Spring2008 
ETHN 101: ETHNIC IMAGES IN FILM 


Sharon Elise. Ph.D. 
Office Hours: M 3:30-4:30: W 3-4 


Representationispossibleonly because enunciation is always producedwithin codes 
which have a history, a position within the discursive.formations of a particular space 
and time. 


... Thereis no escape.fiom thepolitics of'represenlation,and we cannot wield 'howli/b 
really is oul there' as a kind of lest against which the political rightnessor wrongness of 
aparticularly cultural strategy or texl can he measured...Weare always in negotialion, 
not with a single set of oppositions that place usalways in the same relation lo others, 
but wilh a series of different positionalities... 


COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES 


This course will fbcus on cinematic representationsof race, ethnicity, andnationalityto 
interpret the stories they tell-about identity, relations of power,and experiences at the 
site of various social locations, or "positionalities".These examinations will be informed 
by understandings of social powerrelationsemanatingfiom colonial legacies and 
contemporaryracial formation in national and globalcontexts,paying careful attention to 
overlapping dimensions of social structure such as gender,sexuality,andclassas these 
co-constructeach other (e.g.,race-inggender,gendering race). As we makethese 
examinations,we will seek to develop an "oppositionalgaze"to critically "negotiate"and 
try to "decode"these texts, drawingfrom standpoints groundedin diverse 


"positionalities." This is an importantstep towards contestingthehegemonyof "ethnic 


notions" and visioning/creatingsocialjustice. 


COURSEREADINGS(required) 


A reading packetthroughUniversityReaders 


Denzin,Norman. 2002. ReadingRace: Holll+rtoodand theCinemao.fRacial Violence' 
SagePublications. 

COURSEREQUIREMENTS 

lassParticipation 20% 
Exercises/Assignments 20% 
TakeHome Midterm (due5/5in class) 30% 
Final Exam (duedateof class final) 30% 

Attendance/C 


SCHEDULEOF TOPICS & READINGS 

INTRODUCTION 

3131108 
The Ethnic Studies Projectandissues of representation 
VIEW: segmentColor of'Fear 
READ: 
Lopez,lan Haney. "The Social Construction of Race." 
Ducille,Ann,'oThe Color of Class: ClassifyingRacein the Popular 

Imagination,"SocialIdentities7 (3)2001: 409-419. 
Bell, Lee Ann, "Telling Tales: What Stories CanTeach Us About 
Racism,"Race, Ethnicity and Education 6 (1) 2003: 3-28. 

II. ETHNIC NOTIONS/SUBJECTS OF COLONIAL EMPIRE 
417108 
Reading Representations-Hollywood History 
VIEW: EthnicNotions 
READ: 
Denzin,Introduction and Chap 1(PartOne) 

Kilty, Keith M. and Eric Swank,"lnstitutionalRacismandMedia 
Representations:Depictionsof Violent Criminals andWelf-are 
Recipients," Sociological Imaginatbn 34 (2-3), 1997:105-128' 

4114108 
White Heroes against THE OTHER: TheEmpire'sMyths & Reification 
VIEW: TBA 
READ: 
Davies, Jude, "'Diversity.America.Leadership.Goodoverevil.' 

HollywoodmulticulturalismandAmericanimperialismin 
lndependenceDay and Three Kings," Patternso/ Prejudice349 

(4)2005: 397-415. 
Eisele, John C., "The Wild East: Deconstructing theLanguageof Genrein 
theHollywood Eastern,"Oinema,lournol41 (4) 2002:68-94. 

III. RACISM RE-ARTICULATED-ReeIy Real 
4121108 
CinematicRealism-"The WhiteHood" 
VIEW: TBA 
READ: Denzin,PartTwo, Chaps2,3, and 4. 


4128108 
CinematicRealism-The Black andBrown Hood 
VIEW: TBA 
READ: Denzin, Part Three, Chaps 5,6, & 7 



IV. HYBRID 
NOTIONS 
515108 
VIEW: scenesfrom Mississippi Masala;Bend it like Beckham 
READ: 
Seshagiri,Urmila,"At the Crossroads of Two Empires...," ,IAAS (June) 

2003:177-98. 
Giardina,Michael,"BendingIt Like Beckham" in the Global Popular," 
,Iournctlof'Sport and SocialIssues,Yol.27 (l) 2003:65-82. 

V. CHOOSING THE MARGIN? 
5ll2l08 
VIEW: Smoke Signals 
READ: 
hooks, bell, "ChoosingtheMargin as a Spaceof Radical Openness," in 

Yearning; Race, Gender,andCultural Politics. Boston,MA: 
SouthEnd 1990. 
Churchill,Ward,"The OpenVeinsof NativeNorth America" preface; in 
Fanta.vie:s

of theMaslerRace,1992 
Churchill, Ward,"Fantasiesof the MasterRace: Categoriesof 
Stereotypingof AmericanIndiansinFtlm," Ibid. 
Churchill.Ward."Lawrenceof South Dakota: Dctnceswith Wolvesand 
theMainienanceof the American Empire,Ibid. 

5/19/08 
VIEW: Real lVomen Have Curves 
READ: 
hooks, bell, "The OppositionalGaze"ChapterI in Black Looks: Race und 

Representalion.Boston,MA: SouthEnd, 1992 

5126108 
MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY-NO CLASS 

612108 
VIEW: Bamboozled 
READ: 
Chidester.Phil etal,"Black is Black. ..." The Howard,lournal o.f' 


Communications17, 2006: 287-306. 
Denzin,PartFour, ChaPter 8.