SOCIOLOGY AND FILM SYLLABUS—DRAFT MARCH 28, 2013
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Instructor Name:
Elizabeth Talbert,
M.P.P, Doctoral Student in Sociology
MTTh
Summer Session Term 2
4:00-6:30PM
Department of Sociology
Course Title: SOCIOLOGY AND FILM
Course Number: AS.230.237.21
3 Credits
Distribution: H S
Contact Information:
Email (best way): etalber2@jhu.edu
Office Location: Department of Sociology, 5th Floor Merganthaler Hall, Room 533
Office Hours: By appointment only
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Do films merely mirror society, or do they in fact shape societal experience? This class will investigate
these questions through a filmic analysis of sociological issues. We will consider both narrative and
documentary films and use them to engage in sociological questions of class, race, and gender. We will
discuss what the historical and current trends in film making and film subject say about society, and how
these trends may in turn influence society.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1
2
3
4
5
Identify and discuss major areas of debate in sociology, including race, gender, class, and globalization.
Identify and analyze social issues explored in popular and independent films, and critically analyze the
images we usually merely consume.
Critically analyze the impact that film production has on society, what goals it has, and who is serves.
Discuss how films affect the popular framing of sociological and policy issues, as well as how they influence
societal and cultural norms.
Develop the ability to write critically about film, and bring film in to the academic understanding of other
topics.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
BOOK
OTHER READINGS
COURSE WEBSITE
EVALUATION AND GRADING
Grades will be based on the following assessments:
ASSESSMENT TYPE
Thought Papers (3)
Final Presentations
Final Exam
Attendance and Participation
Cinematic Sociology: Social Life in Film (Second
Edition), 2012, Jean-Anne Sutherland and Kathryn M.
Feltey (eds). The text will be available at JHU bookstore.
All other course readings will be available on the course
Blackboard website (denoted with a * in the syllabus)
You should be connected the course’s Blackboard site if
you are formally registered for the course. If you are not
connected, please let me know as soon as possible.
PERCENT OF FINAL GRADE
30%
20%
30%
20%
SOCIOLOGY AND FILM SYLLABUS—DRAFT MARCH 28, 2013
ATTENDANCE POLICY
It is essential that you come to every meeting of this course and participate actively. Active participation means
speaking substantively during every class meeting, both in large group and small group settings, and asking
questions of the instructor and our your peers. The material in this course can be provocative and emotional—
your participation in this course should be thoughtful, considered, and above all, respectful of other people and
other opinions.
Students who miss class for an excused reason—medical or family emergency—must alert the professor as soon
as possible, and are responsible for making up any missed work in a timely manner.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Thought Papers--3
You will write three thought papers for this class: they are due on Mondays July 15, July 22, and July 29. To
successfully complete the thought papers, you need to screen (outside of class) a film with some relationship to the
week’s topic.
Thought papers are due on Mondays at 9AM, uploaded to the appropriate thread in the blackboard site.
The discussion papers should include:



1-2 pages thoughtfully summarizing at least two of the readings for the previous week. These summaries
should demonstrate that you comprehend the most important points of the articles/chapters.
About 1 page of analysis and reaction. You can choose to critique the ideas, expand on the ideas with a
connection to current events or some kind of personal connection, or examine the ideas in light of class
lectures or readings.
About 1 page examining the week’s topics through an analysis of a film you see OUTSIDE of class (a list
will be provided for ideas each Thursday…try to actually GO to the movies at least once!) This last section
of the paper should demonstrate that you are comfortable writing about film, and also able to apply the ideas
from the week to thinking about a film we didn’t watch together in class.
Final Presentation
Students will work in four groups to prepare a presentation addressing one of the courses special topics—Globalization,
Education, Health, Environment, and/or Social Activism—and present during the last week of class. Students will sign
up for a topic on the first week of class
Each presentation should be approximately one hour long (which includes plenty of time for screening clips!) and
include:




A sociological overview of the topic
A brief history of where it has appeared in film
Clips from at least one feature film and one documentary that deal with the topic
A time for leading class discussion about the topic and how it fits into the sociological issues of diversity and
stratification we have engaged with in class up to that point
Presenters will be graded individually on their substantive contribution to the group and their delivery; groups will be
graded as a whole on organization and substantive contribution to the course material.
Take-Home Final Exam
On the last day of class, we will watch a film together. You will then respond to and engage with that film through
several questions on a take-home final exam (between 4-6 pages, double-spaced), due Saturday, August 3, at 9AM.
SOCIOLOGY AND FILM SYLLABUS—DRAFT MARCH 28, 2013
Exams will be graded on your ability to critically analyze the sociological aspects of the film, your organization of a
film essay, and your topical understand of the sociological ideas we have studied.
JOHNS HOPKINS POLICIES AND SUPPORT SERVICES
This course is governed by the policies set forth in The Johns Hopkins University Undergraduate Student Handbook,
which contains information on a wide variety of topics, such as support services, and policies relating to student rights
and responsibilities. This course is governed by the policies set forth in this document.
Some JHU student support services you may find useful include:
SUPPORT SERVICE
Library E-Reserves
JHU Libraries AV Collection
Summer & Intersession
Programs
LOCATION
http://www.library.jhu.edu/services/forms/reserves.
html
The AV Center is located on A-Level next to the
central elevators
3505 N. Charles Street, Suite 101
PHONE NUMBER / WEBSITE
reserves@jhu.edu
http://old.library.jhu.edu/collections/a
v/
410-516-4548
http://www.jhu.edu/intersession
CLASSROOM ACCOMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
If you are a student with a documented disability who requires an academic adjustment, auxiliary aid or other similar
accommodations, please contact The Office of Student Disability Services at studentdisabilityservices@jhu.edu,
call 410-516-4720 or visit 385 Garland Hall.
STATEMENT OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Johns Hopkins University is a community committed to sharing values of diversity and inclusion in order to achieve
and sustain excellence. We believe excellence is best promoted by being a diverse group of students, faculty and staff
who are committed to creating a climate of mutual respect that is supportive of one another’s success. Through its
curricula and clinical experiences, we purposefully support the University’s goal of diversity, and in particular, work
toward an ultimate outcome of best serving the needs of students. Faculty and candidates are expected to demonstrate
an understanding of diversity as it relates to planning, instruction, management, and assessment.
A WORD ON ETHICS
The strength of the university depends on academic and personal integrity. In this course, you must be honest and
truthful. Ethical violations include cheating on exams, plagiarism, reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet
and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying,
facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition.
Report any violations you witness to the instructor.
SOCIOLOGY AND FILM SYLLABUS—DRAFT MARCH 28, 2013
SCHEDULE
Week 1: Introduction to Sociological Analysis and Film History
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
Monday, July 1
o Lecture: What is sociology? (And the Sociological Toolbox)
o Screening: Twelve Angry Men (1957)
Tuesday, July 2
o Lecture: Fiction and Documentary Films
o Readings to do:
 Excerpt from Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing about Film*
 Harper, “Seeing Sociology”*
 Dowd, ‘Waiting for Louis Prima: On the Possibility of a Sociology
of Film”*
o Screening: The Order of Myths (2007) or Born Into Brothels (2004)
Week 2: Film and Class/Status
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Monday, July 8
o THOUGHT PAPER 1 DUE
o Readings to do:
 Sutherland & Feltey, Chapter 1 and 2 (pp. 1-56)
o Screening: Strike (1925)
Tuesday, July 9
o Readings to do:
 Excerpts from Marx, The Communist Manifesto*
 Weber, “Status Groups and Classes” in Social Stratification*
o Screening: Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
Thursday, July 11
o Readings to do:
 Sutherland & Feltey, Chapter 3 (all) pp. 57-85; Chapter 6, Sect.
6.1, pp. 177-193; Chapter 10, Sect. 10.1 & 10.2, pp. 367-391
 Giddens, “Elites and Power” in Social Stratification*
o Screening: Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
Week 3: Film and Race/Ethnicity
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
Monday, July 15
o THOUGHT PAPER 1 DUE
o Screening: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Tuesday, July 16
o Readings to do:
 Sutherland & Feltey, Chapter 4 (all); Chapter 10, Outtake, pp. 392393
SOCIOLOGY AND FILM SYLLABUS—DRAFT MARCH 28, 2013


Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, “The Sweet Enchantment of Color-Blind
Racism in Obamerica”*
o Screening: Maid in America (2005) or Good Hair (2009)
Thursday, July 18
o Readings to do:
 Fisher Fiskin, “Interrogating ‘Whiteness,’ Complicating
‘Blackness’: Remapping American Culture”*
 Stuart Hall, “Race: The Floating Signifier”*
o Screening: Do the Right Thing (1988)
Week 4: Film and Women/Gender
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
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Monday, July 22
o THOUGHT PAPER 2 DUE
o Screening: The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (1978) or Some Like
it Hot (1959)
Tuesday, July 23
o Readings to do:
 Sutherland & Feltey, Chapter 5 (all), pp. 131-176
 West & Zimmerman, “Doing Gender”*
o Screening: Paris is Burning (1991); excerpts from Very Young Girls
(2007)
Thursday, July 25
o Readings to do:
 Sutherland & Feltey, Chapter 6, sections 6.2 and Outtake, pp. 194209
 Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”*
 Catherine MacKinnon, “Gender: The Future”*
o Screening: A League of their Own
Week 5: Special Topics—Globalization, Education, Health, Environment, and/or Social
Activism
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

Monday, July 29
o THOUGHT PAPER 3 DUE
o Presentations
Tuesday, July 30
o Presentations
Thursday, August 1
o FINAL EXAM SCREENING
o Take-home final exam assigned (due by Saturday, August 3, 9AM)