Special Topics Course Proposal Form
SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE PROPOSAL FORM
ORIGINATING CAMPUS: ( ) Ammerman ( ) Eastern
( X ) Grant
Date Submitted to Campus Dean: _____04/06/2012_____
To meet the ideals of Suffolk County Community College, new courses should, if appropriate, consider issues arising
from elements of cultural diversity in areas of textbook choice, selection of library and audio-visual materials, and
teaching methodology.
CAMPUS DEAN E-MAILS ENTIRE PROPOSAL PACKET TO THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM
COMMITTEE CHAIR AS A WORD DOCUMENT UPON ITS APPROVAL.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PROCEDURES
1. Instructor downloads and drafts proposal and syllabus from Special Topics link on the Curriculum Website
2. Proposer sends the files (proposal and syllabus) electronically to the Academic Chair for distribution and support
from Academic Department.
3. Academic Chair initials the proposal upon approval and electronically forwards file and syllabus to the Campus
Dean.
4. Upon approval, the Campus Dean initials the proposal and electronically forwards file and syllabus to the College
Curriculum Committee Chair for posting on the Curriculum Website.
5. The College Curriculum Chair will electronically forward the files (including syllabus) to the College Associate Dean
for Curriculum and Assessment.
___________________________________________________________________________
Proposed by: Dr. Daniel Wishnoff
Date of Proposal: 3/27/2012
Department/Discipline: Social Sciences/U.S. History
Course #: HIS 295
I.
Course Title: The Past in Pictures: U.S. History Through Film
RELATIONSHIP TO STUDENTS
A.
*Credit Hours: 3
Contact Hours: 2.5
Lecture Hours___X__ Lab/Studio Hours_____
*See Curriculum Website for Credit/Contact Hours Formula.
II.
B.
Class Size: 33
C.
Course Fees
Lab Fees_____
Course Fees_____
RELATIONSHIP TO MASTER SCHEDULE
A.
**Proposed Semesters Course will run:
Fall__2012___
Winter_(yr.)____ Spring_____
B.
Summer_(yr.)____
**Projected Termination Date
Fall_____
Winter_(yr.)____ Spring_2013____ Summer_(yr.)____
**Special Topics courses may run for only two semesters. Upon the completion of the second semester, the
course must be withdrawn from the schedule unless it has been re-approved as a Special Topics course or
approved as a permanent course. Under no circumstances may a Special Topics course run for more than four
semesters.
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006
Special Topics Course Proposal Form
III. Rationale for Course: To offer an elective U.S. history course that complements the existing U.S. history
curriculum, has broad appeal, but does not sacrifice academic rigor. The course should appeal to students with an interest
in U.S. history, film studies as well as visual arts. A version of this course is taught at many other SUNY community
colleges and universities and should prove popular students interested in film.
IV.
Description of Course: One cannot deny the impact films have on our understanding of historical events.
Many of us have been deeply influenced by cinematic portrayals of American history. Several of my students have
recognized the story of colonial Virginia in the animated Disney film Pocahontas, or the portrayal of Native Americans
and the settlement American West from films such as Dances With Wolves, Young Guns, and Far and Away, and relate
some aspects of the American Revolution to Mel Gibson’s The Patriot just to name a few. Rather than studying films as
factual accounts of historical events, it will be the object of this course to study how movies interpret the past and
simultaneously act as commentaries on the times in which the films were made. The films I have chosen are unusual
mixture of the well known and not so well known that address major topics in US history from the late-nineteenth to the
twentieth centuries. The topics related to the films are as follows: Birth of a Nation: Civil War, Reconstruction 1861-1876
and race relations in early twentieth century America; Little Big Man: Native Americans, the West (1865-1896) and the
1960s; Matewan: the labor movement, Red Scare (1919-1920) and labors decline in the 1980s; and Casablanca: World
War II (1941-1945) and film as propaganda; Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Communist hysteria of the 1950s.
V.
Approvals
Department Approval__Lynn Liebert Marx
Date__3/27/12____
Academic Chair
Campus Dean Approval__James M. Keane__
Date___4/17/12____
Campus Dean
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006
Special Topics Course Proposal Form
SPECIAL TOPICS • COURSE SYLLABUS
I.
Course Number and Title:
II.
Description of Course: One cannot deny the impact films have on our understanding of historical
events. Many of us have been deeply influenced by cinematic portrayals of American history. Several of
my students have recognized the story of colonial Virginia in the animated Disney film Pocahontas, or
the portrayals of Native Americans and the settlement American West from films such as Dances With
Wolves, Young Guns, and Far and Away, and relate some aspects of the American Revolution to Mel
Gibson’s The Patriot just to name a few. Rather than studying films as factual accounts of historical
events, it will be the object of this course to study how movies interpret the past and simultaneously act as
commentaries on the times in which the films were made. The films I have chosen are unusual mixture of
the well known and not so well known that address major topics in US history from the late-nineteenth
through the twentieth centuries. The topics related to the films are as follows: Birth of a Nation: Civil
War, Reconstruction 1861-1876 and race relations in early twentieth century America; Little Big Man:
Native Americans, the West (1865-1896) and the 1960s; Matewan: the labor movement, Red Scare
(1919-1920) and labors decline in the 1980s; and Casablanca: World War II (1941-1945) and film as
propaganda; Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Communist hysteria of the 1950s.
III.
Course Objectives:
HIS 295, The Past in Pictures: U.S. History through Film
(What should students learn as a result of taking this course and how will they demonstrate that
learning?)
In discussing and writing about these films students will analyze how American culture and
social conflicts are portrayed in popular films from the perspective of different eras of the
twentieth century. The students will also come away with the sense that films are more than mere
entertainment and learn how to read films as texts that give us a more nuanced understanding of
the past.
Upon completion of this course students will: Demonstrate a heightened awareness
of the links between the past and the present and the ability to more critically compare and
contrast historical works, fiction and primary sources to cinematic histories. Through the
examination of these films and accompanying texts that include primary sources, articles and
film reviews, students will improve their reading and analytical skills.
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006
Special Topics Course Proposal Form
IV.
Required Texts and Materials:
(List textbooks, newspapers, journals, Internet resources, CD-ROMS, Videos, other teaching materials
to be used in the course.)
Hollywood’s America: Twentieth-Century America Through Film, Steven Mintz, Randy W. Roberts
We’re in the Money: Depression America and Its Films, Andrew Bergman (excerpts)
Celluloid Indians: Native Americans and Film, Jacquelyn Kilpatrick (excerpts)
“Testimony and Reports from the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Late Insurrectionary States,”
(primary source documents)
“Fighting A Vicious Film: Protest Against The Birth of a Nation,” (primary source documents)
“Testimony from Hearings Regarding the communist Infiltration of the Motion Picture Industry,”
(primary source documents)
DVDs: The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffiths, 1915, Second Half, 90m); Little Big Man, (Arthur Penn,
139m, 1970); Matewan, (John Sayles, 132m, 1987); Casablanca (Hal Wallis, 102m, 1942); The Invasion
of the Body Snatchers, (Don Siegel, 80m, 1956)
V.
Assessment of Student Learning:
(Describe assessment measures, i.e., instruments that measure the attainment of course objectives.)
Study Questions: Students will be responsible for eight to 10 study questions. These are written assignments
consisting of two or three questions based on the films or assigned readings. Each question is answered in
paragraph form so that the total length of the study question assignment is 1.5 to 2 pages in length. I use this
format in all my honors and 295 classes and I find it promotes more student discussion and will help students
develop a sense for how to analyze assigned readings and films in a deeper way.
Class Discussions: At least 20% of the students’ overall grade will be based on participation in class
discussions. Class discussion are important way of gauging student understanding of the material but also
demonstrates how much time the students are dedicating to reviewing and thinking about the course themes,
topics and assignments.
Formal Essay: The students will work in teams or individually to deconstruct a film of their own choice (I
will provide a list of films that are appropriate and available to students) other than the ones we have viewed
in class and present an oral report about how the film they chose interprets the topics we have discussed in
class: The conquest of the West and/or American Indians in film; interpretations of the Civil War and/or
Reconstruction; anti-Communist hysteria and/or the Cold War and conformity during the 1950s; economic
and social issues during the Great Depression; film as propaganda during World War II.
VI.
Weekly Outline of Topics and Assignments:
Unit I. The Meaning of the Civil War and Reconstruction
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Lecture: Interpretations of the Civil War and Reconstruction
Film: The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffiths, 1915, Second Half, 90m)
Reading: Eric Niederost, “Silent Cinema as Historical Mythmaker: The Birth of a
Nation,” 43-51, in Hollywood’s America; Excerpts of “Congressional Hearing and
Reports on the Ku Klux Klan”
Discussion and Study Questions
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006
Special Topics Course Proposal Form
Unit II. Revisionist History: Native American Imagery and the 1960s
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Lecture: The Conquest of the West
Film: Little Big Man, (Arthur Penn, 139m, 1970)
Readings: “Genesis of the Stereotypes,” and “Win Some Lose Some,” in Celluloid
Indians: Native Americans and Film, 1-15; 84-98; Excerpts from My Lai: A Brief History
with Documents.
Discussions and Study Questions
Unit III. Race, Ethnicity and the American Labor Movement
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Lecture: The American Labor Movement 1865-1920
Film: Matewan, (John Sayles, 132m, 1987)
Reading: Eric Foner, “Matewan”
Discussions and Study Questions
Unit IV. “Why We Fight?” World War II
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Lecture: America’s Entrance in World War II
Casablanca (Hal Wallis, 102m, 1942)
“Casablanca as Propaganda: You Must Remember This: The Case of Hal Willis’
Casablanca,” Randy Roberts in Hollywood’s America.
Discussions and Study Questions
Unit V. Conspiracy or Conformity: The Communist Hysteria in Film
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Lecture: The Origins of the Cold War
“Science Fiction as Social Commentary: the Age of Conspiracy and Conformity:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” in Hollywood’s America.
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, (Don Siegel, 80m, 1956)
Presentations
Presentations
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006