can be seen to 'think' for itself.

School Humanities & Comm Arts

Discipline Philosophy

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 4 10cp

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Level Undergraduate Level 2 subject

Equivalent Subjects LGYA 1673 - Film and Philosophy

Restrictions Successful completion of 40 credit points of study in currently enrolled program.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
  1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of theories on the relationship between film and philosophy
  2. Apply theoretical approaches in film aesthetics to philosophical problems
  3. Use research skills to investigate the relationship between film and philosophy
  4. Communicate the relevance of philosophical concepts to the analysis of modern art and culture

Subject Content

- introduction to The unit: what is Cinema?
- cinema as Reproduction
- ontology of The Image
- cinema/Ideology/criticism
- Technology and Ideology
- The Imaginary Signifier (l)
- programming The Look
- Spectatorship and sexual difference
- postmodernism
- post-theory
- The Imaginary Signifier (ll)
- movement and time
- what is cinema Now?

Assessment

The following table summarises the standard assessment tasks for this subject. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated, where there is a difference your Learning Guide takes precedence.

Item Length Percent Threshold Individual/Group Task
Presentation - Tutorial presentation plus short written paper Presentation - 10 minutes Written paper - 500 words 15 N Individual
Essay - Minor 1,000 words 35 N Individual
Research Essay 2,000 words 50 N Individual

Prescribed Texts

  • Subject Reader

Teaching Periods

Structures that include subject