MCH1034 : Introduction to World Cinema: Ideas, Art, Cultures
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Geetha Jayaraman
- Owning School: Arts & Cultures
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
'Introduction to World Cinema’ will enable students to develop a deep understanding and appreciation
of narrative and/or documentary film as a cinematic art. This is crucial to nurture a sophisticated film sensibility and sensitivity to the medium and stimulate awareness of the world at large that in turn will inform the film practice of the students over the course of the degree and beyond. The module will provide a critical window to World Cinema, both fiction and/or documentary, through a curated programme of great works from around the world.
Aims:
1. To situate film practice within a critical appreciation of World Cinema
2. To explain how films interconnect across history and geography, politics and philosophy
3. To introduce students to masterpieces from the silent era to the present, from around the world
4. To stimulate an appetite for ideas, art and culture through World Cinema
5. To prompt students to see, read and research World Cinema
Outline Of Syllabus
This module develops through a thematic engagement with World Cinema while covering a range of places and times. Each session will begin with a presentation that will contextualize the selected film in its social and historical milieu. It will discuss an aspect of cinematic art that is emblematic of both film and filmmaker and the complex relationship between the theme, film and the particularity of place.
Students are required to write in the online blog that responds to the films as they are screened and discussed in class.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 60:00 | 60:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | Presentation on context of film production and concepts/theories/debates/craft. |
| Structured Guided Learning | Structured research and reading activities | 15 | 3:00 | 45:00 | Further screenings and workshop based discussion |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Each workshop includes screenings and workshop-based discussions |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 62:00 | 62:00 | To include compulsory Discussion Board / Blog entries |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
This module will be delivered through a combination of presentations and screening-based workshops in a film festival format (as outlined in the Aims section) that set out and explore key theories and concepts. The combination of presentations to give a structure and context for learning, and reading-based discussion in workshops will enable students to have both the breadth and depth of understanding.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1 | A | 100 | 2000-word essay |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1 | M | 1000-word selection of blog entries produced until the Enrichment Week |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The rationale for the assessments is to enable the students to demonstrate their intellectual grasp of World Cinema and to illustrate this through the writing of a scholarly essay. They will be expected to draw on a range of film traditions and auteurs in order to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the diverse histories of film practice. The blog entries they make during the course of the module will not be assessed as this blogging is to encourage the students to take part in a scholarly discussion of the films seen, but students will have to submit a 1,000-word selection from their blog as a Formative execise. This will encouage regular and serious entries .
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- MCH1034's Timetable