Dr. Michael Burri FMA 0843.701 (Asynchronous Online course) Race and Ethnicity in the American Cinema Spring 2018; Email: tryst@temple.edu Office Hours: Via Skype, by appointment THE HOLLYWOOD INDIAN: BETWEEN HISTORY AND REVISION Well before 1773, when an angry group of men costumed as American Indians staged a tax revolt in the Boston Harbor by destroying a tea shipment, non‐Native Americans have dressed up as Indians as a means to self‐realization. This course address this distinctive feature of American racial and ethnic history as it is manifested in the representation of Indians in mainstream visual entertainment (Hollywood) films and in films that challenge that mainstream visual tradition. Early silent films featuring Native Americans drew upon a canon of narrative tropes (the disappearing Indian), image stereotypes (the noble savage), and attitudes towards indigenous peoples grounded in the 19th century, even as younger directors ‐‐ most notably John Ford – began to articulate new generic forms that placed Native Americans as inhuman adversaries in a grand national narrative of American triumph. Against this prevailing vision, the 1950s “liberal Hollywood Western” barely registered its presence. But with the Civil Rights movement of the early 1960s, a new generation of filmmakers questioned virtually every aspect of Native American representation, from who held the camera to what kinds of stories film would tell. Meanwhile, the slogan “red power” underscored the fact that Hollywood films about Indians had always, also, been broader statements about race and ethnicity in America. The “classical” Hollywood Indian film helped Americans to discover their own violent selves, to test the terms by which that violence might turn to peace, and to find their identity by asserting their difference from Native Americans. Today, those purposes have all but vanished. This course examines the strange history of those illusions and asks what the next chapter in Native American films will be and who will write it. This course is a Race and Diversity General Education course and is designed to contribute to a sophisticated understanding of race and racism as dynamic concepts, pointing to the ways in which race intersects with other group identifications such as gender, class, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation and/or disability. Race and Diversity courses are intended to teach students how to: 1) Recognize the ways in which race intersects with other group identifications or ascriptions: gender, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age; 2) Understand the relationships among diversity, justice and power; 3) Explore what it means for individuals and institutions to exist in a multi-racial, multicultural world; 4) Investigate the various forms race and racism has taken in different places and times; and 5) Discuss race matters with diverse others in relation to personal experience. Class participation is a requirement, and impromptu quizzes on films and/or readings ensure that students acquire the domain knowledge needed to write critically on course topics. Three assigned short papers are scaffolded to advance towards a final project. Each assignment, 1 together with blog entries, thus build upon previous work, and develops competence in understanding how cinema studies can contribute to an understanding of history, ethnic studies, sociology, and political science. Written instructor feedback at each stage in the assignment sequence ensures that course goals of critical thinking and clear written expression are met. After successfully finishing the course by completing each individual learning unit, students can expect to have acquired mastery in aspects of discourse analysis and film history, including the ethnographic silent cinema, the genre of the Hollywood Indian film, and new postHollywood alternative filmmaking, together with critical concepts of “taxidermy,” “integration,” and “sovereignty,” as they relate to indigenous North American peoples. Online lectures situate assigned readings and individual films, and provide a framework for discussion, while instructor feedback, group work, and the blog forum stimulate three short paper assignments and the staged final project. TEXTS Aleiss, Angela Aleiss, Angela Aleiss, Angela Aleiss, Angela Baird, Robert Blackmore, Bill Buscombe, Edward Buscombe, Edward Cobb, Amanda J, Hearne, Joanna Henderson, Brian Kasdan & Tavernetti Mackenthun, Gesa Manchel, Frank Miller, Van O’Connor, John E. Place, Janey Raheja, Michelle Raheja, Michelle Riley, Michael J. Rony, Fatimah Schweninger, Lee Thomas, David Hurst Thomas, David Hurst Thomas, David Hurst VanWert, William Wood, Robin “Beyond the Western” “Indian/White Attitudes in Broken Arrow” “A Race Divided: The Indian Westerns of John Ford” “The Vanishing American: Hollywood’s Compromise to Indian Reform” “’Going Indian’ Through Dances with Wolves” “The Family of Man” “Formation of a Genre” “The Liberal Western” “This is what it means to Say Smoke Signals” “John Wayne’s Teeth: Smoke Signals “The Searchers: An American Dilemma” “Native Americans in a Revisionist Western” “Haunted Real Estate in U.S. Horror Fiction” “Cultural Confusion: A Look Back at Broken Arrow” “The Race to Settle America: The Searchers” “The White Man’s Indian” “Buffalo Bill and the Indians: Welcome to Show Business” “Reading Nanook’s Smile” “Visual Sovereignty, Indigenous Revisions of Ethnography” “Trapped in the History of Film: The Vanishing American “Taxidermy and Romantic Ethnography” “Ordered Freedom in The Exiles” “A Short History of Scientific Racism in America” “A Vanishing American Icon” “The Anthropology of Assimilation” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: A View from Above” “Drums Along the Mohawk” 2 Articles (above) have been scanned and are available, according to scheduled week, via the weekly links. Access to scheduled assignments and upload connections are also available via the weekly links. Prompts for blog entries and other course-related information, including impromptu quizzes will appear on Announcements. Readings, video-based lectures, individual and group activities, and discussion boards are among the possible instructional materials. Including required film viewing, students should expect to spend 10 hours per week on various course assignments. Required films are available in two ways: 1) Media Services Reserve Collection in Paley Library at Temple University; 2) Streaming links, through the Temple collection, or through pay-to-rent service. Streaming films for each week are accessible via the weekly links. REQUIREMENTS Three short essays, as part of staged final project; final project, four‐to five‐pages in length; two timed writing assignments; regular blog posting; impromptu quizzes and group work. Advance reading of assigned texts and advance viewing of assigned films. Plagiarism will result in disciplinary action and a failing grade for the semester. Email and/or Skype appointments are available and may be requested by contacting the instructor. In email correspondence with the instructor, please use business email etiquette, with full greeting and closing. This is part of the seminar skills score for the course. For questions on email etiquette, please refer to: https://www.businessemailetiquette.com/business-e-mailetiquette-basics/ To facilitate communication, the university requires you to have an e-mail account ending in @temple.edu. Students should check their Temple email daily for course updates. You may expect a response to emails within 24 hours of receiving them during the week, within 48 hours on weekends. All students are required to comply with Temple University’s Computer and Network Security Policy All course information, excepting impromptu quizzes, is available on the syllabus. The course itself is available on Canvas courseware according to a Tuesday/Thursday posting schedule. Please remember to check Announcements on the Canvas site every Tuesday and Thursday, as that is day when any new course material will be posted and available (starting at 12:01 a.m.). GRADING CRITERIA 35% final project; 25% short essay assignments; 15% blog posting (successfully completing and submitting on time) 20% group work, quizzes, and timed essays; 5% seminar skills. Late submission policy on final project and short paper is the loss of one point per day, and no papers will be accepted that are more than five days late. No retakes on quizzes. Blogs and group work should be submitted by the due date. 3 GRADING SCALE A = 94-100; A- = 90-93; B+ = 87-89; B = 84-86; B- = 80-83; C+ = 77-79; C = 74-76; C- = 70-73; D = 64-66; D- = 60-63; F = 0-59. COURSE MINIMUM GRADE Although D- is a passing grade, a minimum grade of C- is required in General Education courses and, in many programs, courses required by the major. For more information, please see Temple University's Academic Policies on Grades and Grading. All Temple University Academic Policies will be upheld. General Education Policies and Requirements details program expectations. INCOMPLETE A student will be eligible for a grade of “Incomplete” only if he/she: 1) has completed at least 51% of the work at a passing level, 2) is unable to complete the work for a serious reason beyond his or her control, and 3) files a signed agreement with the instructor outlining the work to be completed and the timeframe in which that work will be completed. The student is responsible for initiating this process and all incomplete forms must be sent to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs prior to the start of study days in that semester. Please refer to the following for further details: Temple University’s Incomplete Policy (Policy #02.10.13). WITHDRAWAL FROM COURSE If a student wishes to withdraw from a course, it is the student’s responsibility to meet the deadline for the last day to withdraw from the current semester. See Temple University's Academic Calendar for withdrawing deadlines and consult the University policy on withdrawals (Policy # 02.10.14). COURSE TECHNOLOGIES This course requires the use of Canvas, including access to materials and assignment submission. Some videos posted via Canvas will require the use of speakers. This course requires the use of Microsoft Office (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Students can gain access to these materials by visiting the Computer Services Download Site. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a documented disability, including special accommodations for access to technology resources and electronic instructional materials required for the course, should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation by the end of the second week of classes or as soon as practical. If you have 4 not done so already, please contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to learn more about the resources available to you. I/we will work with DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities. STATEMENT ON STUDENT AND FACULTY ACADEMIC RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has a policy on Student and Faculty and Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy #03.70.02), which can be accessed through this link: http://policies.temple.edu/PDF/99.pdf ACADEMIC HONESTY According to the University Student Code of Conduct, students must not commit, attempt to commit, aid, encourage, facilitate, or solicit the commission of academic dishonesty and impropriety including plagiarism, academic cheating, and selling lecture notes or other information provided by an instructor without the instructor’s authorization. Violations may result in failing the assignment and/or failing the course, and/or other sanctions as enumerated in the University Code of Conduct. UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES  Technology Support (Help Desk): https://computerservices.temple.edu/technical-support  Online learning resources: https://online.temple.edu/  The TECH Center, Resources, Policies: https://computerservices.temple.edu/lab/tech-center  Temple's Technology Usage Policy: https://computerservices.temple.edu/technologyusage-policy  Other Tech Policies: https://computerservices.temple.edu/tech-policies  The TU Writing Center: http://www.temple.edu/writingctr  Software and Hardware Purchases Through Temple (including *Free* Microsoft Office Suite): https://computerservices.temple.edu/educational-discounts-computer-equipmentand-software" SCHEDULE 1/16 Week 1 Introduction 1/18 Week 1 The Ethnographic Record Watch: Nanook of the North (1922) Read: Rajeha, Rony Blog #1 Assignment (Posted to Canvas Announcements) 1/23 Week 2 The Ethnographic Record Discuss: Nanook of the North (1922) 5 Read: Thomas (American Icon) Blog #1 Due (Post to Canvas) 1/25 Week 2 The Memorialized Indian Watch: The Vanishing American (1925) Read: O’Connor, Riley Blog Assignment #2 (Posted to Canvas Announcements) 1/30 Week 3 The Memorialized Indian Discuss: The Vanishing American (1925) Read: Aleiss (Vanishing), Buscombe (Formation) Blog #2 Due (Post to Canvas) Short Essay Assignment #1 2/1 Week 3 The Return of the Native American in Modern Horror Watch: The Shining Read: Ager (video), Mackenthun Blog Assignment #3 2/6 Week 4 The Return of the Native American in Modern Horror Discuss: The Shining Blog #3 Due Short Essay #1 Due 2/8 Week 4 Manifest Destiny Watch: Drums along the Mohawk (1939) Read: Aleiss (Ford), Wood Blog #4 Assignment 2/13 Week 5 Manifest Destiny Discuss: Drums along the Mohawk (1939) Read: Thomas (Short History) Blog #4 Due 2/15 Week 5 Becoming One of “Us” Watch: Older Than America (2008) Watch: “A Conversation with Native Americans About Race” Read: Media Dossier Blog #5 Assignment 2/20 Week 6 Becoming One of “Us” Discuss: Older Than America (2008) Blog #5 Due 6 2/22 Week 6 Tribal Leaders and Sovereignty Watch: Broken Arrow (1950) Read: Aleiss (Broken), Manchel Blog #6 Assignment 2/27 Week 7 Tribal Leaders and Sovereignty Discuss: Broken Arrow (1950) Blog #6 Due Short Essay Assignment #2 3/1 Week 7 Some Aesthetic Legacies of Native Americans Watch: Reel Injun (2009) Watch: This May be the Last Time (2014) Read: Buscombe (Liberal) 3/5 - 3/9 University Spring Break (No class) 3/13 Week 8 The American Indian Fighter… and Civil Rights? Watch: The Searchers (1956) Read: Henderson, Miller Timed Essay #1 Short Essay #2 Due 3/15 Week 8 The American Indian Fighter… and Civil Rights? Discuss: The Searchers (1956) 3/20 Week 9 Imagining the Outsider Watch: Exiles (1961) Read: Schweninger, Thomas (Assimilation) Short Essay Assignment #3 3/22 Week 9 Imagining the Outsider Discuss: Exiles (1961) 3/27 Week 10 Western Mythmaking and Indians as “Entertainment” Watch: Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976) Read: Place Short Essay #3 Due 3/29 Week 10 Western Mythmaking and Indians as “Entertainment” Discuss: Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976) Final Project Assignment 4/3 Week 11 The Strong Silent Indian Type 7 Watch: One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Read: VanWert Blog #7 Assignment Timed Essay #2 4/5 Week 11 The Strong Silent Indian Type Discuss: One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Blog #7 Due 4/10 Week 12 Going Native Watch: Dances with Wolves (1990) Blog #8 Assignment Read: Baird 4/12 Week 12 Going Native Watch: Dances with Wolves (1990) Blog #8 Due 4/17 Week 13 Between Hollywood and the Reservation Watch: Smoke Signals (1998) Read: Cobb, Hearne Blog # 9 Assignment 4/19 Week 13 The Post-“Indian” Hollywood Film Watch: Meek’s Cutoff (2010) Read: Aleiss (Beyond) Blog #9 Due Blog #10 Assignment Final Project Due 4/24 Week 14 The Ethnographic Narrative Revisited Watch: Fast Runner (Atanarjuat) (2003) Read: Raheja (Visual) Blog #10 Due 4/26 Week 14 The Ethnographic Narrative Revisited Discuss: Fast Runner (Atanarjuat) (2003) 8
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