Culture and Media I
G14.1215  Ganti, Ginsburg, Himpele. 4 points.
This course offers a critical revision of the history of the genre of ethnographic film, the central debates it has engaged around cross-cultural representation, and the theoretical and cinematic responses to questions of the screen representation of culture, from the early romantic constructions of Robert Flaherty to current work in film, television, and video on the part of indigenous people throughout the world. Ethnographic film has a peculiar and highly contested status within anthropology, cinema studies, and documentary practice. This seminar situates ethnographic film within the wider project of the representation of cultural lives, and especially of “natives.” Starting with what are regarded as the first examples of the genre, the course examines how these emerged in a particular intellectual context and political economy. It then considers the key works that have defined the genre and the epistemological and formal innovations associated with them, addressing questions concerning social theory, documentary, as well as the institutional structures through which they are funded, distributed, and seen by various audiences. Throughout, the course keeps in mind the properties of film as a signifying practice, its status as a form of knowledge, and the ethical and political concerns raised by cross-cultural representation.

Culture and Media II: Ethnography of Media
G14.1216  Ganti, Ginsburg, Himpele. 4 points.
In the last decade, a new field—the ethnography of media—has emerged as an exciting new arena of research. While claims about media in people’s lives are made on a daily basis, surprisingly little research has actually attempted to look at how media is part of the naturally occurring lived realities of people’s lives. In the last decade, anthropologists and media scholars interested in film, television, and video have been turning their attention increasingly beyond the text and empiricist notions of audiences to consider, ethnographically, the complex social worlds in which media is produced, circulated, and consumed, at home and elsewhere. This work theorizes media studies from the point of view of cross-cultural ethnographic realities and anthropology from the perspective of new spaces of communication focusing on the social, economic, and political life of media and how it makes a difference in the daily lives of people as a practice, whether in production, reception, or circulation.

Cultural Theory and the Documentary
H72.2001  Kahana. 4 points.
Advanced seminar that considers anthropological, historical, gender, science, sociological, and cultural studies theory in the light of a range of documentary genres: counter-colonial, direct cinema, ethnographic, instructional, historical, and auteurist.

Television: History and Culture
H72.1026  McCarthy. 4 points.
Examines the background, context, and history of radio, television, video, and sound. Topics include politics and economics of media institutions; audiences and reception; cultural and broadcast policy; aesthetic modes and movements.

Social Anthropology Theory and Practice
G14.1010  Myers. 4 points.
This course is intended to acquaint graduate students in anthropology with some core issues in social/cultural anthropology. It cannot pretend to be a comprehensive introduction to the discipline; matters are too complex. Instead it seeks to highlight basic issues in social theory and the relationship of theory and ethnographic practice. It proceeds through a consideration of key controversies within the field and through mapping some contemporary directions. Although the course covers material from the 19th through the 20th centuries, it is not a history of anthropological thought; students are expected to complement this course with History of Anthropology (G14.1636) and a lifetime of reading in anthropology and related fields.

The Language of Sight and Sound
H72.1998  Taught by Tisch School of the Arts faculty. 6 points.
Intensive six-week hands-on summer production course (mid-May to late June) in techniques of 16 mm filmmaking. Students are required to complete five short films using equipment and materials provided. Emphasis is initially on documentary techniques, which rely on editing for meaning. Students then move on to the scripted narrative. The goal is to develop technical skills while exploring creative possibilities. Early application is encouraged, as this is a limited-enrollment workshop.

Video Production Seminar I, II
G14.1218, 1219  Open only to students in the Program in Culture and Media. Limited to 10 students. Prerequisites: G14.1215, H72.1998, and permission of the instructor. Ganti, Ginsburg, Himpele. 4 points per term.
Yearlong seminar in ethnographic documentary video production using state-of-the-art digital video equipment for students in the Program in Culture and Media. The first portion of the course is dedicated to instruction, exercises, reading, and familiarizing students with fundamentals of video production and their application to a broad conception of ethnographic and documentary approaches. Assignments undertaken in the fall raise representational, methodological, and ethical issues in approaching and working through an ethnographic and documentary project. Students develop a topic and field site for their project early in the fall term, begin their shooting, and complete a short (5- to 10-minute) edited preview tape by the end of this semester. This work should demonstrate competence in shooting and editing using digital video camera/audio and Final Cut Pro nonlinear editing systems. Students devote the spring semester to intensive work on independent projects, continuing to shoot and edit, presenting work to the class and completing their (approximately 20-minute) ethnographic documentaries. Student work is presented and critiqued during class sessions, and attendance and participation in crews for independent projects as well as in group critiques and lab sessions is mandatory. Students should come into the class with project ideas already well-developed. Students who have not completed the work assigned in the first semester are not allowed to register for the second semester. There is no lab fee, but students are expected to provide their own videotapes. In addition to class time, there are regular technical lab sessions on the use of equipment.

 Back to Top