Histories of Film, Part One, 1895-1955 (VMS-0010)

Spring 2026 · VMS 0010 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

The two Histories of Film courses are sequential, single semester courses that may be taken separately, but are created as a year-long foundational inquiry into the art of cinema, from its inception in the late nineteenth century through to the present. By investigating the aesthetic, formal and stylistic devices of film as well as its narrative codes and structures we will consider the evolution of cinema's rich and complex language through broad historical, theoretical and critical frameworks. Our inquiry will lead us through the historic, interwar Avant-Garde, German Expressionism, Soviet filmmaking of the 1920s, the classical studio Hollywood film, Italian Neorealism, the North American postwar Avant-Garde, New Wave Cinemas of the 1960s, contemporary Global Cinema and more. The presentation of films will be paired with noteworthy essays that engage in a variety of methodologies and analyses while positioning them within critical, interpretive and historic contexts, including theories of modernity, postmodernity, feminism, queer theory, post-colonialism, trauma studies and more.

Course codes: VMS-0010, VMS 0010, VMS0010, VMS-10, VMS 10, VMS10, FMS-0050, FMS 0050, FMS0050, FMS-50, FMS 50, FMS50

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