ATS2964 - Screen theories - 2019

This unit considers the key theories and debates that have shaped screen studies across the 20th and 21st centuries. It enables students to view and understand a variety of screen texts and practices using critical approaches drawn from areas such as: textual analysis, feminist theory, montage theory, structuralism and semiotics, reception studies, queer theory, cultural studies, psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, postcolonialism and digital media theories. Particular attention will be paid to how these different theories have, over time, drawn out the capacity of screen texts to shape identity politics around issues of gender, race and sexuality. As a unit that gives students the skills to read and understand critical writing, emphasis will be placed on discussing and analysing written arguments as much as screenings.

Upon successful completion of the unit, students should be able to:

1. identify and summarise a number of critical positions in screen theory;
2. apply these positions to the examination of a variety of screen texts;
3. interpret and analyse how screen texts contribute to specific forms of identity politics;
4. research, develop and present a critical argument.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Film and screen studies

Screen