Description | Summerterm Format | Requirements | Grading | Academic Integrity |
Films | Assigned Readings | Optional Readings | Film Resources | Course Schedule

Prof. Daryle Williams
Department of History
2108 Tawes Fines Arts
Office: (301) 405-7856
daryle@umd.edu
http://www.history.umd.edu/Faculty/DWilliams
Office Hours: After class and by appointment

Course Description and Organization

HIST 319D tackles three interrelated problems of historical interpretation in the modern era:

1) How do motion pictures represent the past?
2) How do historians, moviegoers, and filmmakers approach historical film?
3) How can the history of a particular time and place be understood through cinema?

In addressing these problems, we look at academic and popular readings of a number of motion pictures that purport to say something about the history of Latin America.

The course meets every day of the Summer Session IIA (July 14-August 1, 2003). Class sessions will last three hours and fifteen minutes. A different film will be screened each session.

The Three-Week Summerterm Format

Our three-week format is very well-suited for the study of film. The extended sessions provide sufficient time to screen and discuss each film and related readings. The single greatest drawback to this format is that a semester's worth of work must be squeezed into fifteen sessions. The pacing is, obviously, much faster than a conventional semester.

It will be very difficult to make up for missed work. Therefore, it is extremely important that all students budget their time so that they are able to dedicate at least two hours per day beyond in-class time to meet all course requirements.

Course Requirements

Throughout the course, all students should keep a Journal. The journal is a space where you are to thoughtfully consider major themes including the question of historical (in)accuracy, historical feel, scholarly vs. popular vs. commercial understandings of the past, and the relationship between contemporary events and historical film. The journal should engage the main themes and problems raised in the screened films and assigned readings. The journal is a space to reflect upon your personal reaction to the films. The journal is NOT a space where a conventional, everyday language of film criticism (e.g., "two thumbs-up!" "hated it!" "that movie rocked!") should be the primary mode of expression.

The first half of the journal should be turned in on Monday, July 21, 2003. The second half of the journal should be turned in on the last day of class.

The First Writing Assignment, due on Friday, July 25, 2003, asks that you select a film and write a two-page study sheet modeled after the sheets distributed for all films screened in class. See below for list of eligible films.

The Second Writing Assignment, due on Monday, August 4, asks that carefully analyze one of the films screened in class (with the exception of Missing), applying Robert Brent Toplin's concept of "cinematic history." The paper should be seven-to-eight pages in length.

Grading Policies

Final grades will be determined by the following formula:

20% Journal
20% First Writing Assignment
40% Second Writing Assignment
20% Participation

Active participation and lively discussions enrich everyone's learning experience. It is important that all students use our in-class discussions to engage the assigned materials and one another. Active participation will work in your favor should your final grade fall on a borderline.

Late papers will not be accepted without prior approval. With the exception of legitimate excuses, late papers may be subject to a grade penalty of one full grade for each day late.

Academic Integrity

Statement of Academic Integrity

Essential to the fundamental purpose of the University is the commitment to principles of truth and academic honesty. Because academic dishonesty, which refers to cheating, plagiarism, or helping someone else to cheat or commit plagiarism, jeopardizes the quality of education and depreciates the genuine achievement of others it must be reported to the Honor Council.

The Code of Academic Integrity guides this and all other courses taught at the University of Maryland. Violations may result in a failing grade and/or referral to a University disciplinary committee. The full text of the Code is available on-line at http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/jpo/code_acinteg.html.

The Honor Pledge

Under the provisions of the resolution adopted by the University Senate on April 9, 2001, and approved by President Mote on May 10, 2001, all students will be asked to write by hand and sign the following pledge on all written assignments and examinations, unless otherwise instructed:

"I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination."

For additional information on the Student Honor Pledge, visit http://www.umd.edu/honorpledge .
  

Films

Students are expected to watch all assigned films during the regularly scheduled class sessions. All films are available for additional viewings at Nonprint Media Services in Hornbake Library. Most of the films are also available through commercial video rental/sales outlets.

Films Screened in Class

1492: The Conquest of Paradise (1992)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Before Night Falls (2000)
Burn!/Queimada! (1970)
Death and the Maiden (1995)
O Descobrimento do Brasil (1937)
La Historia Oficial/The Official Story (1982)
Missing (1982)
The Mission (1991)
Quilombo (1991)
La Última Cena/The Last Supper (1976)
Lucia(1968)
Viva Villa! (1934)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Yo, la peor de todas/I, the Worst of All (1990)  

Options for First Writing Assignment (Select One)

Cabeza de Vaca (1991)
Evita (1996)
Frida (2002)
Juarez (1939)
Miss Mary (1986)
Pancho Villa (1973)
Romero (1989)
Salvador (1986)
État de siège/State of Siege (1973)
Xica da Silva (1976)
Walker (1987)

Assigned Readings

The following readings are required.

All assigned books will be available for purchase through the University Book Center and online vendors. These books will also be held on two-hour reserves at the Reserves Desk of McKeldin Library.

Full-text journal articles contain be freely accessed, read, and downloaded from the database section of the University Libraries homepage <http://www.lib.umd.edu/cgi-bin/databases.cgi>. Access to these databases will be automatically authorized from any computer linked to the internet via a Maryland IP address (on campus or dial-up). If you access the University Library's webpage via an ISP other than the University of Maryland (e.g., AOL, Verizon, Earthlink, business and government internet connections), you will need to use MdUSA OR you will need to download special software to mimic a Maryland IP address. For additional information on remote access, consult the Off-Campus Access to Library Resources Guide .

Arenas, Reinaldo. Before Night Falls. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.

Dorfman, Ariel. Dorfman, "Afterword from Death and the Maiden," Southwest Review 85:3 (Summer 200): 350-54. [Full-Text Version available through EBSCOhost or by clicking here.]

Fusco, Coco, "Choosing between Legend and History: An Interview with Carlos Diegues," Cineaste 15:1 (1986): 12-14. [To be distributed in Class]

Rosenstone, Robert A. Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to Our Idea of History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.

Stevens, Donald. Based on a True Story: Latin American History in Film. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, 1997.

Steinbeck, John. Zapata. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.

Toplin, Robert Brent. History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
 

Optional Readings

• The following books are recommended for those interested in learning more about film and history, with a special focus on Latin America.

  

Batra, Tony, ed. Screening the Past: Film and the Representation of History. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998.

Carnes, Mark, Ted Mico, and John Miller-Monzon, eds. Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies. New York: Owlet, 1996.

Hirschfield, Joanne and David Maciel, eds. Mexico's Cinema: A Century of Film and Filmmakers. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, 2000.

King, John. Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America. New Edition. London: Verso Books, 2000.

Mora, Carl J. Mexican Cinema: Reflections of a Society, 1896-1988. Revised Edition. Berkeley and Los Angles: University of California Press, 1990.

Rollins, Peter. C. Hollywood as Historian: American Film in a Cultural Context. Revised Edition. Lexington: The University of Kentucky Press, 1997.

Roquemore, Joseph H. History Goes to the Movies: A Viewer's Guide to the Best (and Some of the Worst) Historical Films Ever Made. Main Street Books, 1999.

Rosenstone, Robert A., ed. Revisioning History: Film and the Construction of a New Past. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.

Stock, Ann Marie, ed. Framing Latin American Cinema: Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.

• For those unfamiliar with Latin American history, the following textbooks provide solid chronological and bibliographic overviews of Latin American history.

Burkholder, Mark A. and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America. Forth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Clayton, Lawrence A. and Michael L. Conniff. History of Modern Latin America. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1999.

Halperin-Donghi, Tulio. Contemporary History of Latin America. Durham: Duke University Press, 1993.

Skidmore, Thomas E. and Peter H. Smith. Modern Latin America. Fifth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Winn, Peter. Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. Revised Edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999.

Film Resources

Basic information (e.g., cast and crew, director, character names, studio) about most films can be found at the following internet sites:

Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com

AllMovie.com http://www.allmovie.com

CAUTION: The databases maintained by these commercial websites are not necessarily fact-checked.

The University Libraries have prepared a very extensive list of resources related to the study of cinema and the motion picture industry. The list includes major print and electronic resources such as Film Literature Index, International Dictionary of Films and Filmmaker, International Index to Film Periodicals, Lexis-Nexis Academic, and the MLA International Bibliography. You should consult these resources for general reviews of film releases as well as in gathering the data needed for the First Writing Assignment.

See: http://www.lib.umd.edu/MCK/GUIDES/latin_america2.html#FILM

Course Schedule